Watching Hopkins, Vitali, JMM around 40 - how many years Calzaghe had left in him?

I think 18 months -2 years more he would have been fine, good enough to beat Froch and Bute atleast.

 

Clazaghe was 36 when he retired.

 

IMO He got out at the right time. I still think he would have beaten Dawson, Froch, etc. But he was on a decline, and if he would have entered the Super 6...I believe the tournament has taken that long to complete, that he would have suffered a loss. A loss he would probably not have suffered a couple years ago.

 

he could have got a couple more pay days against the top in the division but i don't think he wanted to risk it or needed to prove anything

 

only he knows but timing is important and he has been in the gym and the game forever...he had the opportunity to retire undefeated with some great wins under his belt, but could have dominated Pavlick and probably beaten Dawson, Johnson and would have beaten Hopkins again but can't be sure with the judges. My guess is 3-4 more years or so but it would be him who has to work in the gym

 

Calzaghe was fine physically. He'd got hurt in his last two fights, so maybe his chin had started to become weaker but he could have carried on fighting. Once a fighter gets tired of the sport though, they are completely finished. Even if his hands were fast, he was still good on his feet etc., if his head wasn't right, he'd have lost to a fighter who wasn't fit to be in the ring with him.

 

Calzaghe would not have had the same success as those guys. B-Hop, JMM and Vitali are all superb technicians in their own ways and at their own weights, and can rely on that now. Calzaghe was a comparatively unskilled volume-puncher, as soon as his physical gifts eroded he'd have been ****ed. I guarantee if he'd hung about for another two years, he'd have got smoked by a guy like Dawson or Bute.

 

This.

The hunger had gone and with no one on the horizon (Dawson) to challenge him he called it a day.
If the guy was hungry and injury free he could have hit 40 and still have been undefeated imo.

 

Id say he had about 3 or 4 fights left in him, you could tell he was starting to fade at 175 with the added weight and before that with Kessler catching him too often. Joe sadly didnt fight the best when he could have show cased his skills better thus being vastly under rated by a lot of Americans

 

who do you blame for this? for me it's w arren. as much crap as i talk about calzaghe, he was a very good fighter. if he would have fought better comp, there's no way he finishes undefeated but he would be respected a great deal more.

 

I'll leave this thread to the delusioned, but let's just say had Calzaghe not run away and had given Hopkins the rematch, he'd now have an 1 loss on his record.
Ward would have given him his 2nd loss.

 

Joe Cal could of box some scrubs in the UK for a year or two more to make some money but he relied too much on his speed then technique so in one or two fights he could of age fast just like (Roy Jones) did he was lucky that didn't happen to him though.

 

Some people need to get out of the sport earlier then others. Like Roy Jones Jr. I believe Calzaghe was one, relying much on natural talent and less on the sweet science.

 

Like Popkins said. Calzaghe relied heavily on his physical tools, and when he noticed them slightly slipping, he got out of the game before he could be exposed. He easily had another 2 years left in him, but he obviously didn't want to take the chance (typical of his career). Kinda' disappointing, really.