"Calzaghe to savour his final fight" - Tragedy as Joe bows out v RJJ and not Pavlik

Good for him, keep that "0" intact and retire, but please don't come back to fight after saying you retire.

 

joe aint going there he knows he will lose. now or in his prime.

 

It looks like Joe Calzaghe would rather face retirement than Kelly Pavlik.

The super middleweight champion said Thursday that he will retire after his light heavyweight fight with Roy Jones Jr. in November, according to a Reuters story.

“It’s a massive fight and it will be my last,” said Calzaghe, 36. “I’ve known for a while when I want to go out and as long as I put on a great performance this is my time.”

Pavlik, who will fight Bernard Hopkins on Oct. 18, was disappointed by the announcement, but held out hope that Calzaghe would change his mind. Calzaghe had said last month that he was considering fighting Pavlik after the Jones bout.

“It shows he’s definitely worried about fighting me,” said Pavlik. “But I also think that if the money’s right, he’ll come back out and take a fight.

“If they throw a ridiculous amount of money at him, I think he’ll do it.”

 

It would have been great for Calzaghe to go out fighting top fighters such as Dawson or Pavlik but that's not the mindset of some fighters these days. They want to make the most money while fighting oponents that will keep them undefeated. If Calzaghe's top priority was to retire undefeated, he should have retired after Kessler. What was the point of continuing your career, if you are going after fighters who are clearly past their best? Money, it can't be greatness.

 

Whats with the constant changing of his mind?
The ****ing slapper is about as mentally sound as my ex.
I like how he also said "If I win, it will be my last fight".
And if he loses?............he'll be begging Arum to set up a Pavlik fight only to recieve 2 straight loses. Then what? Maybe Manfredo will fight him again, or maybe Lacy.......****ing disgrace

 

Hey it's a business I suppose but you're right about guys of this and recent generations. It's not just Joe (see Hopkins resume), but it's hard not to think that Calzaghe has only fought a handful of real dangerous challenges in his long 'reign' but again he's not solely to blame.

 

Can we take it that you're a big Calzaghe fan ?

 

Boxers always talk about "this is my last fight".

I believe it as much as Dwight Gooden saying he's given up cocaine.

 

Surely you are joking.

This forum has more threads and posts with titles like "Who has Oscar/Lennox ever fought ? " than you've had hot breakfasts. There are more posts demeaning to the accomplishments of Oscar and Lennox than virtually any other topics. (possible exception: Floyd and Pacman bashing threads.)


That is precisely my point.

It wouldn't matter what Calzaghe did or fought, the detractors would still be there.

Lacy was seen as an even bigger threat to Calzaghe than Pavlik currently is. Joe schooled him. Then, it seems, Lacy was always over-rated,even a bum. No credit was accorded Calzaghe for the victory.

Same with Kessler (who BTW is a much superior boxer to Pavlik. When the two eventually meet, that will become clear).

I agree that the present version of Jones will do little for Joe's resume in the eyes of knowledgable boxing fans. I said the same thing before he fought Hopkins.

Pavlik, at this point, is slightly more of a challenge than either Jones or Hopkins, but only slightly. He would still get starched. A year from now, Pavlik might be the favourite in such a match-up, as he is improving and Joe is declining.

IMO, Calzaghe should have fought Dawson, a more meaningful fight than Jones. And I agree that Pavlik would also be more meaningful at this point than Jones.

But to casual fans 10 years from now, having Hopkins and RJJ on his resume will impress more than a defeat of Pavlik, who will probably never reach the heights of the other two legends.

Casual fans rarely worry about when the victories came. We still have some fools on here who laud Holmes for his victory over Ali, and Tyson for his KO of Holmes, and Evander for outpointing an ANCIENT Foreman, and Norris for beating a twice-retired SRL.

Calzaghe has done all he needs to, to earn his place in the boxing pantheon. He's getting old and he's decided to go for the $$$ that a RJJ fight will bring.

At this point, he's earned the right to go out fighting whomever he pleases.