I wonder why Joe Calzaghe was never offered millions for his return to boxing?

It might have been Thornberry but not according to this article it wasn't.

'Calzaghe will, for now, have to be content with a viewing via tape delay on American network Showtime, in front of whose cameras he got off to a poor debut against spoiler David Starie before rectifying the situation somewhat with impressive wins over Omar Sheika and Richie Woodhall.'

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/calzaghe-wins-his-first-fight-6338578.html

It's so long ago I don't remember. I've never seen any other footage of the Thornberry fight other than the British broadcast. So if it was shown on US TV I've never seen footage of it. Like I said, it may well have been. The rest definitely were because I've seen the Showtime versions of them.

That's because he was injured. I've explained this to you before about the period of injuries he went through from early 1988 ie. before his second defense of his title against mandatory challenger Juan Carlos Gimenez for which he hardly did any sparring at all right up to August 2000 against Omar Sheika, a fight that was cancelled 3 times IIRC due to him still having not recovered from his injuries.

Yes McIntyre was a late sub. :good

 

Fair enough. There's a chance that I may have seen footage of it many moons ago but if I have it's completely vanished from memory. Calzaghe retired what is it like 8 years ago now? and we're talking about fights of his that happened twice that length of time ago and even longer. The Thornberry and Starie fights got viewed all but once by me. They didn't exactly make for riveting viewing.

He had problems with his hands, wrist, elbow, back etc. all throughout that period and was barely able to spar at all. He looked much better after that period of injuries subsided and he was back to fighting every four months after that, until the problems with hands flared up again and his personal life started going pear shaped. The plan had always been to fight 3 or 4 times a year but for the reasons I've just explained that wasn't possible.

 

Starie was actually a talented fighter and I used to be a fan of his back then too. I liked pretty much all the British SMWs from back then with the exception of Robin Reid. He was a double ABA champion at two different weights (won his first ABA title at 71kg the same year Calzaghe won his up at 75kg) and was athletic and flashy and he could dig a bit too. He was a bit of an underachiever and things might have worked out differently for him with the right luck, IMO.

Starie's trainer had been training fighters for many years and he said Starie was the best he ever had when it came to natural ability. I remember reading an interview with American trainer Don Turner who currently works Kovalev's corner where he said Starie was the most talented white fighter he'd seen in a long time.

Starie's only loss going into the Calzaghe fight was to Dean Francis who was excellent on his night and blessed with bags of natural ability. Francis could crack with both hands too. Francis was more naturally talented than many of the British fighters from that era who won world titles. He never reached his full potential either. Injury had a lot to do with that.

Dean Francis vs Cornelius Carr (the later of whom spent some time over in Roy Jones' ranch sparring Roy. Roy said Carr had a great chin, Carr said Jones treat him very well)

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Starie actually beat Francis in the amateurs and he IIRC he was ahead on the cards in their encounter in the pros until he got caught with a big shot. Starie came into that fight something like 3 or 4 pounds under the division limit, which was crazy as Francis was a big, strong and muscular SMW with heavy hands. Starie had a reputation as being a bit lazy too.

'There is a real sense of purpose about Starie now, not just in his focus on getting a recognized version of the world title, but also inside the ring. Naturally gifted with speed and skills, the biggest criticism of Starie has always been that he is lazy. In fact, his loss to Dean Francis in 1997 was blamed on him taking his foot off the throttle after wining the early rounds.'

There was talk of him facing Robin Reid and Francis' stablemate Glen Catley back then as well.

Starie was a bit unlucky when he lost to South African Andre Thysse. Don't get me wrong, the decision was fair it's just that the fight took place at altitude in searing heat in South Africa and no one knew anything about how tough Thysse was back then. He wasn't very good but he had a slab of granite for a chin and he could soak up one hell of a beating. Funnily enough he didn't look the durable type at all but looks can be very deceiving. Thysse's toughness and the heat eventually got to Starie.