By Aaron Klein: WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) has said that he wants to fight only one more time, cashing out with one more big money fight against likely opponent Roy Jones Jr. (52-4, 38 KOs) in November of this year. However, it seems to me to be lousy way for Calzaghe to bow out of the sport, especially when there are infinitely better challenges out there for him to undertake before leaving boxing rather than Jones. That’s not taking anything away from Jones, don’t get me wrong; He’s been a great fighter during his heyday, but that was long ago, perhaps as many as five or more years since he left his best behind him.

For that reason, it’s not a particularly appealing option for Calzaghe to retire with his last fight being almost an exhibition bout rather than a fight that is challenging. I suppose Calzaghe’s main interest at this point is feeding his bank account as much as he can with the little time he has left, yet I see him still able to do that against better fighters, like middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, welterweight Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather or cruiserweight champion David Haye.

Each one of those fights would likely bring in more money – and notoriety – than a bout with the 39 year-old Jones would. Obviously, fights with De La Hoya, Haye and Mayweather would easily jump out as Calzaghe’s best option rather than the still relatively unknown Dawson or Pavlik, both still at the very start of their fame rather than the end. However, in the absence of attainable fights against Haye, Mayweather or De La Hoya, then a fight with Pavlik and Dawson would suffice. Above all, Calzaghe can’t let his last fight be against Jones; that’s a waste of his final fight, as far as I’m concerned.

I have no problem with Calzaghe fighting Jones if it’s just a fight that leads to better, more competitive ones against the aforementioned fighters in my list, but to me, Calzaghe is really selling himself short by letting his last fight be against Jones. I personally couldn’t retire with that as my last fight. I don’t care what people think, I wouldn’t want to end my career taking on nothing less than the best that I could. I suppose Calzaghe is very concerned with nursing his unbeaten record, making sure that he retires undefeated, but what good is an unbeaten record if it’s against lesser fighters, at the expense of quality opposition? Sure, he may be able to fool some people with his unblemished record, but not to himself.

He’ll know inside that he sidestepped the best fighters available in order to take the easy route, the path of least resistance. When I see a fighter doing things like that, I automatically remove their ‘0’ from their record and record a loss in its place. I’m perhaps not the only that does this, for if a fighter like Calzaghe steers clear of top fighters, instead facing older ones like the 43 year-old Bernard Hopkins or the 39 year-old Jones, what are we to think about him as a fighter? He takes these fights, while avoiding bouts against better quality opponents like Pavlik or Dawson.

Heck, I’d be more than happy if Calzaghe instead fought someone like super middleweight champion Lucian Bute, or super middleweight contenders Edison Miranda or Carl Froch rather than Jones. At least by facing them, Calzaghe would be facing a legitimate top level fighter in the sport rather than someone that who is at the end. I think Calzaghe is wasting his time by fighting Jones and only tarnishing the same image that he is trying to preserve by fighting opponents that he knows he can beat.

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