Calzaghe Needs To Man-Up and Fight Pavlik

By Boxing News - 09/17/2008 - Comments

calzaghe5435643.jpgBy Chris Williams: Sounding a more than a little defensive and angry in an interview with The Sun, undefeated Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) ripped into middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs), saying that Pavlik declined to fight him after he made an effort to fight him just after he (Calzaghe) had defeated Jeff Lacy back in 2006. Rather than fight him, Calzaghe points out, Pavlik chose to fight Jermain Taylor, who Pavlik beat twice. Calzaghe claims that after Pavlik defeated Gary Lockett in June 2008, he failed to approach Calzaghe about a fight. It was only after Calzaghe signed for a fight with the 39 year-old Roy Jones Jr. (52-4, 38 KOs), that Pavlik “started to get brave,” Calzaghe says. What Calzaghe says seems somewhat odd, however, because Pavlik had previously shown great interested in fighting Calzaghe before and after the fight with Lockett, and would seen curious that Calzaghe believes that Pavlik wasn’t interested in a fight.

Pavlik, arguably the best fighter in the middleweight division, has been interested in a fight with Calzaghe for well over a year, something that most boxing fans are well aware of by now. It was thought that Calzaghe would fight him after Pavlik’s fight with Lockett recently. However, instead of signing on with a fight with the young 26 year-old knockout artist Pavlik, Calzaghe turned his sights over to what most fans feel is an easier opponent in the thirty-nine year old Roy Jones Jr., a fighter that is clearly in the twilight of his once great boxing career. Saying that he’s accomplished all that there is in his career, Calzaghe has recently announced that his November 8th fight against Jones will be his last fight of his career, and that he will retire immediately after the fight.

The logical question would seem to be how can Calzaghe retire when he has such a tough – and popular – opponent like Pavlik beating down his door? While he may say that there will always be one fighter or another calling him out without stop should he continue with his career, there’s none like Pavlik that the fans would really listen to. Indeed, if Calzaghe were to fight Pavlik, and beat him, there’s no other fighters on the horizon that are good enough for the fans to take seriously if the fighter were to challenge a retiring Calzaghe.

The light middleweight division is barren of stars, as is the middleweight and super middleweight divisions. The same goes for the light heavyweight division. Perhaps the only fighters that fans would even consider as an opponent for Calzaghe would be someone like Oscar De La Hoya or Antonio Margarito. I doubt seriously that De La Hoya would want to risk getting his face slapped around by Calzaghe for 12 long, likely embarrassing rounds, and in the case of Margarito, he would be simply way too small for Calzaghe.

Other than Pavlik, there would be no other fighters that the boxing fans would take seriously enough to listen to if Calzaghe was challenged in his retirement. For that reason, it’s important for Calzaghe to try and somehow reconsider his decision to retire after his fight with Jones, and instead fight one more time against Pavlik, even if it means a potentially career ending loss. There’s no shame in losing to a fighter like Pavlik, is there? I think there’s more shame in avoiding him and having people question Calzaghe’s manhood than in facing him and trying his best.



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