By Jim Dower: With his precious boxing legacy on the line, undefeated Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KOs) took an easy fight against a terribly faded Roy Jones Jr. two weeks ago on November 8th, defeating the hapless Jones by a dull, one-sided bout that had few interesting highlights other than Calzaghe’s first round knockdown.
After the fight, Calzaghe wouldn’t state what his future plans were, but most people assumed that he would take the easy way out and choose to retire rather than continuing further with his career against someone like unbeaten IBF light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (27-0, 17 KOs), the fighter that Calzaghe probably should have chosen instead of the age depleted Jones.
Now, if Calzaghe assumed that the Jones fight would complete his legacy, he probably was bitterly disappointed by the outcome, because instead of praise being hefted upon his shoulder, Calzaghe has continued to be criticized for his choice of Jones as an opponent.
Dawson, 26, a boxer widely considered to be the best fighter in the light heavyweight division, recently easily defeated Antonio Tarver in a lopsided 12-round decision to win his IBF title on October 11th. Before that, Dawson defeated former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson by a close decision in April, a fight that proved to be a little tougher than Dawson expected.
However, it was clear that Dawson was the better fighter on that night and done more than enough to get the decision. With wins over Johnson and Tarver, Dawson has beaten two of the four best light heavyweights in the division, leaving only Bernard Hopkins and Calzaghe as potential opponents.
It’s doubtful that Hopkins, who recently had an impressive 12-round decision victory over middleweight Kelly Pavlik, would want to risk losing everything he gained recently by facing a fighter with as much speed and power as Dawson.
That pretty much leaves Calzaghe as Dawson’s best option if he wants a big money fight. As much as Dawson needs Calzaghe for a money fight, Calzaghe perhaps needs Dawson much more in order to put a cap on his boxing legacy.
Calzaghe has already beaten Hopkins, and doesn’t need to waste time in fighting him again. However, Dawson has been considered the best light heavyweight in the division for over a year now, and a win over him would give Calzaghe the praise that he’s been searching for, giving him the perfect send off for his career.
Whether Calzaghe is brave enough to take the fight with Dawson, though, is another matter altogether. This would be a tough fight for Calzaghe no matter what point of his career, because Dawson has faster hands, more power, equally good defensive skills and fights from a southpaw stance.
This would be the first time in his career that Calzaghe would be facing a fighter with better skills than his own, and it would be a fight that he’d be lucky to come out the victor in. Dawson is willing to fight in Wale if need be, he doesn’t care where the fight would take place, he just wants the opportunity to fight him.
In beating Dawson, Calzaghe could bow out of the sport, knowing that he’s beaten the best fighters in the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, including a faded legend in Jones. One would hope that Calzaghe takes the fight with Dawson, because if he doesn’t, I feel that his legacy will suffer for it because of his lack of high quality opposition for most of his career.
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