Calzaghe Left Boxing at The Right Time
July 6th, 2009
By Scott Gilfoid: Former World Boxing Organization super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KO’s) couldn’t have picked a better time for him to retire from the sport just when Showtime has started kicking the idea around for a super middleweight tournament for the division to determine who the best fighter is.
It would be asking a lot for Calzaghe to take part in the tournament, because it would mean that he would have to face a lot of quality fighters that are in their prime and not at the end of their careers. I find it hard to see Calzaghe entering the tournament because it would be a big risk for his career, and he’d finish the tournament a year later in 2010, which would make Calzaghe 38.
I think he’s probably good enough to beat Kessler again, especially if the rules of the tournament make the fights shorter than average fights, like the The Contender reality televisions series. I also think Calzaghe would beat Froch, a slow moving British fighter with poor defensive skills. I know there’s no love lost between these two fighters, because Calzaghe never fought him. Calzaghe would probably beat him even now if it were a short fight.
I’m not so certain that Calzaghe could beat Froch if it were a full 12 rounds, because Froch would wear him down and catch Calzaghe with something big and take him out. Calzaghe was dropped in his last two fights against Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. If those two fighters were able to knock Calzaghe down, then Froch would clearly be able to drop him.
It’s good, though, that Calzaghe retired when he did, because he would have had big problems against the young lions Ward and Dirrell, who I see ripping Calzaghe to shreds and wiping the deck with him. They’re both faster, stronger and better athletes than Calzaghe in my book, and would have likely schooled Calzaghe if given the chance.
Dirrell is blinding fast and would be catching Calzaghe with shots that he doesn’t see. Calzaghe had a nasty habit of standing square in front of his opponents during his career throwing flurries of slapping punches. That kind of style of fighting would be eaten up by a fighter as talented as Dirrell, who would be like a kid in the candy store if Calzaghe tried to stand square to him and fight him like that.
It’s a style that works against lesser fighters but against a new age fighter like Dirrell who has more standard skills, Calzaghe would be in deep trouble. The same goes for Ward, who has better hand speed and power than Calzaghe.
This would be the wrong kind of opponent for the 37-year-old Calzaghe to fight and he’d end up probably getting destroyed in a one-sided beating. I’d really hate to see it happen. Although I think both Dirrell and Ward would have beaten Calzaghe at any point in his career without too many problems.
27 Responses to “Calzaghe Left Boxing at The Right Time”
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dude your wrong,and i don’t forgive you
Also to ‘The Gambler’ when was this website ever not a joke?
has this racist still not got over being bullied by a british kid at school?
Forgive me if I’m wrong but didn’t Joe retire at the age of 39? As good as he is he’s no Mosley.
I think you should all lay off scott, he doesn’t no anything about boxing but he really does his best.
Scott, have you ever been to a boxing match?
scott you are either a wind up merchant or a plumb.
Im not a calzaghe fan but cmon man ward and dirrel? they wouldnt have beaten calzaghe no way. Calzaghe would have destroyed them! i dont think anyone in the super middleweight was capable of beating calzaghe to be honest which is why he dominated that division. The reason i say that is not because calzaghe was the best boxer but because hes work rate was too good, he could fight at the same pace from round 1 to round 12 and thats what won him alot of big fights against big names.
Scotty you really are one of the wrist
joe is clearly overated…
My main man Andre Ward is going to clean sweep this tourney. He made Edison look like an amateur and is fit to demolish the others in line.
lol well at least there is some credit to a British boxer in there well done scott
however joe retired so basically he is not news any more:P
well written, informative and factual, good job dave h.
scott gilford, they say u r what u eat, well you must eat a lot of ……
Ask yourself this one question Gilfoid and answer it truthfully with hand on heart. If Calzaghe fought Dirrell or Ward who would you put your life savings on winning?
We all know the answer…
roflmao does this boy ever stop, Scott you make my day when im bored at work with nothing to do. Your articles are like reading a Monty Python script, Dude go into comedy cause your wasted here. Hahahahah hahahahaha hahahahaha hahahaha ha ahahaha hahahaha ahaha
To those who say Calzaghe should have stuck around – Didn’t he have a lengthy enough career as it is? Whatever you think about Joe, none of those 46 victories were handed to him on a plate. Eubank battled, Kessler dished out some real punishment, Hopkins was a stylistic nightmare, and so on. Joe had to write his own record, and it’s there for everyone to see, undeniable and in black and white. Great fights and great names which make up a fantastic legacy. You can either respect it or let it irk you.
Calzaghe has a very impressive record,
but who has he fought, 2 people in thier prime:
lacy / kessler,
hopkins / jones way past thier prime, and still got droped down in the first round,
regardless calzaghe gave all 4 boxers a boxing lesson,
very impressive achievment, but he didint too many risks, that why people like me are still in dought is he a real legend, or a slimy legend ??
what a nob!! is this bloke for real?? he really needs to wind his neck in and have a word with him self!! LOSER!
Scott strikes again *shakes head*.
pitty pat calzaghe …lol. he is an o.k fighter but wouldof loved 2 see him stick around longer and fight some young bloods like paul williams!
A good and corect article, anyone who has a US passport is the best in the world ever, bit like Jeff Lacy.
He only lost to Calzaghe because three weeks before the fight he stubbed his toe, then didn’t get the seat he wanted on the flight over, combined with having the wrong color towels in his UK hotel.
Clearly this was all Calzaghe’s fault, and he had to resort to these dirty tricks to win.
As for a prize-fighter type tournement with reduced rounds – get real mate, Prizefighter makes good tv, but not at world level – what next? An arm-wrestle to decide the best. I’m from the US, and you embarass me Scott Gilfoid, you are a dollop.
Again Scott, you have done a great job of writing an article, well done. For the hell of it though, i’m going to give you the low down on the fighters in this potential competition:
Dirrell- A good prospect with great hand speed, nice movement and overall decent boxing skills, especially when he puts his combinations together. However, he has little real power and having watched his fights between Hanshaw and Oganov, he seems to have a poor chin, little ring generalship and copes badly when under pressure.
Ward- Another good prospect with good power, again very good hand speed and nice movement. He has a particularly decent jab but seems to leave himself too open when moving in to attack and doesn’t have the combinations that Dirrell does. However, he has fought one good and respectable opponent in Miranda, who he beat convincingly.
Taylor- Now arguably past his prime after losing three of his last four bouts. He’s a very skilled boxer with good power, but doesn’t seem to be able to take a big punch nor fight hard for more than six rounds of a fight. He’s got great experience and has fought top calibre opponents, including two wins over Hopkins. However, if don’t think he would play a major role in the competition and would probably only have a good chance of beating ward and Dirrell.
Abraham- He’s got very good power, decent speed and movement and good ring experience, but i’m not entirely convinced he’s as good as he’s hyped. His defence isn’t great and he was pushed hard in his last fight by a bottom tier opponent (the type of opponent he seems to face regularly). Also, he would be moving up in weight for the fights, which could play a factor. I think he would do ok in the tournament but not great and would definitely lose his “0″.
Froch- His defence has looked terrible in his last two fights, along with his overall movement and speed, which doesn’t put him in good stead considering he is a counter-puncher. Although, to combat this he has very good power, a granite chin and a huge heart, mixed with a will to fight only the best and set out a solid legacy. He has fought decent opposition, including two top fighters in Taylor and Pascal (both of which were favourites to win Froch at the time of their fights). I think Froch would do well in the competition but it really depends on his game plan and whether he sticks to it- which he didn’t do against Taylor.
Kessler- Probably the best super-middle weight in the division. Kessler has very good defence and offence, with good power and speed. This put together with his nice movement, footwork as well as good boxing skills and a solid chin makes him a formidable opponent. He also has a great heart and has repeatedly called out the best in the division, but due to problems with his promoter, he hasn’t fought for months. If he can get those problems sorted by the time of the tournament, he will still have to combat the ring rust, which would play a huge factor in his fight couple of fights. However, if he can get a couple of easy warm-up fights in before hand, he will definitely be the favourite to win.
your coments are well off the mark calzaghe was a 12 round fighter with a great chin and skill to macth! you dont no wot you are talking about!
this is pants…. this how website is very quickly becoming a joke…
ok ok, Calzaghe would beat the europeans then get his a** handed to him by the superior yanks…we get it, european fighters suck, we all bow down to the american greatness, how foolish we have been until Gilfoid enlightened us.
You win, round of applause, can we now have some real articles please?
WHO the f uck is Dissal and Ward. joe wudnt take part in this comp cus its a wasted of time. joe if u read this cum bk for 1 last fight to shut divs like scott up.
you really are a div scott. somebody ban this fool