By Scott Gilfoid: I can’t get over the timing of Joe Calzaghe’s retirement. It came not long before the idea of Super Six tournament sprang up. Calzaghe would have been facing a tough decision with that one. I wouldn’t have liked Calzaghe’s chances in the tournament, to be honest. Oh, I think Calzaghe would get a win or two out of it. After all, Carl Froch and Jermain Taylor are participating and they should be good for at least two nice wins for Calzaghe.
But as far as the rest of the Super Six opponents, I see losses for Calzaghe as far as the eye can see. It would have been bad. Yeah, I know that Calzaghe already beat Mikkel Kessler, but the fight was very close and the way that Kessler was looking at the end of the fight, it seemed like he had figured out Calzaghe’s style and was coming on.
In a rematch, Kessler would have made adjustments and I could see him winning the fight by at least two to four rounds or more. I think it would have been bad for Calzaghe, and not just because he was getting up there in age, but rather because he was facing arguably better fighters than he ever did in his career, at least with Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell.
Those fighters would have likely given Calzaghe fits had he stuck around and participated in the Super Six tourney. I highly doubt that Calzaghe would have chosen to fight in the Super Six tournament, unfortunately, unless he was dragged kicking and screaming into it.
This seems like an event that Calzaghe would have avoided like the plague. I’d like to think that I’m wrong about this, because I think this tournament would have gone along ways towards erasing some of the questions that still remain about the lack of quality opponents in Calzaghe’s resume.
In this one tournament alone, Calzaghe would have faced arguably better fighters than his entire 15-year pro career in my view. Although I think Calzaghe would end up losing a number of times, but at least he’d get a chance of going out on his shield instead of retiring with his last two fights of his career coming against 40-year-olds Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr.
Calzaghe could have stayed to the bitter end and fought in the Super Six tournament and if he lost, who cares? No one would knock the guy because he would have an excuse – his age. At 37, Calzaghe would be the oldest participant in the Super Six tournament by far, and no one would hold it against him if he got embarrassed by younger fighters like Dirrell and Ward.
It wouldn’t matter if his unbeaten 46-0 record was tarnished by a couple of losses, because Calzaghe would have gained by having some quality names on his mostly barren of talent resume. If it was me, I would do it. I could care less about trying to protect my unbeaten record, just as long as I could participate against the best fighters and end my career on a high note instead of a low one.
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