By Sean McDaniel: Judging by the way that former super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KO’s) is still going on about WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch, I think Calzaghe might be thinking about fighting Froch. I mean why else would Calzaghe still be talking about Froch after all this time. Calzaghe hasn’t fought in over a year since he defeated Roy Jones Jr. by a one-sided 12 round decision in November 2008. That’s not that much time away from the sport, and Calzaghe still looks youthful at 37. No gray hair, wrinkles and has stayed in tip top condition.
Calzaghe would have an excellent chance of beating Froch if he was to get a shot at him now. I’m not sure if that would still be the case if he has to wait until Froch has completed his participation in the Super Six tournament next year. Froch might be eliminated from the Super Six tournament by the end of 2010, because he has two tough fights coming up against Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham this year.
The Kessler fight would seem like Froch’s best chance of winning, but as bad as Froch looked in defeating Andre Dirrell by a controversial 12 round decision last October, I wouldn’t put money on Froch being able to beat a fighter as polished as Kessler. That seems like a really risky fight for Froch. Calzaghe recently called him “a spoilt, little bloody b*tch.” For Calzaghe to say something like this out of the blue, it seems like he might be thinking about wanting to test himself against Froch.
To be sure, if Calzaghe was to take on Froch and beat him, it would be a huge win for Joe. A victory over Froch would obviously help cement Calzaghe’s credentials as one of the greatest fighters ever. It’s a victory that Calzaghe would gain a lot from, both financially and in the minds of the boxing public. Froch has quickly become a fairly popular fighter in the UK, as he’s mentioned quite a lot in the media.
Calzaghe, for obvious reasons, doesn’t get discussed as much nowadays by the boxing media because he’s retired and no longer a topic for discussion. Calzaghe may have retired a little early. He still was fighting at a high level when he retired and could have made more money by sticking around and taking on a few select fighters.
Calzaghe wouldn’t have had to fight in the Super Six tournament, although the pressure would be high for him to have done so. But a fight against Froch would be the perfect way for Calzaghe to retire on. Froch is the best fighter in that weight class in the UK, and it would be the perfect fight for Calzaghe to take. He matches up incredibly well with the much slower Froch.
This is a fight that Calzaghe wins even with a year off from boxing. The only problem is finding the time to fight Froch. Unless Froch was allowed to squeeze in a fight between his Super Six tourney commitments, it would mean that Calzaghe would have to wait for the remainder of 2010 before he could get a fight with Froch. By that time, Calzaghe will be 38-years-old and that might be a little too old for a fight against Froch.
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