By Wayne Lloyd: In 2008 I remember leaving Madison Square Garden and saying to my father that I thought Joe Calzaghe (46-0) was retiring prematurely as he brought down the curtain on an illustrious career that yielded no professional defeats and just one loss as an amateur. Indeed, some three and a half years later and this is an opinion that I still stand by. I am also of the opinion that if Joe Calzaghe was still boxing today then he would still have his unbeaten record intact.
When Calzaghe did retire I was surprised at the level of negativity that was placed at the door of such a gifted and entertaining fighter. I read countless articles from so called experts who considered that any sort of legacy would not be secured unless he fought the likes of Kelly Pavlik and Chad Dawson – some even suggested he was scared of them! I think it is important that in any argument you have to take stock of the evidence that you have before you can really provide an accurate debate and having watched the middle weight division closely for the past couple of years I think the Calzaghe critics now owe him something of an apology.
The benchmark of this whole argument is the great Bernard Hopkins – a man that many people considered being nothing more than a ‘has been’ when he and Calzaghe met at the Thomas and Mac Centre in Las Vegas. In the past fortnight; however, Hopkins became the Light Heavyweight World Champion by destroying Jean Pascal (he even had the energy to do some press ups before coming out for round 7) and prior to that he taught Kelly Pavlik a lesson and this was the man that Calzaghe had to beat in order to cement his legacy. Along with the fight against Hopkins, Pavlik’s performance against Lopez proves that he doesn’t have the ability to beat Calzaghe and the there is Chad Dawson. ‘Bad’ Chad fought on the undercard of the Calzaghe versus Lacy bout and it was plain to see then that the boy had boxing ability in abundance. He had fast hands and feet and perfect balance; however, there is one thing lacking in Chad Dawson that will prevent him from ever being great – aggression. This makes him such a frustrating fighter to watch but as with everything in sport – you either you have it or you don’t and more often than not he has been found wanting when it matters. Based on the current evidence – his loss to Pascal in particular – it would be hard to consider that he could ever have beaten Joe Calzaghe. I will be intrigued to see how he performs against Hopkins – if he loses then he will have lost to the one man that Calzaghe received no credit for beating – which would confirm that Calzaghe had nothing to prove by fighting either of them.
The middleweight division does not just stop with these three men; however. Indeed, before I have it pointed out to me Pascal and Hopkins are currently representing the light heavy weight division along with ‘Bad Chad’; however, not long after Calzaghe retired I was at the Nottingham Trent Arena to see arguably the best fight of 2008 – Froch v Pascal. This was fought at middle weight and yielded Pascal’s first professional defeat and this brings me onto the Super Six tournament that is due to be concluded in the autumn. This tournament is designed to find the best Super-Middleweight fighter in the world by unifying the belts that were once owned by Calzaghe for so long. The favourite of that tournament was Kessler – who Calzaghe beat at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Arguably the most improved fighter of the tournament is Carl Froch – his performances have been nothing short of outstanding; however, he lost to Kessler and does not have any of the tools to beat Calzaghe – neither does Abraham, Taylor, or Dirrell – all of whom Froch has beaten. Simultaneously, neither Green nor Ward has the power to ever beat Calzaghe and their performances – although of a high standard (Green excluded) – are nothing compared to those displayed by Calzaghe against the likes of Eubank and Kessler. It might be worth adding; however, that the performances of Ward should not go unnoticed. Throughout the Super Six tournament he has show great ability; however, I believe that the constant barrage of punches that Calzaghe landed on his opponents he would cause Ward great difficulty and the level of power that he has demonstrated would not have caused Calzaghe any problems at all.
As I am writing this I have read many articles suggesting that Joe Calzaghe might be contemplating a comeback. Indeed, back in May 2011 Richard Schaefer the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions was reported to have suggested dialogue between Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins over a possible rematch and it is no secret that Hopkins has always expressed his desire for a rematch. This week Calzaghe had also tweeted that he had been back working on the pads with his father Enzo for the first time in a long time. Speculators and fans will always hold onto comments such as these in the hope that he will be making a return to the ring and I am definitely one of those fans who longs to see Calzaghe step back into the limelight. If Hopkins manages to overcome Chad Dawson – and I don’t see any reason why this will not happen – then a rematch between Calzaghe and Hopkins for the Light Heavyweight Championship would be a fitting return to boxing for one of the most underrated boxers of our time.
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