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JOE CALZAGHE has revealed he will quit boxing by the end of the year because he is too lazy to carry on fighting.
The undefeated world champion takes on Bernard Hopkins on April 19 and plans one more showdown after his Las Vegas date with the veteran American.
Calzaghe has gone on six years longer than he ever intended, admitting he wanted a few more quid in the bank before he hung up his gloves.
He said: “I’m too effing lazy to keep fighting. I know when enough is enough and I’ll be out of boxing by the end of this year.
“My routine used to be that after fighting on a Saturday night, I’d be back in the gym first thing on a Monday morning. Now I’m back training after four months.
“I was nine when I began boxing and as a 26-year-old pro I was telling anyone who would listen that I’d be gone by the time I was 30.
“Here I am at 36 still throwing punches.
“I’m not thick enough to stay in boxing, I definitely won’t find it hard to walk away from the sport.
“And when I say I’m going to retire I will stay retired. But those are famous last words, aren’t they?
“To be honest, after I unified the super-middleweight division by beating Mikkel Kessler I’d have retired then if I had more millions in the bank.
“Money talks. Who knows? In a few years’ time I might make some ill-advised comeback and get my ass kicked!”
Calzaghe also insists his final days wearing gloves will not be tarnished by fighting ‘tomato cans’.
The Welsh Warrior wants to go out with a **** by beating 43-year-old Hopkins at light-heavyweight and then taking on another undefeated fighter in Kelly Pavlik for his swansong.
Pavlik first has a June 7 defence of his middleweight title against Calzaghe’s stablemate Gary Lockett in Atlantic City.
Calzaghe declared: “The biggest fight I want is Pavlik.
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“He is the last one to get my juices going. He’s 33-0, I’m 44-0. It doesn’t come much better than that.
“I always thought I would retire undefeated and years ago people may have thought it was something of a pipedream. But now I am so close. It is like being on the final lap of doing something remarkable.
“Rocky Marciano has done it but very few people have.
“I am not a paper champion either — I am the undisputed champion who beat Mikkel Kessler.
“People will see how good he is in the next few years as I’m sure he will come to dominate the super-middles.
“I could have taken the easy option and stayed in Wales and had a few voluntary defences but that just isn’t my style.
“Fighting boxers like Kessler and Jeff Lacy means so much more to me than having a bunch of fights against people nobody knows about.
“The Kessler and Lacy fights were tough ones because I was the underdog in each of them.
“To retire at the top and get out undefeated is a remarkable thing but I want to make sure my last few challenges are tough challenges.”
The undefeated world champion takes on Bernard Hopkins on April 19 and plans one more showdown after his Las Vegas date with the veteran American.
Calzaghe has gone on six years longer than he ever intended, admitting he wanted a few more quid in the bank before he hung up his gloves.
He said: “I’m too effing lazy to keep fighting. I know when enough is enough and I’ll be out of boxing by the end of this year.
“My routine used to be that after fighting on a Saturday night, I’d be back in the gym first thing on a Monday morning. Now I’m back training after four months.
“I was nine when I began boxing and as a 26-year-old pro I was telling anyone who would listen that I’d be gone by the time I was 30.
“Here I am at 36 still throwing punches.
“I’m not thick enough to stay in boxing, I definitely won’t find it hard to walk away from the sport.
“And when I say I’m going to retire I will stay retired. But those are famous last words, aren’t they?
“To be honest, after I unified the super-middleweight division by beating Mikkel Kessler I’d have retired then if I had more millions in the bank.
“Money talks. Who knows? In a few years’ time I might make some ill-advised comeback and get my ass kicked!”
Calzaghe also insists his final days wearing gloves will not be tarnished by fighting ‘tomato cans’.
The Welsh Warrior wants to go out with a **** by beating 43-year-old Hopkins at light-heavyweight and then taking on another undefeated fighter in Kelly Pavlik for his swansong.
Pavlik first has a June 7 defence of his middleweight title against Calzaghe’s stablemate Gary Lockett in Atlantic City.
Calzaghe declared: “The biggest fight I want is Pavlik.
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“He is the last one to get my juices going. He’s 33-0, I’m 44-0. It doesn’t come much better than that.
“I always thought I would retire undefeated and years ago people may have thought it was something of a pipedream. But now I am so close. It is like being on the final lap of doing something remarkable.
“Rocky Marciano has done it but very few people have.
“I am not a paper champion either — I am the undisputed champion who beat Mikkel Kessler.
“People will see how good he is in the next few years as I’m sure he will come to dominate the super-middles.
“I could have taken the easy option and stayed in Wales and had a few voluntary defences but that just isn’t my style.
“Fighting boxers like Kessler and Jeff Lacy means so much more to me than having a bunch of fights against people nobody knows about.
“The Kessler and Lacy fights were tough ones because I was the underdog in each of them.
“To retire at the top and get out undefeated is a remarkable thing but I want to make sure my last few challenges are tough challenges.”
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