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Boxing Without Calzaghe and How To Lure Him Back By Max Lom:******** Boxing Article
By Max Lom: Joe Calzaghe retired Thursday with a perfect record and a guaranteed legacy as one of the greatest British boxers ever. As a fixture in everyone’s pound-for-pound top 5 lists, he left the sport on top, and if his decision is indeed permanent, then he can certainly be very proud of what he has accomplished. However, at a time when the sport seems to finally be regaining its stride, one of its leading men will be noticeably absent..
As it stands, he isn’t “ducking” any current fighter, but instead perhaps just taking a step aside to allow the men that are currently chasing him to become better opponents for him. Even at 36 years of age, he looked fresh enough in his last win over Roy Jones to be able to step away from boxing for a while and still be at the top of his game if he returns.
The main problem with finding a suitable opponent for Calzaghe is that at this moment, there are no fighters who have clearly earned the opportunity to fight him. In order to fight someone of his stature, a boxer has to earn a reputation both in and out of the ring that comes close to matching the Pride of Wales. Otherwise, it isn’t worth it for Calzaghe to risk his legacy to fight someone who hasn’t done enough to enter the ring with him.
Unfortunately, at this time there are no opponents that can clearly claim to deserve a fight with the Welshman. Bernard Hopkins came closest to beating him, and has the best claim to a fight at the moment, but their first bout was far from memorable, and it even struggled at the box office. If he wants a second chance at Calzaghe, then he will need to build on his domination of middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, and beat at least one other top fighter in convincing fashion to earn a return with the Pride of Wales.
Chad Dawson is the most likely long-term heir to Calzaghe’s 175-pound throne, but he is simply not a major commercial attraction yet at this point in his career. Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler was very competitive in a 2007 match-up with Calzaghe in Cardiff, but the Dane has done nothing in the ring since that fight to deserve a rematch.
The list goes on with potential opponents who, through one shortcoming or another, do not yet have a viable case for why they should be the man that Calzaghe risks his 46-0 record on. Jermain Taylor has yet to prove that he has fully rebounded from a decline that started well before he was knocked out by Pavlik. Carl Froch is an intriguing new champion, but he is still unproven in the ring, and is largely unknown outside his base of Nottingham, England. Pavlik and German Arthur Abraham have had great success at the 160-pound limit, but are a long way from proving themselves at other weights, and Pavlik’s last foray into a higher weight ended in embarrassment. Even Glen Johnson, who does everything a fan can ask for from a boxer, simply has too many losses on his résumé to be worth the risk for Calzaghe.
So what needs to happen for one of these men to become a realistic opponent for Calzaghe? They simply have to battle each other until there is a more obvious leader in the group. A Taylor-Froch fight would be an excellent way to start the process, but the two sides have to come together and finally agree to fight first. If Froch can make an impressive American debut, then the buzz for an all-British contest will really start to build in the UK, and it would become a more attractive fight for the audience in the U.S. Likewise, if Taylor were to produce a convincing win, then it could signal a return to his performances that made him one of boxing’s hottest commodities when he first won the middleweight crown from Hopkins.
Elsewhere, the fights seem to be wide open. Mikkel Kessler simply needs to become more active, and fight better competition instead of B-level European contenders. Any top 10 super-middleweight would be a good first step for him, and a win could be the pretence to a fight against the Taylor-Froch winner, or even Pavlik or Abraham if they decide to move away from the shallow field at middleweight.
Assuming Dawson beats Antonio Tarver again in their rematch, he will have limited options at light-heavyweight apart from three oldies – Hopkins, Jones, and Glen Johnson – the first two of whom may be reluctant to fight him, and the third who represents little reward if Dawson succeeds. Assuming they don’t retire, at least one fight against these three will be necessary for Dawson to get into the Calzaghe picture, and even then he may need to beat whoever emerges from the jumble at 168 to force the issue with Calzaghe.
Of course, Calzaghe doesn’t have to return for anyone. One of these fighters could enjoy a terrific run of results, but if the long-time Welsh champ is happily retired then there’s no need to take the risk to improve his legacy. If that’s the case, then at least his retirement will have forced fighters to take each other on, rather than sitting around, waiting and hoping for Calzaghe to offer them a fight they don’t deserve.
In this observer’s opinion, however, that will not be an issue as a Calzaghe comeback is likely as long as one fighter can step forward and make a strong case that their name belongs on the marquee to the right of Joe Calzaghe.
As it stands, he isn’t “ducking” any current fighter, but instead perhaps just taking a step aside to allow the men that are currently chasing him to become better opponents for him. Even at 36 years of age, he looked fresh enough in his last win over Roy Jones to be able to step away from boxing for a while and still be at the top of his game if he returns.
The main problem with finding a suitable opponent for Calzaghe is that at this moment, there are no fighters who have clearly earned the opportunity to fight him. In order to fight someone of his stature, a boxer has to earn a reputation both in and out of the ring that comes close to matching the Pride of Wales. Otherwise, it isn’t worth it for Calzaghe to risk his legacy to fight someone who hasn’t done enough to enter the ring with him.
Unfortunately, at this time there are no opponents that can clearly claim to deserve a fight with the Welshman. Bernard Hopkins came closest to beating him, and has the best claim to a fight at the moment, but their first bout was far from memorable, and it even struggled at the box office. If he wants a second chance at Calzaghe, then he will need to build on his domination of middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, and beat at least one other top fighter in convincing fashion to earn a return with the Pride of Wales.
Chad Dawson is the most likely long-term heir to Calzaghe’s 175-pound throne, but he is simply not a major commercial attraction yet at this point in his career. Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler was very competitive in a 2007 match-up with Calzaghe in Cardiff, but the Dane has done nothing in the ring since that fight to deserve a rematch.
The list goes on with potential opponents who, through one shortcoming or another, do not yet have a viable case for why they should be the man that Calzaghe risks his 46-0 record on. Jermain Taylor has yet to prove that he has fully rebounded from a decline that started well before he was knocked out by Pavlik. Carl Froch is an intriguing new champion, but he is still unproven in the ring, and is largely unknown outside his base of Nottingham, England. Pavlik and German Arthur Abraham have had great success at the 160-pound limit, but are a long way from proving themselves at other weights, and Pavlik’s last foray into a higher weight ended in embarrassment. Even Glen Johnson, who does everything a fan can ask for from a boxer, simply has too many losses on his résumé to be worth the risk for Calzaghe.
So what needs to happen for one of these men to become a realistic opponent for Calzaghe? They simply have to battle each other until there is a more obvious leader in the group. A Taylor-Froch fight would be an excellent way to start the process, but the two sides have to come together and finally agree to fight first. If Froch can make an impressive American debut, then the buzz for an all-British contest will really start to build in the UK, and it would become a more attractive fight for the audience in the U.S. Likewise, if Taylor were to produce a convincing win, then it could signal a return to his performances that made him one of boxing’s hottest commodities when he first won the middleweight crown from Hopkins.
Elsewhere, the fights seem to be wide open. Mikkel Kessler simply needs to become more active, and fight better competition instead of B-level European contenders. Any top 10 super-middleweight would be a good first step for him, and a win could be the pretence to a fight against the Taylor-Froch winner, or even Pavlik or Abraham if they decide to move away from the shallow field at middleweight.
Assuming Dawson beats Antonio Tarver again in their rematch, he will have limited options at light-heavyweight apart from three oldies – Hopkins, Jones, and Glen Johnson – the first two of whom may be reluctant to fight him, and the third who represents little reward if Dawson succeeds. Assuming they don’t retire, at least one fight against these three will be necessary for Dawson to get into the Calzaghe picture, and even then he may need to beat whoever emerges from the jumble at 168 to force the issue with Calzaghe.
Of course, Calzaghe doesn’t have to return for anyone. One of these fighters could enjoy a terrific run of results, but if the long-time Welsh champ is happily retired then there’s no need to take the risk to improve his legacy. If that’s the case, then at least his retirement will have forced fighters to take each other on, rather than sitting around, waiting and hoping for Calzaghe to offer them a fight they don’t deserve.
In this observer’s opinion, however, that will not be an issue as a Calzaghe comeback is likely as long as one fighter can step forward and make a strong case that their name belongs on the marquee to the right of Joe Calzaghe.
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