Calzaghe could fight on
Welshman tempted by bout with Pavlik
Last updated: 17th July 2008
Joe Calzaghe has revealed that he might shelve his plans to retire after his September 20 showdown with Roy Jones Jnr.
The undefeated Welshman had initially claimed that his bout with Jones at Madison Square Gardens would be his final contest.
However Calzaghe has now confirmed that he will not give up his WBO super-middleweight title - and could even take on much-vaunted American Kelly Pavlik next year.
Calzaghe, who won the WBO title in 1997 after defeating Chris Eubank, told The Times: "There is no way I am going to give up my WBO title.
"I do not have a mandatory [challenger] at the moment so I do not have to defend my title.
"If I beat Jones, I might move back down to super-middleweight to face Kelly Pavlik."
Pavlik is the current unbeaten middleweight champion having twice beaten Jermain Taylor - and stopped Calzaghe's stable-mate Gary Lockett in three rounds in June.
Calzaghe J 2/9, Jones Jr R 3/1, Draw 25/1
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Comments
Ian Cornish says...
Why do people still trot out the Calzaghe has only fought nobodies or old men line?Maybe he should have fought b-hop or rjj 5 or 6 yr ago,but remember they avoided him.What was he meant to do?As for the claim he has fought nobodies he has beaten the best of what was about.Before the Lacy fight the "experts"claimed jc would get knocked out,same with Kessler. Oh well.Now it's Pavlick,no doubt if jc beats him,he will be dismissed as just another overrated bum.Calzaghe just can't win in some people's eyes. Give the man some credit!
Posted 12:51 22nd July 2008
Stuart Lewis says...
Adam D ur a joke. People on here question JC opponents and then expect him to fight a fighter that has a non existant record in Froch. JC is our world champion and people should question how good the fighters are for avoiding him not question JC for the fact they ran from him. 10yrs as world champ is a legend and anyone who doubts that needs to look at their own pathetic lives and see how many times they have been a world champion. After Hatton loss lets get behind our to world champions in JC and Haye and put Britain back on the map.
Posted 21:29 21st July 2008
Christoper Robison says...
calzaghe is wasting his time fighting jones. jones didnt want to fight calzaghe a few years back wen he was at his best he is looking for a final payday against the best boxer of his generation its a joke and as far as kelly pavlik goes he is just gna get a boxing lession by the legend just ask lacey and kessler 2 young fighters who wer expected to give joe a match and look wat happend aha. there is no1 out there who can handle joe thats why hes the best p4p fighter on the plant and has been for the past 5 or 6 years.
Posted 23:30 20th July 2008
Paul Furlong says...
jones will out class him. jones is no hopkins and last time a brit came up against a class act look what happened. im sure the refferee will have a big part to play aswell
Posted 14:39 20th July 2008
John Maley says...
get real people, i do like joe C but in my eyes the only A class fighter joe has fought is a past it b-hop, maybe eubanks. But to say the likes of kessler and lacy are great fighters is ridiculous, keeslar B class, Lacy C class. The whole point is joe has done the ground work against these fighters, i think people may get a shock by roy jones who looked alot better (not his best) against tito, if he did take pavlik that would be a bold move. Like it or not a 37 year old fighter aint at his prime, so for me pavlik would have the energy to beat joe c. BUT if joe did take and beat kelly i have to say then he can be truly deemed as the greatest british fighter.
Posted 12:30 20th July 2008
Dave Curtis says...
Its great news Joe will be defending his super middleweight title, i was dissapointed he chose to face roy jones instead of kelly pavlick. To defend this title he must face pavlick and if he wins it will give his legacy far more credability. I think he will look a hell of a lot better against a fighter like pavlick who is relentless in attack as apposed to roy jones who will provide a simlar challenge to hopkins and lets face it joe didnt look good against hopkins. I thought he was going to go into retirement without facing the toughest challenge out there but its looking like joes going to prove to the world he is one of the all time greats and he gets big respect for that.
Posted 22:07 18th July 2008
Craig Taylor says...
I have to agree with Neil Hollis.One thing Joe C has is a great chin.He took some big punches against Kessler and just shook them off.The fight against B-hop, Joe was lucky and there was not much in it at all.B-hop is a spoiler though and makes boxers look bad.I think that Joe is going to have his hands full against RJJ.He is still fast and extremely strong and I think will definately cause Joe problems.Joe however does seem to have amazing stamina but I have to admit that he does seem to 'slap' at times.If it goes 12 rounds Joe would have to be favoured to prevail.I still think it will be a great fight and RJJ will definately be hungry for this one after a few 'ordinary' performances probably caused by complacency.Fighting Pavlik however I think would be a 'war' I'd love to see.The guy has great snap in his punches and can certainly bang.That plus the fact that the guy is still extremely hungry,fit and can take a punch makes it fight I think Joe would lose.Regardless good luck to Joe...
Posted 19:13 18th July 2008
Darren Knock says...
Calzaghe is an awesome fighter and has proved the doubters wrong on various occasions. I do feel that after he beats Jones, he should stick to his word and retire. He has nothing left to prove, and the only thing he will be chasing is 25 defenseses of his WBO belt to equal Joe lewis's record. I have followed Jo's career for the last 10 years, and I would hate to see him get into wars just make the 25 milestone. As for Carl Froch, if he and his team think he's that good, he should take on Mikkel Kessler who in my opinion would knock froch out!!!
Posted 10:09 18th July 2008
Richard Eldred says...
JC has it all to do - the legacy of greatest ever British boxer is within reach but he has to beat BOTH KP and RJJ. But he's doing it the wrong way round - rather than yo-yo his weight between light-heavy and back down, he should be fighting KP now. KP is getting better with every fight and the sooner JC meets him the better - you don't want him fighting Kessler as preparation for a future bout, which I can see happening now Kessler is WBA S-Mid Champ. I hate to say it, but I actually think JC is going to lose against RJJ - he looked sublime against Trinidad after a few disappointing fights that can be attributed to his move into heavyweight (the danger of yo-yo-ing). He's back at his natural weight now and looking every bit as good as in his heyday. KP, simply from a style vantage, is an easier fight for JC - he stands straight and, whilst he has plenty of power and accuracy, he lacks the speed of JC despite his younger years. And, since he'd be moving up in weight to meet JC, the power hopefully shouldn't be too big an issue. JC is in a tough spot with RJJ - in light of his comeback against Trinidad he HAS to fight him to silence the doubters, but in many ways it's a lose-lose situation - if he wins it's against someone 'over-the-hill', and if he loses - very probably - well he can forget about his legacy. If he wins against KP no one can argue he didn't fight the main man in his prime. He was lucky to beat Hopkins, who'd if he'd been a few rounds fitter, would have put JC in real trouble - and don't forget that RJJ beat Hopkins in his prime. On a side note, I'm disappointed to see the RJJ/JC fight in NY - RJJ needs JC more than JC needs him, so if he wanted to fight in Cardiff there's little Jones could do about it frankly.
Posted 09:34 18th July 2008
Taj Singh says...
Joe is a good fighter but hes left it to late, for taking on people like Jones and Hopkins. Their well past there primes, theirs no doubt Calzaghe will beat Jones. And only now hes making a good amount of money. He should have being doing this along time ago, Joe was champ when Jones was dominating Light heavyweight. Calzaghe's a great fighter nevertheless. After the Jones Fight I fink Calzaghe should either look at Pavlik or Froch who have great power, and would give Joe a hard time, their young, undefeated and raring to go. Joe Calzaghe is the best British boxer of his era, and up their for the best British boxer of all time.
Posted 21:04 17th July 2008
Bob Wilson says...
kenny scott what are u talking about?? calzaghe is a legend unbeaten world champion for 11 years!! eubank, lacy, kessler were champions when he fighted them how can they not be in their prime? . jones and hopkins both did not want to fight calzaghe in their prime becuase they priced themselves out of the fight. also calzaghe has an MBE,CBE for what he has done is boxing. obviously u don't know alot about boxing or you are jealous of one of the best boxers of all time.
Posted 19:20 17th July 2008
Daryl Grizzle says...
Joe Calzaghe isn't nowhere near as good as his stats show. Unbeaten in 30+ fights but has only beaten two guys worth mentioning, Chris Eubanks and Bernard Hopkins, both who were on the wrong side on the hill. Those of you that want to throw Jeff Lacy's name into the mix don't bother; Lacy was ranked 7th at the time of the fight and hadn't fought anybody himself. Going up against a still very dangerous Roy Jones Jnr will definitely be Joe's biggest challenge to date. I'm not expecting a Calzahge win as Jnr rolled back the years against Tito. Some will say that Tito doesn't possess the heart or work rate of Joe, but Joe doesn't possess the technical ability and boxing craft of Tito Trinidad. Need i remind you that Jnr is one of the all time greatest counter punchers that has ever lived. A fight with Pavlik isn't advisable as Pavlik can box and is said to posses a immense power in his slim frame. Anybody who can knock the massive Jermain Taylor out possess a lot of power. Joe wants to compare his legacy to Marciano's? Hugely disrespectful. Marciano fought the best of the best, ducked nobody and didn't hand pick his opponents, can we say the same for Joe?
Posted 19:12 17th July 2008
Ryan Fardon says...
There isn't much excitement about Pavlik's boxing skills but boy can he bang. Kessler had Joe in trouble a few times then Hopkins put him down Calzaghe does struggle with getting used to his opponents styles, and i think against Pavlik he could come un-stuck if he starts like he did in his last two fights. Also i can't believe people are writing off Roy Jones, has anyone seen him fight? Fast hands and stronger than Joe, plus your in Roy Jones church i think that will be a very tough night for Joe Calzaghe but at the same time i think he'll come through on points! Come On Joe!
Posted 18:43 17th July 2008
Dave Budgen says...
how can u say he's made a career out of boxing nobodies how ridiculous is that? chris eubank a nobody? mikkel kessler a nobody? jeff lacy a nobody? u can only fight the fighters that will fight u and that is what joe has done through his career. im sure Bernard Hopkins or Roy Jones Jnr have had all their fights with other p4p superstars. joe is a fantastic boxer and i hope he does continue after he has beaten Roy Jones Jnr and goes on to fight Pavlik and win. I suppose he will still be a bad fighter then wont he
Posted 18:32 17th July 2008
Marc Sinclair says...
Im sick of all these people who continue to doubt calzaghes talents in the ring. To say Froch would beat Calzaghe is absurd, even if by some minor miracle he did manage to beat him what Calzaghe has acheived in the last ten years is almost unmatced by any fighter of his era.Ok hopkins is not the fighter he once was but the same can be said for the welshmen who is not the fighter he was five years ago. Calzaghe is a victim of his own talent, people have been ducking him for years right from the start when Steve Collins made the correct decision to retire as world champ, as i have no doubt Calzaghe would have beat him. I agree that Calzaghe will struggle against the impressive Pavlik ,but he has the skill to win the fight if he does it his way otherwise it will be a tough night. Its about time the doubters got behind him because the way British boxing is currently its hard to see where the next great champ is gonna come from
Posted 18:27 17th July 2008
Adam D says...
Carl Froch has proved time and time again that he deserves a shot at the super-middleweight title. For calzaghe to give the shot to someone like pavlik is a slap in the face to froch who should try everything in his power to get calzaghe to fight him or show what a coward he really is!!
Posted 16:28 17th July 2008
Keri O'sullivan says...
great news to hear that the champ may fight on; despite age i think jones jr will be a real tough opponent ;he throws power punches from some incredible angles' this is a massive test 'forget froch ;how can he say that he will knock calzaghe out; his last fight was a joke if he cant knock some bum out what chance does he have of doing it to calzaghe a true champion ; i think froch should fight pavlik so the world can see the class diffrence between the two
Posted 16:22 17th July 2008
John Williams says...
personally I think most of the people who dis calzaghe are jealous englishman. If he was english most of these people wouldn't have bothered commenting on this thread. I'm english myself but I respect Joe because i can see he is the only legend we have in british sport still plying his trade. Some of my friends however choose not to like the guy purely becuause of his nationality which is a bit sad imo. I mean, so many people contradict their own arguments when calzaghe bashing, it's become rediculous. They say things like Calzaghe has fought nobody's then they mix that up with he should fight Carl Froch....sorry carl froch who has beaten who? Also the whole Jones Jr is past his best- yes this is true, but so is calzaghe- this is what makes it an intriguing fight. Jones Jr is only 3 years Calzaghes senior.
Posted 16:20 17th July 2008
Byron Nelson says...
If Hopkins was such an over the hill fighter? Why was he ranked higher than Joe in the p4p stakes? Why was everyone saying Joe was ducking Kessler, then they made the fight and we saw what happened, and why did so many fighters avoid Joe through the years, including a younger Hopkins, James Toney, RJJ etc etc. If Joe fighst Pavlik, the next excuse will be, Pavlik was all hype, Joe just can't win, yet his record speaks for itself, and teh way he dominates opponents, Hopkins was his worst fight, because Hopkins is a dirty, tactical fighter with a heck of a lot of ring knowledge, Joe still won about 8-9 rounds against him.
Posted 15:36 17th July 2008
Kenny Scott says...
calzaghe a legend? dont make me laugh the guy has made a career out of fighting nobodys and fighters who are past there best i.e. hopkins who in his prime would have beat joe up and now he is going after jones jnr 6 yaers past his best who in his prime would have taken joe out easily. he could have fought froch but knows he will not win and if he does get past jones he might as well roll out people like hagler or hearns and add them 2 his list of old men. come on roy jones jnr beat this guy up so we can stop hearing how great he is
Posted 15:14 17th July 2008
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