MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Why Joe is still No.1 (From South Wales Argus)

MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Why Joe is still No.1

12:10pm Thursday 10th December 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)

ONE year ago Joe Calzaghe was preparing to announce his retirement from the sport that had been his life, having ended his career by beating Roy Jones Jr at Madison Square Garden, the ultimate pantheon in which to finally lay down his gloves.

After boxing since childhood, Calzaghe bowed out with his head held high, a two-weight world champion. He was recognised by Ring magazine as both the super middleweight and light heavyweight king, the best of the best and as an almost ever-present in the top three on all the unofficial pound-for-pound lists.

Most uniquely of all, Calzaghe achieved the phenomenally rare feat of retiring undefeated, winning all of his 46 professional bouts.

Calzaghe retired as a genuine icon of British sport, the best boxer from these shores in the past 20-years with only Lennox Lewis rivaling his status as the best of his generation.

However, as they tell you in the movies that was then and this is now and a lot can change in a year.

Quite disgracefully, several boxing writers are beginning an attempt to rewrite history and Calzaghe’s place in it, following shock losses for Mikkel Kessler and Roy Jones Jr.

In the last month, Kessler, the Danish warrior who gave Joe a terrific battle at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, was beaten by Andre Ward in the super middleweight super six tournament. And Jones, thought to be on the verge of signing on to meet Bernard Hopkins, was crushed within 120 seconds of stepping into the ring with an Australian journeyman named Danny Green.

Those defeats have led to an inevitable: “Where does that leave Calzaghe’s legacy?” debate and infuriatingly, said scribes are already saying Joe should return from retirement to fight the winner of the Super Six, be it Carl Froch, Kessler, Ward or one of the other three.

Perhaps then, a year on from the retirement of one of our greatest ever sportsman, a little recap of his career is in order.

Calzaghe’s record of 46-0 came with 32 knockouts, which is an easy enough answer to those who state he wasn’t a power puncher.

Having turned professional in 1993, Calzaghe tore down every name in the super middleweight division that dared to face him, a list that sadly does not include Steve Collins, who by his own admission ducked a 1997 fight, meaning Joe’s breakthrough came in beating the great Chris Eubank.

Calzaghe held the WBO title for more than a decade, but still pursued showdown unification fights with Markus Beyer and Sven Ottke, neither of whom wanted to know.

However, despite failing to land the big fights, Calzaghe defended his title against Omar Sheika, Robin Reid, Richie Woodhall, Byron Mitchell and Mario Veit.

These were the best guys in the super middleweight division willing to fight Calzaghe and he dealt with all of them. And, other than a slightly sloppy performance against Reid, Calzaghe was a dominant victor too.

It wasn’t enough for him and of course, the real breakthrough fight wouldn’t come until he crushed heavy favourite and IBF champion Jeff Lacy in Manchester, Lacy barely able to lay a glove on Calzaghe who was at his imperious best.

That finally sent Calzaghe into the top tier of boxing and he would then fight the big ones he’d craved for so long.

But make no mistake about it; Calzaghe is not to blame for fighting Jones and, some argue, Hopkins past their prime.

Calzaghe was a victim of basic economics earlier in his career as his name couldn’t generate enough money to risk stepping in the ring with him. He wasn’t well known enough in the USA.

That changed after Lacy and Kessler had the balls to step up for a unification fight, totally at odds with the appalling attitude of Ottke in particular.

In beating Kessler in front of 50,000 fans, Calzaghe did it all, he broke America, he broke Kessler’s heart and he unified the division.

It’s simply impossible to argue that Hopkins, his next big fight and first in America, was past his prime. Calzaghe beat him too and since then, Hopkins has destroyed Kelly Pavlik and reclaimed his spot as the Ring magazine top light heavyweight in the world.

It’s hard not to agree that Calzaghe beat a Jones who had most certainly seen better days, but could Joe be blamed for the fact Roy Jones wasn’t interested in fighting him five years earlier?

And how dare people criticise Calzaghe for retiring in his prime. How often do we despair at fighters who simply don’t know when to say enough is enough? If more fighters bowed out as Calzaghe did, boxing would be the beneficiary.

Any attempts to rewrite history are futile. With a granite chin, hand speed and reflexes that were almost unimaginable and an unrelenting will to win, the heart and mind of a champion, Calzaghe’s legacy is utterly secure.

His status in boxing history is entirely deserved and the recent losses for Kessler – who has been inactive for two years – and Jones – who is past his prime – don’t dilute Joe’s achievements a jot.

If he has regrets it will only be that he missed some of the great super middleweights such as Michael Watson, Michael Benn and Steve Collins because of his age and that he is an absolutely rubbish dancer!

But as a modern era British boxer, he still stands proudly as the best of the best.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)