"Boxing is a dying sport" - Why I disagree with Joe Calzaghe

Fellow British champion Carl Froch described Joe Calzaghe's remarks as a “bitter comment” from a boxer just “fighting old men”, and for me Calzaghe’s claim couldn’t be further from the truth, especially when considering the current British fight scene.

Not since the heady days of Eubank, Watson, Benn and Collins have we had a crop of British fighters to rival Hatton, Calzaghe, Haye and Froch. All world champions in their respective divisions (Hatton at Light Welterweight and Haye as Cruiserweight) and all seeking out the biggest fights against the world best…well three of them are at least, Mr Calzaghe?

Calzaghe’s comments could just be an attempt to justify his decision to retire when there are still legitimate fights out there which could improve his legacy, but to me they are ill-informed and don’t represent the current state of the sweet science and British boxing in particular.

In 2008 alone we had Pacquiao v De La Hoya, Margarito v Cotto, Hopkins v Pavlik, Manny Pacquiao v Juan Manuel Marquez II, Casamayor v Katsidis and Adamek v Cunningham, all great bouts which would appear to disprove Calzaghe’s allegation. I would say boxing is in rude health, both on this side of the Atlantic and worldwide.

We have some truly great boxers, some veterans still fighting and some really good emerging talent. MMA in the form of UFC is taking off and is very popular, but is too different from boxing to be a real threat (look out for a future post on this one) and there will always be young men out there dreaming of being champion of the world, at whatever weight.

Calzaghe should quit making derisory comments about the sport which has done so much for him, and him for it, and fight on. He showed against Roy Jones Jr he still has speed and can fight so why quit now? There are fights out there, but it seems his perfect record is now too precious for him to risk.