By Mark Vester
In a recent interview with The Sunday Mirror, Joe Calzaghe revealed that he might put his retirement plans on hold and fight beyond 2008. Since the split-decision win over Bernard Hopkins on April 19 in Las Vegas, Calzaghe has received numerous multi-million dollar offers for potential fights. He plans to take them into consideration before making any final decision as to a possible retirement.
Calzaghe has been talking about retirement in 2008 since last year. Now he says the retirement plans are not set in stone, but they appeared to be before the fight with Hopkins and shortly afterwards.
"I will take a long break and then sit down with my dad and my promoter, Frank Warren, to consider all of the options," said Calzaghe. "I'm established now in America and it is just a case of looking at the available fights and making sure that there is lots of money on the table. There are several names being mentioned and a lot of figures being thrown about, but I'm a long way from deciding on my next fight or any other fights."
According to insiders, the most likely opponent for Calzaghe is Roy Jones Jr. in the month of November. For the last few days, Calzaghe has been praising Jones in the media, calling him a legend and a great fighter, but he's become annoyed by Jones going around and telling the press that a deal has been verbally agreed upon for November 15 in Cardiff. In response to some of Jones' recent comments, Calzaghe dug into the former four-division champ.
"I spent five or six years chasing Jones and he acted like he never even knew my name," said Calzaghe. "Suddenly, I beat Hopkins in Vegas and Jones wants to be my neighbor - it's ridiculous. If a fight with Jones made sense from a cash point of view, then it could happen, but he is notorious for asking for too much money."
"Every day, I keep hearing about new fights and new opponents and my last fight and my second last fight, but I'm telling you that nothing has been decided. There are fights that I would like and there are fights that I've been desperate to get for years and we will all just have to wait and see."
"Right now I want to relax, get some sun and forget about boxing for a long time," said Calzaghe. But, when I do get back in the ring, it will be a spectacular night."
In a recent interview with The Sunday Mirror, Joe Calzaghe revealed that he might put his retirement plans on hold and fight beyond 2008. Since the split-decision win over Bernard Hopkins on April 19 in Las Vegas, Calzaghe has received numerous multi-million dollar offers for potential fights. He plans to take them into consideration before making any final decision as to a possible retirement.
Calzaghe has been talking about retirement in 2008 since last year. Now he says the retirement plans are not set in stone, but they appeared to be before the fight with Hopkins and shortly afterwards.
"I will take a long break and then sit down with my dad and my promoter, Frank Warren, to consider all of the options," said Calzaghe. "I'm established now in America and it is just a case of looking at the available fights and making sure that there is lots of money on the table. There are several names being mentioned and a lot of figures being thrown about, but I'm a long way from deciding on my next fight or any other fights."
According to insiders, the most likely opponent for Calzaghe is Roy Jones Jr. in the month of November. For the last few days, Calzaghe has been praising Jones in the media, calling him a legend and a great fighter, but he's become annoyed by Jones going around and telling the press that a deal has been verbally agreed upon for November 15 in Cardiff. In response to some of Jones' recent comments, Calzaghe dug into the former four-division champ.
"I spent five or six years chasing Jones and he acted like he never even knew my name," said Calzaghe. "Suddenly, I beat Hopkins in Vegas and Jones wants to be my neighbor - it's ridiculous. If a fight with Jones made sense from a cash point of view, then it could happen, but he is notorious for asking for too much money."
"Every day, I keep hearing about new fights and new opponents and my last fight and my second last fight, but I'm telling you that nothing has been decided. There are fights that I would like and there are fights that I've been desperate to get for years and we will all just have to wait and see."
"Right now I want to relax, get some sun and forget about boxing for a long time," said Calzaghe. But, when I do get back in the ring, it will be a spectacular night."
