Boxing Perspective: It Has To Be Kessler!

Joe Calzaghe’s much anticipated return to the ring following his destruction of Jeff Lacy didn’t go quite to plan. What was supposed to be another sizzling performance by the Welshman turned into a bit of a bar room brawl with both Calzaghe and Cameroonian Sakio Bika guilty of roughhouse tactics. But if we are honest, was anyone surprised? When we consider the performance that preceded this, it was inevitable that there would be a dip in form, although to be fair, none of us expected Calzaghe to dip quite as far as he did.

Bika and Calzaghe are light years apart in terms of technical boxing ability. When it comes to brute strength and will to win, Bika, who now fights out of Australia, is a match for anyone which makes Calzaghe’s decision to play him at his own game all the more baffling.

From the get go Calzaghe never looked himself; this was never more evident than at the end of the opening session when Calzaghe seemed to have an identity crisis and for a moment thought that he was Naseem Hamed, and then Chris Eubank. Calzaghe’s posturing didn’t go down too well, I’m sure it was an attempt to look interesting and exciting for the American audience, but what he actually looked was a little foolish.

Calzaghe’s cause wasn’t helped when he picked up a cut over his left eye in the fourth round, as a result of a clash of heads. It seemed Bika’s reputation as a rough fighter preceded him, he did confirm this with several indiscretions throughout the contest, and he was automatically attributed with blame for the clash.

In my opinion, if anyone was at fault it was Calzaghe for lunging in the way he did. The sight of blood might have encouraged Joe to settle down behind his boxing but he was having none of it. If anything, it further fueled his desire to duke it out with Bika and although he won the fight comfortably on the cards, it was this gung ho approach that would cost him time after time, usually in the form of a tasty right hand in the gob.

It was later revealed that Calzaghe’s preparation was less than ideal, which was no big surprise. His fragile hands meant that the Welshman did without sparring for this fight, as he has done in the past. This begs the question, how long can Calzaghe continue like this? Three, maybe four fights? With that in mind, Calzaghe and his promoter have to think carefully about how they end his career.

The names Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr have once again been linked with Calzaghe. As far as I’m concerned, those were fights that should have happened a long time ago. Three or four years ago those fights made sense, now they would be an opportunity to make some serious money but in no way increase Calzaghe’s stock.

Calzaghe is widely regarded as the world’s best 168 pounder. In my opinion, he now needs to confirm this by taking on and beating the one man that truly threatens him, Danish WBA WBC champion Mikkel Kessler. If Kessler wasn’t Calzaghe’s main target before October 14, he should be now. With his demolition of German Markus Beyer, Kessler not only picked up a second portion of the super middleweight crown, the WBC) belt, he also announced himself as a clear and present danger.

Calzaghe’s career, in his own words, has been hampered by not having any rivals. Now he has one, and unlike possible opponents in the past, they don’t have the Atlantic Ocean to separate them.

If Calzaghe takes care of Kessler, I’d have no problem with him signing off in style with mega money fights on American soil against Hopkins or Jones Jr. He might even chose to step up a weight and attempt to become a two division champion by fighting Sheffield’s Clinton Woods for the IBF Light Heavyweight title.

You can understand Calzaghe’s frustration; he feels that he should have had these marquee fights already and in an ideal world, he would have. Although not the contests they would have been a few years ago, these big names are still within Calzaghe’s grasp. All I hope is that he deals with the immediate threat of Kessler and becomes the first undisputed super middleweight champion in history, prior to baulstering his pension fund against a big name before the curtain falls on an illustrious career.

matt_cotterell@blueyonder.co.uk