Joe Calzaghe retires undefeated
By Jim Murphy February 5th, 2009Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe is calling it a career, retiring with an undefeated 46-0 record. In his final two fights he defeated Roy Jones, Jr. and Bernard Hopkins and figured that it was a fitting way to go out. At age 36, he actually sounds as if he’ll stay retired unlike many professional fighters:
“It was a difficult decision but I have achieved everything I wanted to achieve in boxing. I’ve been world champion for 11 years. I’ve got no other goals to go for. That’s why I am calling it a day,” Calzaghe, 36, told BBC. “I had a long think with my family. My children wanted me to give up, plus my mum. That’s why I called it a day and will go on to do something else. My decision is to retire. I’ve been boxing for 25 years and, like I said, I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve.”
Calzaghe is walking away as one of the rare fighters in history to retire undefeated. At 46-0 with 32 knockouts, Calzaghe dominated the 168-pound super middleweight division. He won a vacant belt by outpointing former champion Chris Eubank on Oct. 11, 1997, and made 21 title defenses during an 11-year reign until moving up to light heavyweight, where he outpointed Bernard Hopkins to win the title in April in his first fight in the United States.
