Calzaghe chooses retirement over Pavlik

By Joe Scalzo

Joe Calzaghe plans to retire after fighting Roy Jones Jr., thus avoiding Kelly Pavlik.

It looks like Joe Calzaghe would rather face retirement than Kelly Pavlik.

The super middleweight champion said Thursday that he will retire after his light heavyweight fight with Roy Jones Jr. in November, according to a Reuters story.

“It’s a massive fight and it will be my last,” said Calzaghe, 36. “I’ve known for a while when I want to go out and as long as I put on a great performance this is my time.”

Pavlik, who will fight Bernard Hopkins Oct. 18, was disappointed by the announcement, but held out hope that Calzaghe would change his mind. Calzaghe had said last month that he was considering fighting Pavlik after the Jones bout.

“It shows he’s definitely worried about fighting me,” said Pavlik. “But I also think that if the money’s right, he’ll come back out and take a fight.

“If they throw a ridiculous amount of money at him, I think he’ll do it.”

Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, was furious when he heard of the decision, saying Calzaghe was retiring “just to avoid us.”

“He’s shot, he’s done,” said Loew. “If he breaks his hand on a heavy bag, well, you can go from there. ... He’s just a slap-happy Welshman with a jockey father.”

Although most observers expect Calzaghe to beat Jones, Loew isn’t so sure.

“Roy Jones just might slap the fight out of him,” said Loew. “If the right Roy Jones shows up, he’s going to go out on a losing note.”

Like Pavlik, Loew thinks Calzaghe might change his mind about a Pavlik fight if the money is right.

“I expect him to fight us and he will,” said Loew. “Somebody will throw ridiculous money at him. If he takes it, we should tell him to go to hell.”

Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs) made his first middleweight title defense in June against Gary Lockett, who was trained by Calzaghe’s father, Enzo. Afterward, Pavlik said repeatedly he wanted to face Calzaghe next, in either September or October. Pavlik’s promoters were in discussions with Calzaghe’s longtime promoter, Frank Warren, to make that happen, but Calzaghe fired Warren and opted to fight the 39-year-old Jones instead, a decision that was criticized in the boxing world.

“His dad [Enzo], in all the interviews, was trying to find every which way to get out of it [a Pavlik fight],” said Pavlik. “I kind of thought something like this would happen.”

Calzaghe (45-0) had been scheduled to fight Jones Sept. 20 at Madison Square Garden, but he injured his right hand in training and the fight was postponed until Nov. 8. The Jones fight was viewed as less risky than a Pavlik bout and Calzaghe said Thursday he wanted to retire undefeated.

“If I can do that then I’ve achieved everything I’ve wanted to achieve in my career,” Calzaghe said. “I would never forgive myself if I came to my last fight and threw it all away. Complacency is not in my mindset.

“But I know in my heart this is the right time to stop and my aim is to remain undefeated.”

Although the 26-year-old Pavlik is considered one of boxing’s biggest talents, he’s running out of marquee opponents. Outside of a fight with IBF champion Arthur Abraham, which won’t happen until 2009, there isn’t anyone in the middleweight division that excites fans or, more importantly, the networks. Pavlik took the Hopkins bout due in part to a lack of opponents and in hopes that it would be a springboard to a Calzaghe bout.

“That fight would be good for everybody,” said Pavlik.

Pavlik will begin training for Hopkins Aug. 25. The bout, which is at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, is at the 170 pound catch weight.

Pavlik said he is excited about the bout, but not the training.

“That part stinks, but you’ve got to do it,” said Pavlik.

Pavlik will be at the Bob Roth Memorial boxing tournament tonight at the Saxon Club on Meridian. The 13-bout card starts at 7 and honors former Vindicator correspondent Bob Roth. Tickets are $10.

HBO will be in town for both tonight’s amateur show and the Saturday Scrappers game to shoot footage for a pre-fight feature.

Tickets for Pavlik-Hopkins are $700, $500, $350, $200, $100 and $75 and can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster (800) 736-1420 or online at www.Ticketmaster.com. The bout will be on HBO pay-per-view.

scalzo@vindy.com