Hang ’em up, Joe
Ali, Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard and droves of others: the list of great boxers
that fought longer than they should is huge and makes painful reading. Will
Joe Calzaghe go down that route? Worryingly, he will not commit one way or
the other right now. Despite beating every one of the big names out there,
he is still inconsistent in answering the big question. In fact, in one interview
leading up to the Roy Jones Jr fight he declared to me it would be his last
bout. A few minutes later he admitted he might “possibly carry on”.
He then summed up the dilemma faced by so many fighters before him. “They
want the limelight, money or whatever,” he said. “My guess is
that it’s hard for a champion to stop once they’ve had all the
glory you get in the ring.” The potential issue with Joe, as best I
can tell, is that all his glory has come too late. It was not until he beat
Jeff Lacy in 2006 – nine years after winning the world title – that
he received any kind of global respect for his incredible talents. Since
then he has been lauded with praise, a CBE, and the Beeb’s Sports Personality
of the Year award for his wins over Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins and Jones
Jr. It would be pretty difficult, one imagines, to walk away just as the
world is starting to realise your worth. Unfortunately, Joe is 36 years old
and his last two fights, while impressive in many respects, showed strong
traces of decline. To carry on now, when there are no more credible opponents
to enhance his legacy, would be an unnecessary risk to a reputation that
took years to build.
High hopes for Welsh rugby
It’s quite some measure of how far Wales has come that both the scrum-halves
interviewed in this magazine will be lucky to get a game in the near future.
Dwayne Peel is clearly as good as he was when rated among the world’s best
Number Nines just three years ago, and Mike Phillips is the man who kept him
out of the last Grand Slam winning team. Until recently Gareth Cooper was the
guy most often labelled a poser on account of his penchant for tighter than tight
jerseys. He is certainly not an imposter; just look at his sublime performances
in an autumn series that saw one narrowly missed opportunity against South Africa,
a half-time lead over the All Blacks and a win against Australia. “It’s
up to us to prove our worth,” Phillips said. “All the guys that played
have emerged with a lot of credit.” Not least Andy Powell, whose showing
at Eight surely made him the discovery of the season. And what of Lee Byrne?
His game against the Wallabies showed we have a full-back that can excel against
the very best. And all in a series where the other northern hemisphere sides
failed to record a win. In a team that relies heavily on confidence to turn points
into prizes, that can only be a good thing going into the defence of their Six
Nations title. Whether they can win when expectations are highest is the real
test.
No Hope
Spare a thought for poor Kerry Hope. The light-middleweight from Merthyr Tydfil
is a dedicated trainer and nice lad, but even he would admit his skills are not
likely to make him a household name. So, when the chance arose for the 27-year-old
to fight on the Calzaghe-Jones Jr undercard at Madison Square Garden, he was
ecstatic. Alas, his opponent, Willie Lee, weighed in five pounds over the limit
and the fight was scrapped at the last minute. “It would be nice to wake
up every day knowing I have boxed at Madison Square Garden,” he said. “But
unfortunately that just isn’t the case.” Cruel game.
Riath Al-Samarrai sure knows how
to ruck