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Calzaghe eyes retirement

26/12/2007

Undisputed super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe says he could retire after his next fight.

The Welshman says he can see the end of his career coming soon as there is nothing left for him to achieve in the sport.

Having beaten Dane Mikkel Kessler to become undisputed champion at super middleweight level Calzaghe is now looking to move up a division and take on American Bernard Hopkins.

But the 35-year-old says he needs the motivation of taking on a worthy opponent and that without that he would rather retire.

He told the Daily Mirror: "I have got two fights left – tops. I might even have one more and then decide to pack it all in and then get on with the rest of my life."

Calzaghe has been a world champion since October 1997 when he beat Chris Eubank. He has since gone on to defend his title 21 times, a record bettered only by Joe Louis and Dariusz Michalczewski.

Calzaghe added: "I've achieved almost everything I wanted to achieve. I've reigned as world champion for over 10 years. I've had 21 defences. There are only one or two fighters in history who can beat that.

"I've won all four major belts in my division. I think I'm the first European fighter to do that. Not even Lennox Lewis did it, so what else is there for me to achieve?"

Calzaghe is likely to take on Hopkins in Las Vegas early next year before assessing his options about taking one last fight or calling time on his illustrious career.