Joe Calzaghe: ‘Canelo Alvarez is one of the all-time greats’

I WAS in a position where I wanted to retire when I wanted to retire for various things like injuries. I won everything as a super-middleweight and going over to America twice was great but for a couple of years, of course, itโ€™s tough. Iโ€™m not going to lie. Itโ€™s tough because it’s the thing youโ€™ve done from the age of eight or nine. Being British amateur champion from the age of 13, I still remember it now – in Derby in 1985 (giving my age away)! I was 36 kilograms and I thought Iโ€™m going to be a world champion one day. When youโ€™ve done one thing all your life and youโ€™re really good at what you do and itโ€™s your love, the adrenalin and that drive, of course when thatโ€™s gone and you have to find something else you love, itโ€™s difficult.

The last few years have been very tough with my father and my mother. Now Iโ€™m getting back into it. My sons are boxing trainers, they love it and for me itโ€™s keeping that legacy going, the memory of my father as well. Maybe Iโ€™ll start managing fighters again. Iโ€™m sort of getting back into the love of boxing. The last few years Iโ€™ve been distant because of personal things. Itโ€™s great that I was able to have such an amazing time in boxing, it blessed me, my father and my family. Itโ€™s a great sport.

I was still in great form when I retired. Part of me wanted to be the first person to get to 50-0, which was within my reach I think. But at the time my body had enough.

There were a couple of years that were a struggle for me because I was injured a lot, had doctors telling me I should retire and I thought no, thatโ€™s not happening. This is the way I live, Iโ€™ve been doing this all my life and thank God I managed to, even with injuries, still come through and keep winning.

Canelo Alvarez is going into his 60th fight. I remember watching him coming through, he beat Matthew Hatton and so on, and he was a good fighter but you never would have thought heโ€™d have gone on, stepped up to light-heavyweight, super-middleweight, dominated. What I do like about him, I like his mindset. Itโ€™s similar to my mindset. My father always taught me – train like a challenger. Because when you start training like a champion, thatโ€™s when you get beat. Heโ€™s such a superstar, heโ€™s 31 still but he was a superstar 10 years ago and to be able to keep motivated, keep dedicated, thatโ€™s the difference. You can say Iโ€™m going to train but youโ€™re on your own. Itโ€™s whatโ€™s in there, itโ€™s whatโ€™s in your heart. Donโ€™t let your ego take over, which can be a problem for a lot of fighters. But keep respectful, dedicated, train hard. Keep doing that every single fight. Itโ€™s difficult.

Even when I didnโ€™t perform at my best, when I was injured, I used to have that mindset of a winner.

Canelo keeps turning up, he keeps performing, heโ€™s one of the all-time greats, he can be if he keeps winning. Youโ€™d have to put him up with some of the best.

He learns, he tries new things and thatโ€™s why fighters improve. He always believes he can improve. You can improve, I improved late in my career. In boxing you always learn.

Heโ€™s ticking all the boxes. Heโ€™s looking strong, heโ€™s looking fit, heโ€™s powerful at the weight, at super-middleweight and I was surprised how he so comfortably handled Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith, who was so much taller. Range-wise I thought Smith would cause problems but it just didnโ€™t come out that way. It just shows what a special fighter Canelo is, how he can nullify opponents and take away their advantages.

The sanctioning bodies make it hard. My fight against Mikkel Kessler should have been โ€˜undisputedโ€™ because I was the IBF champion, I had to relinquish because I think there was a mandatory against Robert Steiglitz, so unfortunately I had to give that belt up. Thatโ€™s the thing with boxing, Iโ€™ve always said thereโ€™s too many belts and too many governing bodies. The best should fight the best. I just missed something like the Super Six tournament when I retired. Thatโ€™s perfect where you say come on, letโ€™s get together and make a superstar of the sport. Thatโ€™s something I yearned for when I was boxing. Itโ€™s all about money. Whether anything can ever be solved in boxing Iโ€™m not sure. It does affect the sport when people get confused, there are too many champions.

I called myself undisputed world super-middleweight champion for years! I had all the belts, a technicality because I didnโ€™t want to fight the mandatory, but okay a little, small line but in my head Iโ€™m still undisputed!

BT Sport Box Office will show Canelo v Plant exclusively live in the UK on Saturday 6th November. For more info go to www.bt.com/sportboxoffice

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