Last updated 10:10, Wednesday, 23 April 2008

WOULDN’T it be great if Joe Calzaghe could bring the curtain down on his career by fighting on British soil with a prime-time slot on TV.

Imagine settling down at a respectable time of night or packing into the pub to watch his farewell fight in front of sell-out 60,000 crowd at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

That would be a fitting way for us to salute a great champion who, pound for pound, is probably the best British boxer of all-time.

Instead, it will probably be screened on Setanta at 4am, with Calzaghe again chasing mega bucks and adulation in America.

There’s more chance of it being staged in Las Vegas again or at Madison Square Garden in front of A-List celebrities than in The Valleys in front of his home crowd and with a rip-roaring atmosphere.

Of course, it will all come down to money.

No one deserves a lucrative pay-day more than Calzaghe for the way he has been at the top of his game for 15 years – not to mention the relentless punishment and the harsh training regime he has put himself through.

But Calzaghe has already made his millions and proved himself on the opposite side of the Atlantic and, as he prepares to step into the ring for one final time, it would be wonderful if he could stage a fight on his own terms – without having to bow to the demands of others.

Boxing is littered with fighters who have never known when enough was enough, but Calzaghe has been wise enough to plan a dignified exit after his split-points victory over Bernard Hopkins in the twilight hours of Sunday morning.

British boxing fans were shortchanged at the weekend because most of us didn’t get the chance to see Calzaghe’s fight.

This is a man who has been an outstanding sportsman for nearly two decades and who has never fully got the recognition he deserved. Yet in 100 years time, boxing fans will still be talking about him.

What a pity Britain’s best won’t get a great British send-off.