whatthe?! i've been wanting to see this fight.
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So you don't think that if Calzaghe beat Pavlik he would have done enough? :confused:
Seriously if he beat Pavlik then without question he's beaten the two best middleweights and the two best super middleweights he could possibly have faced, ok they came late in his career but Hagler didn't get the big fights until well past 30 so by your logic he's crap too? :rolleyes:
In fact do yourself a favour and go look at Hagler's record and tell me all the hall of famers he beat up on before he face Duran, a career lightweight at around 30 years of age?
I'm not knocking Hagler, he was an all time great for sure but if Calzaghe beat Pavlik his record isn't all that far off.
Unlike Hagler he would have remained undefeated. All of his biggest wins would have been against opponents in their legitimate weight classes, and in the case of Lacy, Kessler and Pavlik fighters in their absolute primes.
Hopkins is a tricky fighter at any age and to beat him at 45 was still a better achievement than losing a close fight to a post retired Sugar Ray Leonard who had never fought above light middleweight at that time and had not fought at all for 3 years.
If he beat Pavlik that would certainly be comparable to beating John Mugabe in my opinion both unbeaten, both huge KO punchers.
Personally I think beating a prime Mikkel Kessler who like Lacy was a legitimate super middlweight compares well to beating a former lightweight in Roberto Duran who was coming off losses to Kirkland Laing and Wilfred Benitez and like Leonard had never even fought at middleweight before.
So we are left with Thomas Hearns another great fighter who Hagler beat in a brutal slugfest, a fight which is largely responsible for his subsequent status as the greatest middleweight of recent times. Hearns, just like Leonard and Duran had never even fought at middleweight before challenging Hagler.
So you see careful analysis shows Calzaghes unbeaten record stands up well compared to even the best of the best, and a win over Kelly Pavlik would justifiably see him in my opinion as not only the new p4p number 1 in the sport in light of Floyd's retirement, but also he would have to be considered as p4p one of the top 20 or 30 of all time imo.
Not sure if I want this fight to happen, I like both fighters and wouldn't want to see either one lose, that been said I think JC would probably win by UD.
Don't think Joe is cocky, he's confident and should be because he's beaten everyone he's faced, what makes u say he's no respect?
after the Kessler fight he had nothing but respect for Kessler, can't see Pavlik embarrasing him either, he could win by ko yeah,but can't see him out working Joe. To be honest your sounding just like the Lacy fans were sounding before he fought Joe
Although as my sig suggests, I'm a big Calzaghe fan, I'm torn as to whether I'd want this fight to happen. There have been a few times where I've been worried Joe has bitten off more than he can chew, and each time he's proved me wrong, but I've got that same twisting feeling in my gut on this one.
Lockett was easy to hit, and didn't have as firm a chin as Calzaghe, but PAvlik did the job big time on him, and as always looks to have a firm punch. Don't get me wrong, I'd love the fight to be made, and it would be an amazing spectacle, if it's held in the UK or the US, and either way there's going to be huge contingents of travelling fans for both men.
If it happens, I'm not going to have any nails for th next few years, as i gnaw them into little stubs on my fingers.
I have all respect to Joe. His conditioning is awesomme so does Kelly, His chin is awesomme so does Kelly, His workrate is awesomme so does Kelly, His skills is awesomme so does Kelly.
No Offense to Joe but his handspeed is going to be neutralized by Kelly's straighter and more powerful punches. Kelly's defense looks to be getting better too;)
Oh shit I sound a lil biased;D
I said was he 'crap before Calzaghe? Manfredo was after Calzaghe had battered the guy for 36 minutes!! Lacy was not crap as an awesome amateur (record = 209 -12) was not crap destroying all that went before Calzaghe and being called the Middleweight Mike Tyson (even if he was @ 168;)). He was good enough to be plastered all over Superbowl as the next superstar of world boxing - hindsight is a wonderful thing. Do you really think Lacy was 'crap' before he fought Calzaghe??
Every fukka bar about 10 of us on here called Lacy to destroy Cazlaghe, but yet everybody now says he was sh1te - funny that!
..For the record he is 'crap' now ;D
I agree, I also love the fact that Calzaghe's record is "padded", but Pavlik is "Godzilla". Seriously, who the fuck has Pavlik fought who is better than Kessler or Hopkins? Aside from Taylor and a weight-drained Miranda, he's fought nobody of any real significance and his record is as padded as anyones.
This would not be an easy fight for Joe. I'd still pick him to win but it's a hell of a challenge at the end of his career. He has nothing to prove so should take an easier fight to guarantee retiring undefeated.
Taylor beat Hopkins twice though close and controversial on the other hand Kelly's performance against taylor was light years better than that of Hopkins vs Taylor. Miranda weight drained, he was dropped from a CONCUSSIVE shot not from sheer exhaustion.
Joe beating an older version of Hopkins via close decision, beating a Lacy who'm afterwards was winning via decisions against B level fighters. Kessler who hasnt fought any great American middleweight or super middleweight.
To Joe's credit he is undefeated for so long but for such a short time in Pavlik's career his accomplishments is almost as great as that of Joe.