If Calzaghe defeats Kessler tonight & unifies...will you finally respect him?

[Wacko3205]

For the past two years or more Calzaghe vs Kessler is the fight that EVERYONE on this board have been crying for. The bulk of Calzaghe's critics have demanded he fight Kessler to prove that he is the real thing & establish his already emboldened dominance at 168lbs.

There are quite a few members on here that basically do indeed seem to hate Joe Calzaghe & everything about him. They refuse to credit his accomplishments & go above & beyond to dismiss any merit to his championship reign. What I want to know is this...if Joe blasts Kess out like he did Lacy or even Bika...will you be one of the "boxing fans" that will say Kessler (the #2 ranked middle in the world) was nothing more than hype...an unproven European fighter & that Calzaghe did nothing more than defeat another protected champion?

Will you be that person?

There's always the possibility that Mikkel Kessler has the capacity & ablities to defeat Joe...but that's not the question here. I'd like to think that all Calzaghe fans will show honor in applauding Kessler if he were to win...but again...that's not the question.

The questions again...do you have it in you to pay respect?
Will you finally admit that Joe Calzaghe deserves your applause?

[dumdane]

Short answer - Yes.
I must admit i've found it hard to respect Joe - especially listening to him make statements like "noone cares about Mikkel Kessler" and then taking on the likes of Bika and Manfredo.
But that's in the past now. Just signing the fight with Kessler made me respect him far more than i ever thought I would. I simply did not believe he would EVER take such a high risk fight against anyone not already considered P4P top-3 AND fight being far more lucrative for Joe.
Well he did, and i've already had to reconsider my views on Joe. Should he win the fight, he'll imo remove the last doubts about his total domination over the division.
So ' if he wins (fair) age 35 against a young - yet experienced unified champ like Kessler. Then i will be happy to admit he is truly great.

[Dark Lord Al]

Wacko i respect Calzaghe he is a good fighter , and i hate to say it but if Kessler wins Joe will be regarded as a guy who fought to many easy oponants.
But i think also if he wins this fight maybe the media will say Kessler was over rated.
Anyway even tho i dont really like Calzaghe , i cant help but think his career could ha ve been managed so much better in terms of him being a great fighter in the eyes of the world.
It really has been a bit of a waste of talent for me , id rather he was something like 38-4 and had lost to a few TOP fighters and beaten a few TOP fighters.
Kessler is beatable , but so is Calzaghe so it should be interesting to watch at least.

[LEGION]

Only thing I know is that there will be some serious sh#t talking going on after this fight. I respect both regardless, though that b.s. fight with Manfredo didn't do anything to help me put Joe on a higher plateau. I don't know who's fault it is about Calzaghe/Hopkins and know it has been hashed and rehashed, but that fight should have happened way before now. Both sides are probably at fault so before you jump all over me, don't bother, as I'm not trying to start a meaningless war about it. I would like to see Joe finish his career with a couple of big names, and leave his backyard for once.

[El Gamo]

Joe has been wasted talent imo,his career could have been better managed but I credit him alot already. If he wins this,he stamps the seal of quality on his career imo.

[Fenster]

Win or lose this fight wont change the opinion of the guys that hate him at all.

Should he lose they'll be having a field day, obviously.

If Calzaghe wins within a few days/hours Kessler will have become a bigger useless bum than Lacy, seeing as he's from Europe.

Sad but true.

[The Rookie Fan]

NEVERRR!!!!!!!!

[The Rookie Fan]

Just Kidding....

[Trainer Monkey]

Said all along,if he takes Kessler,he solidifies his legacy

[ono]

I respect him anyway. No one can touch him at super middle - light heavy and everyone will see that tonight.

It's not his fault Lacy was hyped to be the next big thing. IMO if he wasn't as good that night and the fight was a bit closer he would have earned far more respect......because Lacy would have been fed another fighter to look good against (similar to reid, pemberton) and he would have kicked on and had his pick of Beyer or Berrio for another title.

As it happened Lacy was embarassed and he took such a beating that his next fight was a ten rounder.
I'm not going to say Lacy was exposed because thats harsh, Calzaghe was just awesome.

Now if Calzaghe makes mince meat of Kessler the exact same thing is going to happen. It's too easy using hindsight to come to the conclusion that Kessler was over rated and had padded his record with bums. That's what will happen if Calzaghe looks great tonight.

IMO calzaghe's record is padded with pointless fights but i can assure you he didn't handpick the opponents. Bigger fights fell through. For example he was ready to sign Hopkins before Hopkins' team demanded $6m instead of the agreed $3m. The other big fight that never happened was Roy Jones but to be honest Jones was never in Calzaghe's weight division when the fight could have possibly been made. Calzaghe has admitted that Jones would have been the only fighter he would have been worried by but he would have absolutely loved the challenge....it just never happened.

He's been pretty unfortunate with injuries as well and it's easy to get frustrated with him but it's not exactly his fault. It's not like he is wanting to pull out of these fights. When he pulls out he doesn't get a purse.

Jesus i've gone on a bit here

anyway the best conclusion for Calzaghe's would probably be an exciting and close'ish points win 116-112 ish....with Kessler putting on a decent showing

[Deanrw]

I tip my hat to Joe for taking the fight in the first place.

I tip my hat to Kessler for his willingness to fight and travel to do so.

I expect this fight to go to a decision. I am crossing my fingers that it is a fair one.

[Trainer Monkey]

The Hopkins thing is BS,its been exposed for the BS it is,get over it.
That being said,Kessler holds 2 belts,Clazaghe has one,Joe wins,all due respect to him.The guy he's fighting is an undefeated veteran that holds 2 of the belts,if you cant respect that win,then I dont know why you bother to watch boxing

[Preme]

The Hopkins thing is BS,its been exposed for the BS it is,get over it.
That being said,Kessler holds 2 belts,Clazaghe has one,Joe wins,all due respect to him.The guy he's fighting is an undefeated veteran that holds 2 of the belts,if you cant respect that win,then I dont know why you bother to watch boxing

Joe has 2

[Tito BHB]

I'll have no choice but to admit that he is the man

Yet i will still say he could have been better and younger and its still fact he will have left it late

However, That bieng said for now i am picking kess

[Trainer Monkey]

The Hopkins thing is BS,its been exposed for the BS it is,get over it.
That being said,Kessler holds 2 belts,Clazaghe has one,Joe wins,all due respect to him.The guy he's fighting is an undefeated veteran that holds 2 of the belts,if you cant respect that win,then I dont know why you bother to watch boxing

Joe has 2

No he doesnt,he doesnt have the IBF,he was stripped when he chose to fight Manfredo rather then his mandatory
Lucien Bute just won it off of Berrio on the 19th