Calzaghe says Hopkins has to wait

[eagle]

Ah Roy Jones a man who ran scared from Steve Collins.

You are being sarcastic right?

[RP33]

"They talk of me not fighting in the US but not why Hopkins or Roy Jones don't leave their backyard," said Calzaghe.

as if you cant fit 17 UKs into the us

ahahah, to be honest i've never even thought of it that way.

[superheavyrhun]

I have no experience of that. In football (soccer, the real football), that just never happens. In fact, I can't think of a team sport in the UK were it does.

Well, it's not exactly the same, but Robbie Fowler just signed for Cardiff City because he wants to go out with a bang, by winning the Championship, but in that case he's also lowered his expectations, so maybe the suggestion is that Calzaghe should ditch Kessler and fight Berrio so he can go out with a bang winning an unification, albeit against lesser opposition.

But with this thread being about Calzaghe v Hopkins, I'm not convinced RP33 has really understood his own argument. Hopkins has already priced himself out of one fight with Calzaghe after changing his demands last minute, so why should Calzaghe take the lesser share now that Bernard has called him out? If Bernard has been in two fairly torpid affairs in his last two fights, so he needs someone exciting next time, and Calzaghe provides that, so the money should be split fairly equally.

i in fact do understand my argument.. and if you FWOCKING READ WHAT I HAD SAID, MORE THAN ONCE, it does not HAVE to be Hopkins.. the thread is about Hopkins and that was the only reason i said his name.. i said it could be any big name.

Okay...let's look at the big names out there being touted as possible Calzaghe opponents. Hopkins has been in two snoozers. Tarver is coming off some big losses. Jermain Taylor has been in two horrible fights where he's scraped through.

The only possible one where I could see Joe really working hard to make it happen is against Dawson, where I would agree he should go out there and beat the best young light heavy out there. The other three need Calzaghe more than vice versa at the moment in my opinion, and it makes no sense for him to go chasing those in my opinion.

[danchar123]

Kudos to Joe for this, he is earning more and more respect from me.

100% AGREED .Why should he fight in the States when he can make more money where he is. If somebody offered yo a job overseas doing the ssame thing you are doing now for less money would you do it?

Maybe he will fight in Yankee stadium just so I can drive up and see him. Thanks Joe.LOL

When a basketball/baseball/hockey/football player starts nearing the end of his career, and he doesn't have a championship, what does he do?
He takes a pay cut and goes to the team that is most likely to win a championship! WHY? because at that point it isn't about money, it's about being a champion in everyones eyes, and getting that championship ring or cup.

This is the point in Calzaghe's career where he shouldn't be AS worried about money, and he should take the big name fights regardless of where they are. THEN he can be the champion he THINKS he is already.

You can't make the comparison that you made about someone offering you a job overseas for less money, simply because you're comparing two different classes of people. If you're referring to someone who has to raise a family, then no they wouldn't take a pay cut, AND travel overseas, it wouldn't make any sense.
But when you're referring to a world boxing champ who is on national TV, has fans and PLENTY of critics watching him, and should already have LOADS of money, you're in a completely different conversation.

So using that logic why should Calzaghe be the one expected to travel?

Apparently you completely missed the point? i don't know.. the point was that he needs to do what he needs to do to become this great champion that he feels he is. and if that is crossing seas then thats what he needs to do.

I don't know if you've followed sports in the past decade, but a few examples could be when Payton/Malone went to the Lakers to form a disgusting team in hopes to win the ring.. or when Ray Bourque went to the Avalanche in hopes to win the cup.. Junior Seau is now on the Pats, got injured last year but is coming back this year.. These guys took a huge pay cut so that they could be in the winning team.

You shouldn't sad click due to your own stupidity of not understanding what i was trying to say.. you should understand before disagreeing..

The logic is that regardless of Joe being the "Champ" and ideally, people should be coming to him to fight the champ.. my point was that instead he shouldn't be bitching and moaning about the money that Bhop wanted or the money that he won't be getting in certain fights.. instead he should be worrying about defeating the best, regardless...

I can seafely say i have never heard of any of those sportsmen or teams you have just mentioned, what sport is it you are talking about? isn't this a boxing forum?

If you haven't heard of the LA Lakers as a basketball team then i really don't know what to say. Besides Kobe Bryant and Shaq and championship after championship. Ray Bourque will be, if he isnt there yet, a hall of fame defensemen who played for the Boston Bruins in hockey, who went to the top team to win a ring.. Junior Seau is a linebacker who played for the chargers most of his career but came to the NE Patriots (in football) to win a championship. Patriots won the superbowl 3 times within the last, probably, 8 years.. they're probably the most, if not one of, popular [b]football teams[ in the last decade without a doubt. If you haven't heard of ANY of those teams, then you should not have even posted a reply.
And yeah, this is a boxing forum, i simply made a comparison between athletes, and you didn't know the other athletes, so why would you reply?

I replied because i didn't have a clue who any of those people or teams were. I now see that you are talking about American Football and hockey which i hate to tell dont really have much of a following here in Europe. Also i have always wondered about American football, why is it called football when it is mainly played with the hands? (from what i have seen)

I apologize, i should have been more specific about saying American sports.. I don't know what the business aspect of sports is like in England.. but does the name David Beckham ring a bell? he takes a HUGE salary and comes over to play in the states because soccer isn't big here, and they want to bring it back.. This just shows the type of money being thrown around in sports around here. Athletes get huge salaries, play through their whole career, and the pattern shows that when they have not won a championship, they tend to sign with the best team in the league to do so.. and it is ALWAYS a significant cut in salary due to the fact that the rest of the team (keeping in mind that they still have great players on that team) is still getting paid quite high.. leaving there to be no room in the salary cap to pay much to the veteran who wants on the team. But they don't care because they've made there money, heck and they're probably still going to make a few million dollars on this new team depending on the sport (baseball/football probably more than that).
When you have a team that keeps winning championships, this tends to happen. And the teams that i used as examples would be recognized by anyone who even casually watched sports in the states,

But, i understand why you were confused now, my fault..

In a nutshell, without getting too specific because people keep misinterpreting what i'm trying to say, I feel Calzaghe should worry more about fighting big names, and less about the purse and where it is, FOR NOW.. Because he doesn't have time to do all this negotiating bullshit, he's getting old and it would be a waste of talent for him to not fight to his potential, and a waste for us fans who want to see some good fights. If he had already had beaten a few elite fighters, then I would not feel this way, but by no means has he done, or come close to that.

No need to apologise. Im sure i could name dozens of famous sportsmen/women who you have never heard of due to the fact you live in a completely different part of the world.

I have heard of David Beckham he is arguably the most famous sports person alive today, however he is not even close to the best sportsman (IMO Roger Federer) or even footballer (IMO Ricardo Kaka). I am not convinced he moved to America because Football or (Soccer as the Americans like to call it) isn't big over there, he moved there because he was allowed to keep 100% of his image rights (which are worth fu***** shitloads).

Anyhows back to the discussion in hand....
I was Calzaghe i wouldn't take a pay cut i would be after as much money as i possibly can considering i would be retiring soon. Plus im not convinced beating an old Hopkins would really do much for his legacy.

[thewhale]

Well and Calzaghe should focus on the match with Kessler. But I would be happy if he already is dreaming of more glorious fights after Kessler. Calzaghe have class but way to many fight against opponents that didn´t, so even while he is more experienced I don´t think he has ever face a guy like Kessler, and Kessler has never faced a Calzaghe before, but if Calzaghe want in fights he have to come though Kessles mean jabs.

What I love with Kessler is his accuracy and power, he is a danger to everyone he faces. Don't think it will help Calzaghe that much having a better repertoire, but it will be interresting to see how Kessler handles Calzaghes workrate I have a pretty good idea where Calzaghes limits are at an age of 35, but none of us know where Kessler´s limits really are.

[RP33]

Okay, lets agree to disagree..
But with the whole Beckham thing.. He came cause he was getting offered loads of money, we wanted him and offered him the money for the future of the sport. I forget the name of the guy on the LA Galaxy, i think it's Donovan, but he's not retiring so that he can come back and play with Beckham. It's all business.

[danchar123]

Okay, lets agree to disagree..
But with the whole Beckham thing.. He came cause he was getting offered loads of money, we wanted him and offered him the money for the future of the sport. I forget the name of the guy on the LA Galaxy, i think it's Donovan, but he's not retiring so that he can come back and play with Beckham. It's all business.

It is business indeed, thats what sport has become nowdays