Quote Originally Posted by marbleheadmaui View Post
None of this is right. Calzaghe didn't fight Frankie Liles or Thomas Tate or Stevie Collins or Ottke or Antwun Echols who were all top five ranked guys for several years at 168 while Calzaghe was there.
I grew up where champions wanted to be CHAMPIONS as in the only one. Had somebody besides Marvin Hagler been claiming to be middleweight king you know what Hagler would have said?

Your brother can be the ref, your parents can be the judges and we'll fight in front of all your relatives in your backyard...now put'em up!

This idea that it's ok to avoid the other guy because he might get hometown cooking is a horrendous one. Look at how men like Arguello and Azumah and Dick Tiger and Lopez and Pedroza and other greats went over and over again onto the other guy's home turf. Great fighters SEEK OUT the great challenges. They don't find excuses for not taking them.
Do you follow boxing?

Collins was due to defend his title against Calzaghe but pulled out and retired rather than take a beating. He was knocked out in sparring leading up to it by Howard Eastman.

It was on a bill titled "the full monty" which was the same night as my first bout. Eubank was due to fight Mark Prince at light heavy but had the balls to take the fight for the vacant title and drop the extra weight on just over a weeks notice.

Calzaghe stayed the course and after 11 years as a defending champion he fights and dominates the young, undefeated, unified Kessler who has gone on to prove himself against Froch.

Oh, also, Echols was a middle!?