Calzaghe says a Jermain Taylor fight is number one on his list

[jangeorg]

All Calzcrappy has done since his win over the overrated Jeff Lacy is fight a bum (Bika), call out a retired fighter (Hopkins), avoid a fighter calling him out (Kessler) and now call out a smaller fighter (Taylor). Yet, his loyal. misguided groupies still call him great.

contrary to some people here I don't dislike Joe at all. I just think he is a good fighter that has never really allowed anyone to see how good or bad he is.

Sure, we know he can beat slowish power-guys, but where is the Mads Larsen, Ottke, Prime-Beyer, Bute, Mundine ... KESSLER ....in his resume?

the closest we get is Reid, and we all know how dominant Joe DIDN'T look in that fight.

Joe has been more careful in his picking of opponents than almost anyone else with comparable longivity. Ottke did get some gifts and that is a huge draw back when assessing his carreer. However, He DID make the difficult fights happen and took a wide variety of opponents. Now - Joe ducking of technical and fast fighters is imo. just as bad as Ottke's giftdecisions. The effect of both is the same - to avoid losses.

However, Joe still has the chance to mend that (to some extent) and it is NOT by moving to LHW and meeting a slowish powerguy! It is by fighting a real fighter in his own division. Simple really. Joe's recipy to legacy is written in black and white everywhere he looks. Everyone (except a few scared calzaghe-fans) wants him to stop talking about a 42 year old retired fighter or a middleweight or a the second-best in a reality TV-show - and wake up and fight Kessler!

I don't dislike Joe, but someone has fucked his carreer up and it is almost impossible to know how good Joe really is. All we can say is that he is really good at beating someone like Lacy. And after 10 years with a belt that just aint cutting it.

[Fenster]

I never once said Calzaghe was talentless. Just that he hadn't fought great opposition, was overrated and scared to fight any where else but home. Him being talentless has never been posted by me.

What with you constantly referring to Calzcrappy and stating he's overrated i assumed thats what led you into your embarrassing mistake of thinking a "bum" like Bika would KO him. Thought maybe you had seen some flaws Bika could exploit. Thought maybe you didn't recognise Cazlaghe's talents. What other reason could there be? Surely you didn't pick against Calzaghe cause you dont like him? Isn't that a bit JUVENILE? MORONIC maybe? Don't let HATE cloud your judgement, son.... Look how it ends up embarrassing you.

And there is no need for me to check my dates, cuz there's nothing wrong with them. When the De La Hoya fight was brought up, Hopkins was in talks with Calzaghe. It don't take a genius to realize that fighting De La Hoya (20 million) was a lot more profitable than fighting Calzaghe (3 million). In order for the De La Hoya fight to come off 3 things needed happen. 1. Hopkins needed to stay unified champion. Which means he had to fight his WBC mandatory (something Calzaghe knows something about) to keep from being stripped. Morrade Hakkar was the unworthy fighter. 2. Hopkins needed to fight one more fight for Don King to complete his contract. William Joppy was the fight. 3. Than came the build up fights. Hopkins fought Robert Allen, while Oscar took on Felix Strum.

No one ever claimed Hopkins made the wrong decisions. And I agree with you, you've hit the nail on the head here, son.

Why would you refuse to fight a guy for a £3m career highest pay day to fight guys for 300,000 dollars? Well, one OBVIOUS reason could of been If he'd accepted the Cazlaghe fight there was a strong chance (hell of a lot stronger chance than Hakaar, Daniels, Joppy or Allen) of blowing the easy Oscar money! Calzaghe was a SERIOUS threat. Hopkins knew it cause he's a smart guy. He can obviously recognise world class talent when he see's it. Calzaghe can not be blamed for the Hopkins fight NOT happening. Fact.

On a final note, cause you seem to have your figures a bit messed up, Hopkins purse for the De La Hoya fight was $8,000,000 plus seven dollars for each pay-per-view buy above 800,000. It had around one million buys. Taking Hopkins purse to around $10 million. It doesn't take a genius to work out $10m isn't $20m. Hope this helps.

This is what happens when one doesn't really follow boxing and instead goes by other people's opinion as oppose to there owns. They make fools of themselves.

Quite right, son

[Fenster]

CC Fenster,excellent points all throughout this thread,logical and supported nearly every statement with evidence,great stuff bro! You should post here more rather than exclusively lurking around the other boards!!

A?

Thanks mate, CC back.