Calzaghe ducked the best?

[Andre]

There's enough quotes and stories from people involved with Hopkins and Calzaghe to SHOW Calzaghe was chasing a fight that didn't happen.

AS you just said "Boxing is a business." So when Joe became a BIG enough name, to earn both sides big enough money, the fights happened. That would make sense from a business point of view, right? Whereas fighting a no-name, who is CLEARLY extremely talented, would not have made sense back then, right?

So either way there's no dodging or ducking bollocks going on. The fights happen when they make business sense.

Nice try. I never said Joe was a "no name"...i said he was not a superstar. And was there a news flash i missed...is Joe, even NOW, a BIG name here in the states? And how convenient...that in Joe's mind (and the mind of some of his fans) he became a "big name" just recently...and hence finally fought Roy and Bernard when they are both over 40. If Joe had the balls back then to come to the states...you don't think Jones and Hopkins would have fought him? Bottom line...Joe Calzaghe didn't actively pursue to come here, to the states (where boxing is at it's biggest stage), years ago. You can sugar coat his career anyway you want...but the smokescreen that are his recent fights here don't make up for his padded record at the comforts of his home in Wales for the majority of his career.

Nice try?

From your first post i thought you was making a reasonable point.. but now i'm thinking you just want to bash Calzaghe.

Joe is currently a TOP THREE ranked P4P fighter (using The Ring). He never entered the The Ring P4P ratings until he beat Lacy. On the back of that performance, he was snapped up by HBO.. and in turn was able to land BIG money fights against the likes of Hopkins and Roy. That would make him a RECENT big name, no?

Here's shitty pants Joe trying to get a fight with Hopkins before becoming a BIG NAME - "A teleconference was set up in my office in New York for July 30th, 2002, and on the call was myself, Don King who was in the room, Frank Warren and Bernard Hopkins' lawyer, Arnold Joseph. Along with Arnold was a woman named Linda Carter, who was there on behalf of Bernard. We asked Arnold if Bernard wanted to fight Joe Calzaghe and we asked him how much money would he want if he did. The response we got was $3million and the fight would have to take place in the United States. After a little scratching of the head, we said 'Okay, done.' Frank Warren agreed on the spot, Don King agreed and we agreed so as far as we were concerned all parties were singing off the one hymm sheet. Arnold excused himself with Linda and I can only assume it was to call Bernard. Either that day or the next day, they came with a new demand: $6million, double the sum that had been agreed, the deal blew up.....he had then and still has no desire to fight Joe Calzaghe, that much is pretty clear.

Joe gets criticised sometimes for not having fought the big-name Americans, but in this case the fault has never rested with him."

- Jay Larkin, then Showtime TV Network's Senior Vice-President of Sports and Event Programming.

What did Joe do wrong here? It shows he was TRYING to make a fight with Hopkins in the States, no?

What if he had gone to the States and fought Lacy early on and destroyed what they all were calling the next big thing?
That would have cemented his place there and either the line up for him would have happened or fighters would have ran away from him (really exposing themselves),one way or the other it would have worked wonders ;so I say Yes he should have gone earlier,Lacy or one of the others who cares ,the money would of been there after the first fight and after he is proven on those grounds.He should of gone and cemented his legacy first and the money would of poured over him anyway.

He fought Lacy eventually and Lacy although exposed some, was still much more experienced than those early years ,so where is Joes credit for that?

Its from those who now say;"Oh Lacy wasn't all what we first thought".

What about Pavlic if he gets another red mark against him but someone else who his style doesnt beat?
Will they place him in the (He wasn't all what first thought ) class too?

Then Bernards amazing job on him will look like less as well.

Im from Australia I was yelling for Roy against Joe(cause I like what he bought to the game and his interesting fight style) but hey I got to give Joe credit he went the long way around and he has done the job,and he came off the canvas to do it too. He just took a long time securing what he thought he was entitled to so he swapped more cash for less legacy.
Wrong choice I think,but still great what he's done and the records show it.