Hopkins says he will retire if he can't get rematch with Calzaghe

[Manuel "Chubby" Medina]

Ok true. you got me.
BUT, ok Jeff lacy ok good win,Hopkins by 1-2 rounds hmmm questionable, a washedout Roy Jones?
NOTE: Hopkins and Roy Jones both knocked him down.
Is Calzaghe's career all that great that its going to be marked as a legacy after he retires? should he be on the hall of fame?
Imo Calzaghe you keep fighting and solidify your career then retire.

[Spicoli]

I think he's massaging his options and keeping all avenues open.A rematch with Calzaghe is the least interesting for Me...not because I see Calzaghe repeating with a certain victory but.......the fight itself was terrible.I can not cast blame on one guy entirely,Simply I think the styles match up was blah.In all honesty,off of a shut out of Pavlik and monstrous network/Promotional affiliations,Hopkins can and will have a huge say in who is next and will not be forced into a fight he does not want,much to the chagrin of his detractors.If I were Calzaghe,I'd aim for Dawson.He's beaten Bernard and riding some big momentum towards his own Retirement with wins over Kessler,Jones,Hopkins.What a way to go out beating an undefeated Top tier gut like Dawson who is hitting his own stride but still learning a bit.I have a sneaking suspicion that the much talked about rematch with Tarver will not come off....lets all say a short prayer and hope as much anyway

[awdleyfuturehalloffamer]

Hopkins sucked the first fight, nobody wants to see him whine and hold his nuts for a second fight.

[JazMerkin]

To the person who said that JC won't give B-Hop a rematch because he wasn't gracious in defeat, I think that Joe is hardly in a position to talk about that, particularly after some of his comments recently, such as the stuff about boxing being finished.

Regards to a rematch, although I thought Hopkins won the first fight, I would much rather see Joe go up against Dawson to shore up his 'legacy'. Although I have soured on Calzaghe a bit over the last 9 months or so, I still think he is one hell of a boxer & has got a lot left so would love to see him go up against Dawson to really let us know just how good he is. At the moment the fact remains that his record just doesn't stand up to his contemporaries, even if some of them have lost fights, because there are a maximum of 6 fighters who you could argue as competitive contests & some believe he lost 2 of those (Reid & Hopkins).

To be honest as someone who is a fan of both Calzaghe & Hopkins (I know, one of the few ), I would like B-Hop to retire on the Pavlik victory & Calzaghe to have one last fight in Cardiff against Dawson because I think he's got it in him, and really were he to win it would be much harder for his critics to have a go at him

[CFH]

To the person who said that JC won't give B-Hop a rematch because he wasn't gracious in defeat, I think that Joe is hardly in a position to talk about that, particularly after some of his comments recently, such as the stuff about boxing being finished.

Regards to a rematch, although I thought Hopkins won the first fight, I would much rather see Joe go up against Dawson to shore up his 'legacy'. Although I have soured on Calzaghe a bit over the last 9 months or so, I still think he is one hell of a boxer & has got a lot left so would love to see him go up against Dawson to really let us know just how good he is. At the moment the fact remains that his record just doesn't stand up to his contemporaries, even if some of them have lost fights, because there are a maximum of 6 fighters who you could argue as competitive contests & some believe he lost 2 of those (Reid & Hopkins).

To be honest as someone who is a fan of both Calzaghe & Hopkins (I know, one of the few ), I would like B-Hop to retire on the Pavlik victory & Calzaghe to have one last fight in Cardiff against Dawson because I think he's got it in him, and really were he to win it would be much harder for his critics to have a go at him

Excellent post, I agree with almost everything you say (which is why it must be an excellent post )

[Kel]

To the person who said that JC won't give B-Hop a rematch because he wasn't gracious in defeat, I think that Joe is hardly in a position to talk about that, particularly after some of his comments recently, such as the stuff about boxing being finished.

Regards to a rematch, although I thought Hopkins won the first fight, I would much rather see Joe go up against Dawson to shore up his 'legacy'. Although I have soured on Calzaghe a bit over the last 9 months or so, I still think he is one hell of a boxer & has got a lot left so would love to see him go up against Dawson to really let us know just how good he is. At the moment the fact remains that his record just doesn't stand up to his contemporaries, even if some of them have lost fights, because there are a maximum of 6 fighters who you could argue as competitive contests & some believe he lost 2 of those (Reid & Hopkins).

To be honest as someone who is a fan of both Calzaghe & Hopkins (I know, one of the few ), I would like B-Hop to retire on the Pavlik victory & Calzaghe to have one last fight in Cardiff against Dawson because I think he's got it in him, and really were he to win it would be much harder for his critics to have a go at him

Lacy was undefeated and so was Kessler, if he beat Dawson he would just slip into the list of hopefulls. Really, who would give Joe anymore credit than he already has?

[CFH]

To the person who said that JC won't give B-Hop a rematch because he wasn't gracious in defeat, I think that Joe is hardly in a position to talk about that, particularly after some of his comments recently, such as the stuff about boxing being finished.

Regards to a rematch, although I thought Hopkins won the first fight, I would much rather see Joe go up against Dawson to shore up his 'legacy'. Although I have soured on Calzaghe a bit over the last 9 months or so, I still think he is one hell of a boxer & has got a lot left so would love to see him go up against Dawson to really let us know just how good he is. At the moment the fact remains that his record just doesn't stand up to his contemporaries, even if some of them have lost fights, because there are a maximum of 6 fighters who you could argue as competitive contests & some believe he lost 2 of those (Reid & Hopkins).

To be honest as someone who is a fan of both Calzaghe & Hopkins (I know, one of the few ), I would like B-Hop to retire on the Pavlik victory & Calzaghe to have one last fight in Cardiff against Dawson because I think he's got it in him, and really were he to win it would be much harder for his critics to have a go at him

Lacy was undefeated and so was Kessler, if he beat Dawson he would just slip into the list of hopefulls. Really

The problem is that neither of those two fighters have proven anything following their defeats to Calzaghe, thus diminishing the victories. I think a few years from now the Kessler victory will look very impressive though.

[Kel]

To the person who said that JC won't give B-Hop a rematch because he wasn't gracious in defeat, I think that Joe is hardly in a position to talk about that, particularly after some of his comments recently, such as the stuff about boxing being finished.

Regards to a rematch, although I thought Hopkins won the first fight, I would much rather see Joe go up against Dawson to shore up his 'legacy'. Although I have soured on Calzaghe a bit over the last 9 months or so, I still think he is one hell of a boxer & has got a lot left so would love to see him go up against Dawson to really let us know just how good he is. At the moment the fact remains that his record just doesn't stand up to his contemporaries, even if some of them have lost fights, because there are a maximum of 6 fighters who you could argue as competitive contests & some believe he lost 2 of those (Reid & Hopkins).

To be honest as someone who is a fan of both Calzaghe & Hopkins (I know, one of the few ), I would like B-Hop to retire on the Pavlik victory & Calzaghe to have one last fight in Cardiff against Dawson because I think he's got it in him, and really were he to win it would be much harder for his critics to have a go at him

Lacy was undefeated and so was Kessler, if he beat Dawson he would just slip into the list of hopefulls. Really

The problem is that neither of those two fighters have proven anything following their defeats to Calzaghe, thus diminishing the victories. I think a few years from now the Kessler victory will look very impressive though.

Oh no, I agree mate, but say Calzaghe beat Dawson, how long would it take for him to beat a top guy after that?

Joe would still be in question till Dawson did something special

[Boom Boom]

Even as a Hopkins fan I think its hypocritle to say he doesnt want to fight young talent, when he just did. He clearly just doesnt want Dawson, and I dont blame him. I hope he does retire but I know he wont. If he continues Id like to see him take on Valuev. It may sound completely crazy but he would likely beat him.

[JazMerkin]

Lacy was undefeated and so was Kessler, if he beat Dawson he would just slip into the list of hopefulls. Really

The problem is that neither of those two fighters have proven anything following their defeats to Calzaghe, thus diminishing the victories. I think a few years from now the Kessler victory will look very impressive though.

Oh no, I agree mate, but say Calzaghe beat Dawson, how long would it take for him to beat a top guy after that?

Joe would still be in question till Dawson did something special

I agree that might happen & there is always going to be a new young guy for a top fighter. The problem is he still doesn't have ENOUGH quality names on his record, and I think you can only argue that one of those fighters was a top-tier, prime fighter & that's Kessler. Eubank, Hopkins & Jones Jr were all some way past their peak, whilst Lacy & Reid were just frankly not on the same level as Joe. Anyone who's knows a bit about boxing can tell just how good Dawson is. The fact is if he won that fight than I think it would kill off a lot of the doubts that remain about him. It would at least add another top name to gloss over fighting the likes of Tocker Pudwill, Jimenez & Mario Veit (TWICE!)

[JazMerkin]

Even as a Hopkins fan I think its hypocritle to say he doesnt want to fight young talent, when he just did. He clearly just doesnt want Dawson, and I dont blame him. I hope he does retire but I know he wont. If he continues Id like to see him take on Valuev. It may sound completely crazy but he would likely beat him.

What he actually said on ESPN was that he didn't want to get in the way of the careers of any younger guys after the Pavlik win, although I think he does want to avoid Dawson, and like you I don't blame him. Would like to see him go out on top & I don't think he can top that moment staring out into press row at the end of the Pavlik fight

[CFH]

Even as a Hopkins fan I think its hypocritle to say he doesnt want to fight young talent, when he just did. He clearly just doesnt want Dawson, and I dont blame him. I hope he does retire but I know he wont. If he continues Id like to see him take on Valuev. It may sound completely crazy but he would likely beat him.

What he actually said on ESPN was that he didn't want to get in the way of the careers of any younger guys after the Pavlik win, although I think he does want to avoid Dawson, and like you I don't blame him. Would like to see him go out on top & I don't think he can top that moment staring out into press row at the end of the Pavlik fight

I don't think he's necessarily intimidated by Dawson, though I'm certain he's well aware of the risk that would come with fighting him. I'm sure Hopkins thinks he would win (I'm sure he think he could topple both Klitschko's in one night), but I doubt Dawson brings a lot of money to the table, and I'd think that that, combined with the risk associate with a Dawson fight, probably makes it seem like it just isn't worth it. I'm sure if the money was there, like it was with Pavlik, he'd be clamoring for the fight.

[CGM]

I don't think Hopkins should sweat the Calzaghe "loss". It really doesn't change a whole lot. Any more than the Taylor loss changed things. It would be nice to get a rematch but we all know Calzaghe's position. When it comes down to legacy and position on the all time lists, Hopkins will still get the upper hand.

[Fenster]

The problem is that neither of those two fighters have proven anything following their defeats to Calzaghe, thus diminishing the victories. I think a few years from now the Kessler victory will look very impressive though.

Oh no, I agree mate, but say Calzaghe beat Dawson, how long would it take for him to beat a top guy after that?

Joe would still be in question till Dawson did something special

I agree that might happen & there is always going to be a new young guy for a top fighter. The problem is he still doesn't have ENOUGH quality names on his record, and I think you can only argue that one of those fighters was a top-tier, prime fighter & that's Kessler. Eubank, Hopkins & Jones Jr were all some way past their peak, whilst Lacy & Reid were just frankly not on the same level as Joe. Anyone who's knows a bit about boxing can tell just how good Dawson is. The fact is if he won that fight than I think it would kill off a lot of the doubts that remain about him. It would at least add another top name to gloss over fighting the likes of Tocker Pudwill, Jimenez & Mario Veit (TWICE!)

That's exactly what many people said before he beat Lacy... and then before Kessler... and then before Hopkins... and then even before old Roy

[ross]

Exactly, what other world champ can say theyve fought and totaly outclassed 2 undefeated young champs in the past few years?