Calzaghe is a F****** idiot...

[Pugilistic]

hopkins might be over 40 but he has still got it. i agree with you though calzaghe should fight kessler for more titles. i still want hopkins and calzaghe to have a fight though

[Lords Gym]

hopkins might be over 40 but he has still got it. i agree with you though calzaghe should fight kessler for more titles. i still want hopkins and calzaghe to have a fight though

Calzaghe is 35 years old, to hell with the belts , he needs to make some huge money now.. Jones and Hopkins is where that money is in that division. Kessler comes later on in my opinion.. I feel the Kessler poses the biggest threat with the least reward financially.

[dumdane]

Calzaghe is 35 years old, to hell with the belts , he needs to make some huge money now.. Jones and Hopkins is where that money is in that division. Kessler comes later on in my opinion.. I feel the Kessler poses the biggest threat with the least reward financially.

Well if belts and recognition doesn't matter, then he should definitely avoid Kessler. Only if he wants to cement his legacy at 168 does he need to fight Kessler. That used to be a priority to Calzaghe (or at least so he said) but possibly no more.

Just don't expect Calzaghe to be creditted as "best SMW ever" or even "best SMW at the time" (say 2005-2006). If Calzaghe leaves without fighting Kessler and Kessler continues to shine, it WILL look like he ran. Ran like hell.
No amount of money is gonna change that.

[sexydarin]

When your hands are shot, you might as well go out big. I think, picking legends for his last few fights, is a must. You never know how many fights you have left, with injured fists.

[bigragu]

The only reason to fight a semi retired Hopkins over Kessler is the cash cow...

I agree, Greig a Kessler fight would satisfy me more than any other fight out there...

To call him a F****** idiot is perhaps a little harsh though!

a little bit....but not too out of line..

[BIG H]

wasn't really impressed with his performance and he was hit repeatedly with B-Hop's favorite punch the over hand right, also wtf was up with all the cockiness in the first 3 rounds, he was getting tagged and wasn't really dominating yet he was dancing and clowning around like if he was the god of boxing

CC Nice post - A young Robin 'Reaper Man' Reid had Calzaghe eating that punch all night long and dropped a wafer-thin decision - and Joe didn't give him, his hardest test to date, any chance of a rematch and thus Reid was forced to Italy and Germany etc to get a fight (dropping a points loss to Otke in a TOTAL rip-off in germany).

'Young' Robin Reid was arguably at his best at that time and was former WBC champ. Calzaghe was far from his best at that time. Not making excuses, it was a really hard fight, just saying Reid wasn't a Rookie like the word 'Young' suggests.

[superheavyrhun]

Calzaghe is 35 years old, to hell with the belts , he needs to make some huge money now.. Jones and Hopkins is where that money is in that division. Kessler comes later on in my opinion.. I feel the Kessler poses the biggest threat with the least reward financially.

Well if belts and recognition doesn't matter, then he should definitely avoid Kessler. Only if he wants to cement his legacy at 168 does he need to fight Kessler. That used to be a priority to Calzaghe (or at least so he said) but possibly no more.

Just don't expect Calzaghe to be creditted as "best SMW ever" or even "best SMW at the time" (say 2005-2006). If Calzaghe leaves without fighting Kessler and Kessler continues to shine, it WILL look like he ran. Ran like hell.
No amount of money is gonna change that.

That's why I'm concerned at Frank Warren's build up of a possible fight in America with Hopkins. It just seems ludicrous to fight a boxing pensioner when there is the massive Kessler fight there crying to be made. While I think Calzaghe is the best SMW around, I agree that if it emerges that he turned down the fight, then it will look bad for him. But also, rumours are circulating of Kessler pricing himself out....everyone's got an excuse if it isn't made. Let's just hope it is.

'Young' Robin Reid was arguably at his best at that time and was former WBC champ. Calzaghe was far from his best at that time. Not making excuses, it was a really hard fight, just saying Reid wasn't a Rookie like the word 'Young' suggests.

Agreed. cc.

[shza]

That's why I'm concerned at Frank Warren's build up of a possible fight in America with Hopkins. It just seems ludicrous to fight a boxing pensioner when there is the massive Kessler fight there crying to be made. While I think Calzaghe is the best SMW around, I agree that if it emerges that he turned down the fight, then it will look bad for him. But also, rumours are circulating of Kessler pricing himself out....everyone's got an excuse if it isn't made. Let's just hope it is.

Boxing pensioner? I'm positive that the betting odds would be on Hopkins to win that fight. The odds would be on Calzaghe in a fight against Kessler. Bottom line is that Hopkins is recognized as a bigger challenge. He may be 40, but just ask Antonio Tarver.

[superheavyrhun]

That's why I'm concerned at Frank Warren's build up of a possible fight in America with Hopkins. It just seems ludicrous to fight a boxing pensioner when there is the massive Kessler fight there crying to be made. While I think Calzaghe is the best SMW around, I agree that if it emerges that he turned down the fight, then it will look bad for him. But also, rumours are circulating of Kessler pricing himself out....everyone's got an excuse if it isn't made. Let's just hope it is.

Boxing pensioner? I'm positive that the betting odds would be on Hopkins to win that fight. The odds would be on Calzaghe in a fight against Kessler. Bottom line is that Hopkins is recognized as a bigger challenge. He may be 40, but just ask Antonio Tarver.

Mate...if you think the odds would be on Hopkins I'd be checking your water supply to make sure nobody's piping a hallucinogenic in with the water. While Hopkins beat Tarver easily, it wasn't emphatic and he didn't have to push himself too hard to do it. Also, he wasn't exactly given much of a challenge, Tarver thought it'd be like Hollywood, he'd turn up, the opposition would get hit a few times in slo-mo, and then he's win. His head wasn't there at all, and he put up the most timid display in a World title fight i'd seen in a damn long time. Who exactly, in terms of boxing experts, is recognising Hopkins as the bigger challenge? As a 41 year old, and he may well be 42 by the time the fight, Calzaghe's next comes around, he just isn't going to have the handspeed and the movement to match Calzaghe's lightning boxing skills. Don't kid yourself mate, it's been over two years since Hopkins' last impressive victory against ODLH, and if a bout with Calzaghe comes about, he will lose.

[shza]

That's why I'm concerned at Frank Warren's build up of a possible fight in America with Hopkins. It just seems ludicrous to fight a boxing pensioner when there is the massive Kessler fight there crying to be made. While I think Calzaghe is the best SMW around, I agree that if it emerges that he turned down the fight, then it will look bad for him. But also, rumours are circulating of Kessler pricing himself out....everyone's got an excuse if it isn't made. Let's just hope it is.

Boxing pensioner? I'm positive that the betting odds would be on Hopkins to win that fight. The odds would be on Calzaghe in a fight against Kessler. Bottom line is that Hopkins is recognized as a bigger challenge. He may be 40, but just ask Antonio Tarver.

Mate...if you think the odds would be on Hopkins I'd be checking your water supply to make sure nobody's piping a hallucinogenic in with the water. While Hopkins beat Tarver easily, it wasn't emphatic and he didn't have to push himself too hard to do it. Also, he wasn't exactly given much of a challenge, Tarver thought it'd be like Hollywood, he'd turn up, the opposition would get hit a few times in slo-mo, and then he's win. His head wasn't there at all, and he put up the most timid display in a World title fight i'd seen in a damn long time. Who exactly, in terms of boxing experts, is recognising Hopkins as the bigger challenge? As a 41 year old, and he may well be 42 by the time the fight, Calzaghe's next comes around, he just isn't going to have the handspeed and the movement to match Calzaghe's lightning boxing skills. Don't kid yourself mate, it's been over two years since Hopkins' last impressive victory against ODLH, and if a bout with Calzaghe comes about, he will lose.

The odds will be on Hopkins, we'll see. You're seeing the boxing world through an odd lens living in the UK. Calzaghe's "boxing skills" also include being wide open up the middle almost all the time and throwing almost exclusively very wide punches. The speed is enough to carry him through against Lacy and the other second-rate opposition he's faced (100% of his opposition), and would likely carry him through against Kessler. It would not be enough against a world-class fighter like Hopkins or Wright, even with them out of their prime. Calzaghe has NEVER beaten or even faced world-class opposition, and has obvious flaws. Why would he possibly be favored?

[superheavyrhun]

The odds will be on Hopkins, we'll see. You're seeing the boxing world through an odd lens living in the UK. Calzaghe's "boxing skills" also include being wide open up the middle almost all the time and throwing almost exclusively very wide punches. The speed is enough to carry him through against Lacy and the other second-rate opposition he's faced (100% of his opposition), and would likely carry him through against Kessler. It would not be enough against a world-class fighter like Hopkins or Wright, even with them out of their prime. Calzaghe has NEVER beaten or even faced world-class opposition, and has obvious flaws. Why would he possibly be favored?

Dude, once again it seems that you're looking through your lens the wrong way, and instead of magnifying your view of things, it is actually blurring your view. He has beaten all comers from the SMW division, with the exception of Sven Ottke, who retired to avoid losing his undefeated career, and Glen Johnson, who has missed out twice because of injuries. Anyone who has been anyone in Calzaghe's era and who has campaigned at SMW has faced him and been beaten, as will Kessler when his time comes. As for world-class opposition, he may have been 5 or 6 years ago, but he looked good against a lacklustre, dreadful Tarver last time out, and showed his fading skills in the two against Taylor. Hopkins is no longer world class. His punches can come from all angles, and any fighter needs a very adaptable defence just to keep 50% of the punches off them. As for the so-called "obvious flaws" would you care to expand? He's always come back from being knocked down, and has a strong jaw and swift recovery, as well as a boxing brain when he has to box. At the end of the day, he can deal with everything that Hopkins or Wright could throw at him, and adapt his fight to win. At his age, I don't see Hopkins having much else than a run and hide approach to the fight, looking to counter constantly.

[shza]

Dude, once again it seems that you're looking through your lens the wrong way, and instead of magnifying your view of things, it is actually blurring your view. He has beaten all comers from the SMW division, with the exception of Sven Ottke, who retired to avoid losing his undefeated career, and Glen Johnson, who has missed out twice because of injuries. Anyone who has been anyone in Calzaghe's era and who has campaigned at SMW has faced him and been beaten, as will Kessler when his time comes.

Look, I agree he's beaten everyone he's faced, and he's looked impressive in some (but definitely not all) of those fights. The problem is that none of those fights were against world class competition. You can argue that Hopkins is no longer in his prime--you don't appear to argue the same for Winky--but a past-his-prime Hopkins is still several steps up from a young Jeff Lacy or an old Chris Eubank (the two top names on Calzaghe's resume). We can argue about who's fault it is and who dodged whom, but the fact remains that Calzaghe has not once faced a single top 10 p4p fighter. Hopkins is one, like it or not, as is Wright--on The Ring's list and on Saddo's. I agree that Calzaghe would beat Kessler--so does almost everyone. What would that prove? Just that he can still beat good-but-not-world-class competition.

As for world-class opposition, he may have been 5 or 6 years ago, but he looked good against a lacklustre, dreadful Tarver last time out, and showed his fading skills in the two against Taylor. Hopkins is no longer world class.

I agree that he was not busy enough against Taylor--I don't know about "fading skills"--but it's your comment dismissing the Tarver fight that gets to me. The fight that everyone holds up as the heroic achievement in Joe Calzaghe's career is his victory over, as you put it, a "lackluster, dreadful" Jeff Lacy, who, unlike Tarver, had never beaten good competition and was TOTALLY unproven coming into the fight. You can't have it both ways. If Calzaghe deserves credit for beating a green, one-dimensional fighter, surely Hopkins deserves more for moving up two weightclasses and dominating the linear champion.

As for the so-called "obvious flaws" would you care to expand? He's always come back from being knocked down, and has a strong jaw and swift recovery, as well as a boxing brain when he has to box. At the end of the day, he can deal with everything that Hopkins or Wright could throw at him, and adapt his fight to win.

I'll just repost for you then:

The odds will be on Hopkins, we'll see. You're seeing the boxing world through an odd lens living in the UK. Calzaghe's "boxing skills" also include being wide open up the middle almost all the time and throwing almost exclusively very wide punches. The speed is enough to carry him through against Lacy and the other second-rate opposition he's faced (100% of his opposition), and would likely carry him through against Kessler. It would not be enough against a world-class fighter like Hopkins or Wright, even with them out of their prime. Calzaghe has NEVER beaten or even faced world-class opposition, and has obvious flaws. Why would he possibly be favored?

Anyway, no disrespect intended in all this. I know you're a big JC fan and I don't mean to imply that I think he's crap. I don't. I just think Hopkins and Wright are much tougher fights than Kessler and would answer a lot more questions. And though I can appreciate JC's hand speed and work rate, I don't think he wins either of those fights, even now. I'd at least like to see myself proven wrong. CC.

[sexydarin]

If Joe Calzaghe loses any fight, it will be beacause he broke his hand during that fight, not because the other boxer was better. Joe's hands are his downfall.

[sillent killer]

Joe would destroy both so i dnt really think it matters who he fights nxt.

bt to see him beat b-hop would b gr8

Maybe in your dreams he beats B-HOP,what happened when you wake up.
B-HOP would win UD but anyway that fight never going to happen.

[superheavyrhun]

Well, I guess we can put this one to bed now, and have a CC in return. It's possible we can pick this up in the run up to a February fight, because at the moment it seems that is the one the Sports Network are favouring. We shall see...