Joe Calzaghe, whats the US opinion

Abe, Joe wanted to move up to 175 or go to the US but simply could not afford to.He had a family to feed.Hes not a big name, keeps himself to himself, probably a bigger name in US now than in Britain.WBO paid him better money to defend his belt than he would of got in non title 175 fights or non title US fights.Even that money wasnt good.The only fights out there for him that were worth it were Hopkins and Roy Jones Junior and it was impossible doing business with them they kept pricing themselves out.What else could he do other than wait patiently until somebody had the balls to fight him, eg thankfully Lacey and hopefully now Winky Wright or Taylor.

the arguement can be made there are a lot of US fighters that haven't left the country and fought, and some current fighters in the USA that need to travel, and i believe that WORLD CLASS FIGHTERS need to travel and fight around the world. although the US is the main stage supposedly, i think fighting abroad in other peoples backyard makes a statement that you are a real deal fighter and don't mind fighting under adversity. i'd like to see calzaghe go abroad and make that statement before he wraps it up and retires. True, but take Winky Wright for example: he made a living early on in his career in Europe, proved himself, and when asked what he wanted to do he said, "To get a chance to fight back in the States" It reminds me of that movie with Eddie Murphy, "The Distinguished Gentleman"... they told a quick story about a guy who robbed banks, when asked why he did it he said, "That's where the money is" But it is also not like he ever lost, so props to him...it would of just been great if he would of come to the States years ago. There is so much Competition in the States that there is really no need to go anywhere else. Top fighters have usually always made their "Prime" year fights in the States

calzaghe is good and i think he is a TV friendly fighter. i would like to see him fight big name fighters in or around his weight class, and i'd like to see him fight outside of europe. mainly in the USA, i know he gets top dollar over where he fights and lives so it's tough to leave, but to say you're a world class champion, i say travel the world and fight. the arguement can be made there are a lot of US fighters that haven't left the country and fought, and some current fighters in the USA that need to travel, and i believe that WORLD CLASS FIGHTERS need to travel and fight around the world. although the US is the main stage supposedly, i think fighting abroad in other peoples backyard makes a statement that you are a real deal fighter and don't mind fighting under adversity. i'd like to see calzaghe go abroad and make that statement before he wraps it up and retires. it would give him more credibility as a champion and would lessen the scrutiny of his naysayers.......... but if he doesnt, then a huge population of fight fans will always down talk him and won't give him any credit, kind of like what is going on now. calzaghe although he has been kind of sheltered, he fought those fights, he got into the ring and won..........gotta give him credit there even if you don't like him......

Abe, not its not about money.How can it be about money when Joe doesnt let himself known to the public, his biggest pay day is still the Eubank fight and that was only because the public wanted to see Eubank and it was pay per view and tickets prices rised also when Eubank took the fight with a week to go.Joe is no Eubank or Prince Nazeem, he is not a money man hes a glory man who always wanted the big fights but was always too good for his own good as proven now beyond doubts. He has made good money, not great, compared to some of the big name fighters in the States, but he also hasn't had to take big risks making that money. He could of easily earned bigger money by taking bigger risks, but he didn't. All he had to do is come to the States, have a few fights, and then set up a match with a bigger name; it would of been best to move up to 175. You make it seem like we are in the early-mid parts of the 20th century, when Promoters and the Mob ruled boxing...boxing is still a corrupt buisness, but it is not like they are keeping fighters like Joe down; not to bring up color, but the guy is white, and people like seeing if a "White boy" can fight"...yes, I know it shouldn't be like this, especially since it is funny that people are now hating on "Whitey", but that is the truth. Just the thought of thinking that Joe is "always too good for his own good as proven now beyond doubts" makes me think that you are comparing his career to someone like Sam Langford, Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles, etc. :lol1: Joe is good, but if he wanted to prove himself he should of came to the states...if it wasn't about "Money" and it was for "Glory" than fighting a couple of fights to get your name out into the public eyes in the U.S.A. wouldn't have been a problem...you want glory, MOVE UP to 175. For his victory over Lacy, it was good, but it was against a fighter that really was overrated, at least at this point in his career; although, he was counted out by many, so it makes it a sweet victory for him.

I'm an American and I've been very impressed with what I've seen from Calzaghe. I've only seen a couple of his fights. He's got very good skills, not devastating power but he is a very good accumulation puncher. His problem seems mainly to be in his hands, I have to admit I thought his hand problems would contribute to Lacy beating him, but I was impressed not just that Calzaghe won but how he won.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=39SJ5KSF Zaghe is fo real

Marcuas Beyer or the guy from Denmark with power if they thing all he can do is slap, no problem, he can knock them out believe me. That guy from Denmark are Kessler and Calzaghe will lose against Kessler and he knows it. So he will avoid that matchup everyway that he can

Yes Joe can bang with the best of them if he loads up his shots.You only have to see how he would punch guys from one side of the ring to the other to see how strong and powerful he can be, that was in his early career he now focuses on sharp hands tho.

Abe, not its not about money.How can it be about money when Joe doesnt let himself known to the public, his biggest pay day is still the Eubank fight and that was only because the public wanted to see Eubank and it was pay per view and tickets prices rised also when Eubank took the fight with a week to go.Joe is no Eubank or Prince Nazeem, he is not a money man hes a glory man who always wanted the big fights but was always too good for his own good as proven now beyond doubts.

Montoya, Joe was proven to everybody who had ever botherefd to watch him before the Lacey fight, Eubank was far better than anybody Beyer or the Denmark guy has fought, Charles Brewer was far better than anybody they fought, Mitchell too.Joe avoided nobody, he was the avoided one and against Lacey you saw why.Steve Collins retired a week before the fight, bottled it.Bernard Hopkins priced himself out at the last minute, bottled it.So many others too.

Joe has power, just not devastating power...he hit Lacy so many times it was scary...I could only imagine if Joe had devastating power what round it would of ended. yeah Joe has decent power. Lacy had an awesome chin. Joe is not a devastating puncher but with his handspeed and sheer amount leather he lands he hurts everyone he has been in a ring with no doubt. Frank Warren is the man. Calzaghe is a complete homeboy though thats always been his problem.

Calzaghe beats anyone at Super middle and light heavy. Calzaghe also beats Taylor and Winky if they meet in my opinion, once he is in that ring on fight night he slaps the shit out of everyone out there at the moment. To the guy who said Joe has no power, what are you talking about??? i'm from London though to the thread starter lol. Just got stick up for JC. Joe has power, just not devastating power...he hit Lacy so many times it was scary...I could only imagine if Joe had devastating power what round it would of ended. Joe is a very good boxer, but he has been plagued with injury; his promoter, Frank Warren, also took away key years, in my opinion, of Joe's "Prime"; years in which he should of came to America and fought better opponents on par with his talent. I am not going to go out and bash Frank Warren since he does help make his fighters a boat load of money, enabling his fighters to stay close to home, if not in their home ;) , while not taking a whole lot of risk that could damage their careers and health. In his eyes, he may just be protecting his fighter, along with himself, because he knows in the end, it is about MONEY. Just look at Hatton for example: Ricky may have been on his way to a more "safe" approach, but Frank knew what he was doing: he knew, if he had to, if he was pressured to, he would wait till someone like Tszyu, would be at a stage in his career where Ricky had at least a 50% chance of victory; with Frank's smarts, helping those chances by making it in your backyard. Do you really think Frank would of let Hatton face Luis Collazo or even let the idea of him moving up to 147 enter the minds of the people; I think not.

Mango, dont you think that maybe it was Joe who made Lacey appear that way? Before the bout nobody was saying Lacey wasnt anything other than a invincible killing machine.Joe has alot of power, more power than anybody in the supermiddles possibly ever but has not shown often.He used to blast guys across the ring and onto their backs, but after three back to back decisions he stopped just trying to load up big shots and went back to his amatuer days focussing on sharp hands instead (for the bout with Omar Shieka) because it had become too predictable looking to load up big shots all the time.He can take out Marcuas Beyer or the guy from Denmark with power if they thing all he can do is slap, no problem, he can knock them out believe me. I thought the same of Lacy, being that he was unproven, overrated power, overrated ability, etc.; though I was always secure on his very good chin. People, especially in the media, LOVE to HYPE up Fighters to boost ratings...the fans, love to hype fighters up because they need a reason to watch, a reason to think they are on the verge of seeing "Greatness." I remember, though it was more on another site, that Lacy was being compared to a young MIKE TYSON: Are you F#%*&#% Nuts, Tyson? If Lacy was Tyson, where was the incredible head movement? where was the speed of hand, and even foot movement? {were talking about a 220lb man being faster and more agile than a 168lb fighter} Seriously, Tyson and Lacy were far apart, and it was an unfair comparison, even if they were talking about a Post-Prison Tyson :D Maybe I will give them the Tyson that fought for the past couple of fights. Lacy couldn't even listen to his corner when he faced Joe, what an amatuer. I hate to have any negative remarks towards a fighter, but you think the fighter, and even the fans/media, would learn from the past, and not believe the hype, until more fights and years have past

Calzaghe beats anyone at Super middle and light heavy. Calzaghe also beats Taylor and Winky if they meet in my opinion, once he is in that ring on fight night he slaps the shit out of everyone out there at the moment. To the guy who said Joe has no power, what are you talking about??? i'm from London though to the thread starter lol. Just got stick up for JC.

after that lacy fight i was IMPRESSED. HOWEVER... We are now back to how it's always been. No Johnson fight- his hand is hurt. Can you at least sympathize with how annoying that is to me as an american fan trying to watch this guy? I want him to fight good american opposition- cos that's the best way for me to see what he's got. And I personally think all the people screaming Hopkins at Joe now are stupid because Hops is 41 years old and just fought his last fight. I really want to see Joe fight another good guy- Winky or Taylor could be cool. But I was really looking forward to the Glencoffe/Joe fight and I was pretty disappointed when Joe backed out. I just want to see the guy fight again and not annoy me by saying he'll fight and not fight and shit like that. He's damn good though no question about it. Lacy was a total mismatch but that doesn't mean Joe didn't still beat a top guy. That's why I was looking forward to the Johnson fight though because I want to see him fight some different fighters with styles unlike Lacy

if he had more experience, allen green would be a better test for calzone than lacy was, green has handspeed and good skills. lacy is a puncher, punchers get outboxed, still it was a good win for Calzone over a high profile american fighter

He basically put up one of the best boxing performances ever against a young dangerous opponent. It was the biggest match of his career. He had a lot to lose, and he still got it done the way he did. I was highly impressed. You can see why a lot of americans had the wrong idea about him though because he keeps getting hurt before a fight. It makes him look like hes faking and trying to find an easy way out, which against Lacy he showed we were all wrong.

This is my opinion. I like Calzaghe alot because I think he's a great boxer but its just hard to really get behind guys when they havent consistently fought the high level or ever come to the US. Thats why I liked Hamed. Even though it didnt end up right, he still truly tried to be the best. Hatton is in the middle. He's been somewhat protected but he's still got alot of fighting left and I think he will be making alot of big fights. Hopfully he can keep winning but either way, he gets my respect if he fights top guys

Eubank wasnt a live opponent? Charles Brewer? Look at Mario Veits record, Mitchell bout Joe was down for first time in his life-got up to win in same round.Lacey domination.I could go on and on.

Mango, dont you think that maybe it was Joe who made Lacey appear that way? Before the bout nobody was saying Lacey wasnt anything other than a invincible killing machine.Joe has alot of power, more power than anybody in the supermiddles possibly ever but has not shown often.He used to blast guys across the ring and onto their backs, but after three back to back decisions he stopped just trying to load up big shots and went back to his amatuer days focussing on sharp hands instead (for the bout with Omar Shieka) because it had become too predictable looking to load up big shots all the time.He can take out Marcuas Beyer or the guy from Denmark with power if they thing all he can do is slap, no problem, he can knock them out believe me.