Calzaghe aims at Hopkins' record!

Yeah, but Hopkins can't do anything to put him ahead of Robinson...then again, maybe beat Wlad. Fighting a dead Tarver doesn't do much in my opinion.

I know, but I didn't understand his aim at beating Tarver either. He said he wanted to do something that Sugar Ray Robinson couldn't, which was capture the LHW title, which he didn't even do because there was not a major title on the line, and SRR was a natural welterweight.. I couldn't get my head around that one. My point is, he's picked the weakest and smallest of all the heavyweights, he'd go into the fight as a favourite anyhow.. I just don't see him getting much recognition for it. because obviously ray robinson is someone he respects, you always want to outdo someone you view as your idol, i certaintley do.

To the people saying Calzaghe's career doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Hopkins': You are talking out of your asses. Calzaghe has beaten alot of quality opposition throughout his career and basically ruled the Super Middleweight division the same way as Hopkins ruled the Middleweight division. Don't forget about all the 'easy' defences Hopkins made; Allen, Hakkar etc. Hopkins gets all this hype mainly because of his wins vs Trinidad, De La Hoya and Tarver, I don't care what you say the fact is that both Trinidad and De La Hoya had to step up from their natural weight to fight Hopkins giving him a clear advantage. Yes, Hopkins made the step up himself to face Tarver but lets be honest Tarver got his reputation for beating a shot Roy Jones and that's all, he wasn't an elite fighter. Ask yourself this; if Hopkins was willing to step up two weight divisions to fight for a duff title, why did he never step up just one to Super Middleweight to face Calzaghe? The fight was almost a done deal until Hopkins pulled out demanding ridiculous money. At the end of the day Hopkins is a great fighter but he's also a businessman, he wanted the most reward for the smallest risk. There is no denying he has cemented his place in the Hall of Fame but to make out that he is some kind of God who should not be compared to Calzaghe is plain stupid. I'm not biased, I love watching both boxers but for my money Calzaghe would always have the beating of Hopkins. So what about Evans Ashira, Kabary Salem (Who put JC on his ass), Mario Veit twice, Sakio Bika, Mger Mkrtchian, & Tocker Pudwill. These are most of his RECENT fights. In fact, how come he never tried to unify until this year? And don't say that no one wanted to fight him because you know what, if he really wanted to do so he could have. All who watch boxing know that the WBO has the softest mandatories which it seemed that JC was content with sitting back & defending against.

the ring belt > any alphabet belt tarver was the champion at 175 when hopkins whupped him

I know, but I didn't understand his aim at beating Tarver either. He said he wanted to do something that Sugar Ray Robinson couldn't, which was capture the LHW title, which he didn't even do because there was not a major title on the line, and SRR was a natural welterweight.. I couldn't get my head around that one. Antonio Tarver was the Undisputed and Ring Light Heavweight Champion. The titles at 175 have been splintered since Jones moved up to Heavyweight, but there was never any disputing who the real champion was in Jones, Tarver, Johnson, Tarver and then Hopkins. A lack of an ABC title didn't mean anything. Hopkins became the undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion by shutting out the Light Heavyweight Champion. Just wanted that to be clear.

To the people saying Calzaghe's career doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Hopkins': You are talking out of your asses. Calzaghe has beaten alot of quality opposition throughout his career and basically ruled the Super Middleweight division the same way as Hopkins ruled the Middleweight division. Don't forget about all the 'easy' defences Hopkins made; Allen, Hakkar etc. Hopkins gets all this hype mainly because of his wins vs Trinidad, De La Hoya and Tarver, I don't care what you say the fact is that both Trinidad and De La Hoya had to step up from their natural weight to fight Hopkins giving him a clear advantage. Yes, Hopkins made the step up himself to face Tarver but lets be honest Tarver got his reputation for beating a shot Roy Jones and that's all, he wasn't an elite fighter. Ask yourself this; if Hopkins was willing to step up two weight divisions to fight for a duff title, why did he never step up just one to Super Middleweight to face Calzaghe? The fight was almost a done deal until Hopkins pulled out demanding ridiculous money. At the end of the day Hopkins is a great fighter but he's also a businessman, he wanted the most reward for the smallest risk. There is no denying he has cemented his place in the Hall of Fame but to make out that he is some kind of God who should not be compared to Calzaghe is plain stupid. I'm not biased, I love watching both boxers but for my money Calzaghe would always have the beating of Hopkins.

You think me being a Joe C fan makes me want to discredit Hopkins in anyway? Get off your fucking high horse, I wouldn't give Calzaghe credit if he put a beating on Maskaev either, which he probably would, so would Hopkins. I will still give credit to either one if they fought Maskaev...the guy is a true heavyweight, compared to their small frames, it is a mismatch...the advantage in this is that Oleg is older and declined, but he still beat up Rahman in his last fight. And if Joe comes in the way he fought his last fight, he would be knocked out by Oleg. But, I still hold, unless they fight the rest of the Champions at Heavyweight, like Wlad, they lose credit, and can't call themselves "The Heavyweight Champion"

i hope that calzaghe fights taylor soon, taylor would kick his ass and calzaghe would kiss the record's ass goodbye

That'd be the same Hopkins who agreed to fight Calzaghe a few years ago only to back out then? The same Hopkins who would go on to fight Tito for big money, and much later on Oscar for big money? Taylor was also good money. The same Joe Calzaghe who was trying to get Bernard to move up because he wouldn't? and yes, Bernard did the same, but at least it worked out for him...plus, he did move up to fight Tarver and win the LH belt, although I still say Tarver was flat from the muscle loss, but he deserved it since he bitched about Roy.

WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe says he plans to surpass former middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins' record of twenty successful title defenses. Calzaghe will equal 'The Executioner's' mark if he defeats Peter Manfredo on March 3, a feat Hopkins has indicated an interest in trying to prevent. "If Bernard Hopkins doesn't want me to break his title defense record, then he should have fought me when he had the chance years ago. Breaking his record? When it comes to fighting me, Bernard Hopkins, like Roy Jones, is a BROKEN record. Just talk, talk, talk. There are a lot of great and exciting fights out there for me, but the only one that means anything to me right now is Peter Manfredo, Jr., because there are no other fights without beating him. But I will say this, I intend to break Bernard's record, with or without him." Okay, maybe I'm being a dumbass here...and if so, that's fine; but Calzaghe fights at 168, which is NOT Middleweight, where Hopkins made his 20 successful defenses. In fact, the Super-Middleweight division is only like 20 years old and it's participants would have been considered smallish Light-Heavyweights prior to 1987 (I believe). So, what's the big deal, here? Calzaghe may set or already has set (don't know for sure since I'm not steeped in Super-Middlweight Lore) the current title-defense record at 168; but that has about as much to do with Hopkins' record as the price of tea in China.

So is Joe going to finally fight Roy Jones Jr.? You know I was watching Roy's last fight the other night and boy, his legs are shot...I mean, I knew they were shot when he came back down to 175, but damn, it seems at least his upper-body is somewhat back to normal, at least for a 37 year old, but his legs look like they have been dipped in weight cement...kind of reminds me of Michael Jordan when he played on the Wizards.

hopkins can tell his grandkids about all the other things he did. "you see, bernard hopkins never picked up the soap in the shower. bernard hopkins never washed the draws in prison. bernard hopkins didn't let no one tell bernard hopkins what to do. bernard hopkins have mastered many style of boxing and felix trinidad and oscar de la hoya hadn't nothing to do to faze bernard hopkins. you see, there was a guy from wales who didn't want no piece of bernard hopkins, so bernard hopkins hadn't no reason to fight him. bernard hopkins decided that bernard hopkins would beat oleg maskaev, who was too slow for bernard hopkins' That'd be the same Hopkins who agreed to fight Calzaghe a few years ago only to back out then?

I know, but I didn't understand his aim at beating Tarver either. He said he wanted to do something that Sugar Ray Robinson couldn't, which was capture the LHW title, which he didn't even do because there was not a major title on the line, and SRR was a natural welterweight.. I couldn't get my head around that one. My point is, he's picked the weakest and smallest of all the heavyweights, he'd go into the fight as a favourite anyhow.. I just don't see him getting much recognition for it. In history he will. I have no doubt about that. And Tarver was most definitely the man at LHW so I have no qualms in calling Hopkins the new king - belts are largely irrelevant these days. Of course the tougher fight is Calzaghe but I can quite understand Hopkins' mindset on this.

I know, you would never give Hopkins any credit anyway. But if Joe C was going at heavyweight and beat a champ, you would be on your knees claiming that he's a god. You said : I just don't see him getting much recognition for it. Did you ever fought ? Do you know how boxing is hard, and how it's hard to pass from a middleweight to heavyweight ? You will not give any credit to a guy who passed from middleweight to light heavyweight to heavyweight and win a fight at 42 years old ? Are you crazy or what.

I can quite understand Hopkins being more interested in fighting for the HW title. Imagine in 40 years time when he's a scrawny old little man and he can tell the grandkids how he won a heavyweight title. Being beaten from pillar to posty by some valley type doesn't quite have the same ring. hopkins can tell his grandkids about all the other things he did. "you see, bernard hopkins never picked up the soap in the shower. bernard hopkins never washed the draws in prison. bernard hopkins didn't let no one tell bernard hopkins what to do. bernard hopkins have mastered many style of boxing and felix trinidad and oscar de la hoya hadn't nothing to do to faze bernard hopkins. you see, there was a guy from wales who didn't want no piece of bernard hopkins, so bernard hopkins hadn't no reason to fight him. bernard hopkins decided that bernard hopkins would beat oleg maskaev, who was too slow for bernard hopkins'

That's sad... Bozo was right with everything he said. It really seems like truth hurts, cause all Joe fans threw insults at him but didn't say anything related with what he said. People throw insults at him because he was throwing insults. Still you're right in that he can make some good points sometimes. Something our resident scandinavians have singularly failed to do ever.

That's sad... Bozo was right with everything he said. It really seems like truth hurts, cause all Joe fans threw insults at him but didn't say anything related with what he said.

good point that SHB made..its about history now

The Hopkins/Maskaev fight is pointless, Hopkins would go in as the favourite anyhow. I can quite understand Hopkins being more interested in fighting for the HW title. Imagine in 40 years time when he's a scrawny old little man and he can tell the grandkids how he won a heavyweight title. Being beaten from pillar to posty by some valley type doesn't quite have the same ring.

Hopkins resume is better than Calzones....but Joe is still active and potentially can out do Hopkins...but by fighting more credible opponents...this is what everyone wants. It's pretty much nailed on he's fighting Taylor in 2007 and possibly even Hopkins should the Maskaev fight fall through. That'd be great by anyone's measure.