Champions, contenders and Calzaghe

Firstly, the Contenders show is just that, a show! It takes in the main, boxers that are not REALLY contenders and makes them look better than they really are. They LOOK good on the TV because they are up against similarly "gifted" men. When that Manfredo fella got in with Joe Calzaghe, it seems that the whole of America was expecting some kind of "performance" at worst and a victory at best. This is because, once again (no disrespect to Americans meant here), Americans simply believe that there men MUST be the best no matter what. Manfredo was so disrespectful after the "fight" saying that Calzaghe cannot be classed as a great until he has fought outside his back yard. He MEANS, fought in America. Why? As Eubanks said quite rightly, Joe is the champion and has been for 10 years and is NOT at the beck and call of America. For Manfredo to say that misses the most important point of all. He took around 40 unanswered punches in 3 rounds and irrespective of a poor ref call, would have been murdered. Lacey was sent over as the new messiah and Joe beat him for fun. My point! Calzaghe struggles against lesser opponents to motivate himself but when he is put to the test, he rises to the challenge and finds his form. He can defend his title with a broken hand (twice! once where he jabbed his way to victory) and is a true Welsh warrior. He has not fought a ton of bums, and if fighters across the Atlantic expect the king of the division to come to THEM, then its plain disrespectful. 10 years as an unbeaten champion and isnt it the truth that jeff lacey will look like just another bum on Joes record when time has faded because 12 rounds to nil suggests that Lacey is one of the worst Joe has faced - or, stone me, is it just that Calzaghe delivered when put under pressure? What does a boxer have to do to get respect? It seems that they have to fight in America, but that is a load of bollox....boxers fight in the ring. As for Manfredo, well a strange idea from Sylvester Stallone got him his chance to fight a champion but unlike the movie, Champions rise to the top. Give Joe the credit he deserves and stop whining.