In A Great Year For Boxing, What’s Gone Wrong at Light Heavyweight?

[dukecanela]

Blame Hopkins for fighting against a middleweight, non title match, in a fight that he won by holding winky. That is some crazy ****. if hes not gonna fight then he should. If not give Tarver a rematch or fight Chad Dawson he obviously dont wanna fight Joe calzaghe.

[crold1]

I think Cal-Hops is happening in 08; too much money. The Winky fight wasn't non-title BTW; it was catchweight, a niche of the sport going back forever

[HeartAttack]

Cliff my man, I can see holding Winky against B-Hop, but Joe is mopving up to light heavyweight to fight Hopkins. I know you guys haven't ranked him at Light heavyweight, but wouldn't you rank Joe C. as a top ten light heavyweight if he was in the division? SO theoretically if Joe is moving up in weight, he can be considered a top ten light hvy and Hopkins will have defended against a top ten foe. I would rather see Hopkins with Joe and Chad with tarver, and then the winners face off. But that is pure fantasy, and boxing isn't a sport based on such.

[crold1]

Orltroy: I think your point is valid and I didn't knock Hopkins for the if of taking Calzaghe; it was more a semantics argument of his not taking on light heavyweights for two years (note tha backhanded compliment that beating Winky and Calzaghe does more to enahnce his personal standing all-time than any current dudes at 75). I didn't hold Winky against him either as a single fight; hell, I thought it would be good and thought it was good for 8 rounds.

[Azteca]

This Dawson kid seems okay. Wont excite the masses and he has that boring counterpunching one punch style ala Tarver.

[Jim Jeffries]

Cliff my man, I can see holding Winky against B-Hop, but Joe is mopving up to light heavyweight to fight Hopkins. I know you guys haven't ranked him at Light heavyweight, but wouldn't you rank Joe C. as a top ten light heavyweight if he was in the division? SO theoretically if Joe is moving up in weight, he can be considered a top ten light hvy and Hopkins will have defended against a top ten foe. I would rather see Hopkins with Joe and Chad with tarver, and then the winners face off. But that is pure fantasy, and boxing isn't a sport based on such.

Dawson and Tarver would be interesting, both tall southpaws, similar styles. Dawson's a fair bit quicker and a hell of a lot younger though, and Tarver looked like crap in his last fight against a journeyman.

[crold1]

I think that's unfair to Dawson; he fights a pretty exciting style and can be drawn into exchanges. Always a good quality for viewers. Dawson's big problem is that he has to wait for opportunity at 75 and for $ to rise from 60 and 68.

[HeartAttack]

Orltroy: I think your point is valid and I didn't knock Hopkins for the if of taking Calzaghe; it was more a semantics argument of his not taking on light heavyweights for two years (note tha backhanded compliment that beating Winky and Calzaghe does more to enahnce his personal standing all-time than any current dudes at 75). I didn't hold Winky against him either as a single fight; hell, I thought it would be good and thought it was good for 8 rounds.

Okay Cliff let me rephrase a bit. I meant that you can perfectly say that Winky is not a light heavyweight, but Joe is, at least will be when he fights Bernard because it won't be at a catchweight. Basically I'm saying I gove credit to Bernard for fighting Joe at light heavyweight. Joe is more of a challenge at light heavyweight now than anyone else, and that includes Chad Dawson (whom I make it a point to be ringside for his fights, thats if Rick lets me). Chad needs a bit more seasoning against some tough guys, and Ruiz and company don't fit the bill. I was stoked about Dawson/Diaconu, and disappointed when it fell through, but thats boxing. This division will right itself once some egos get popped and Showtime grows a pair.

[crold1]

Agree Calzaghe is the toughest fight (and the best fighter in the world from 60 to 75). I guess I was trying to make the point that one fight a year, even at his age, sucks for the division. Should have just wrote that. Sometimes, I'm too wordy.

[HeartAttack]

Agree Calzaghe is the toughest fight (and the best fighter in the world from 60 to 75). I guess I was trying to make the point that one fight a year, even at his age, sucks for the division. Should have just wrote that. Sometimes, I'm too wordy.

Nah we get your point and its a fair asessment, but with all that is going on in so many other divisions, not so much attention is left for the light heavies. Because of such, I have given Hopkins a pass, and quite frankly, Erdei is pissing me off. Im tired of BS defenses, it feels like Sven Ottke came back one weight class higher and changed his name to Erdei. No doubt the division needs a little shaking up and I am a bit confused as to why Dawson's camp hasn't pursued Johnson, but I'm not close to the situation so I don't have all the info. I do know that several great fights can happen and most of them involve Dawson and Hopkins' names. So Cliff, being on the rankings committee for The Ring, why do you guys have Dawson as #5, when universally he is a top 3 light heavyweight?