**** Calzaghe Haters

[Sealhound]

All I'm saying is that I would have liked to see Calzaghe fight some bigger names that's all. There is no doubt he's good though. Personally I think Jones would have won in his Super-Middle hey day.

[Mozza]

All I'm saying is that I would have liked to see Calzaghe fight some bigger names that's all. There is no doubt he's good though. Personally I think Jones would have won in his Super-Middle hey day.

Calzaghe would have liked to fight bigger names but Hopkins agreed to a fight then doubled his demands overnight and Roy Jones thought it was a risk not worth taking.

[Mozza]

Calzaghe would have liked to fight bigger names but Hopkins agreed to a fight then doubled his demands overnight and Roy Jones thought it was a risk not worth taking.

I feel I should add, Kessler is a formidable opponent and will go on to be a legend in the division.

[Sealhound]

Yer I guess. I hope Joy and Calzaghe get in on and then I hope Calzaghe whoops Tarver to take a few belts at Light-Heavy.

[Sealhound]

I feel I should add, Kessler is a formidable opponent and will go on to be a legend in the division.

True, Calzaghe gave Kessler and Lacy a lesson. A true lesson.

[abadger]

That's what I mean about not being entirely Calzaghe's fault. But a primer Hopkins and Roy Jones would obviously have been the best two (As well as a possible bout with Winky, although he was lower in wieght back then). I mean he keeps mentioning Jeff Lacy and Kessler but in the words of Bernard Hopkins 'Who is Kessler'?

Joe would have beaten Hopkins any time in their careers. In his prime Hopkins actually used to box, and Joe would have beaten him more easily because it would have been a much more open fight. I doubt Joe would have beaten prime Roy, but he would have had a chance.

As for 'who is Kessler?', statements like that are just symptomatic of the USA only focus you see from US fighters and fans. In fact Kessler was a two belt undefeated champ, who had beaten the best in the SMW division bar Joe, and who most agree is a genuinely top class boxer, with incredible power and excellent technique. Just because he isn't from the US, and prominent in US eyes, doesn't make him a nobody. The USA is afflicted with exactly the same kind of 'homerism' that it ritually accuses the rest of the world of, with fans tending only to know and care about their home fighters, who it believes are better than everybody else, even when they aren't. I seriously doubt Hopkins really considers Kessler a nobody, I bet he wouldn't like to fight him, what he said is just trash talk. As boxing fans we owe it to the sport to rise above our home fighter allegiances and assess boxers objectively using the evidence of our eyes.

As for Hopkins being 'old', well he has been 'old' for most of his elite career. Most of his best wins came after 36 and the Winky and Tarver fights were not that long ago at all, and many describe those as two of the biggest wins that contribute to Hopkins 'legend' status. If we are to accept the notion that these two were elites and Hopkins gets a ton of credit for beating them, then Calzaghe should get the credit for beating him, and doing what Winky and Tarver couldn't. Hopkins is not the same fighter he was, but he is technically and tactically better now than he was, and I think the Hopkins we saw against Joe would be a match for most other LHWs out there. Again, Joe should get the credit for beating him.

Finally, Joe's record. The bottom line here is that Joe did take on all the top SMWs he could have during his career. The quality of the fighters on his resume is as good as most of those on Hopkins and Jones resumes, but the latter two do have those few more famous names that elevate their lists a little. Joe is in the process of acquiring those names right now, and doing so successfully. Joe's record is not suspect at all. If I wanted to I could flip the logic of the argument around and say that all the supposed greats like Tarver, Winky and even Jones have one name missing from their resumes, Joe Calzaghe. It is Joe who is the two weight Ring champ right now, so you could argue that he is the great, not them.

Just saying.

[tyson]

Joe would not beat Hopkins prime for prime.

There is no way Hopkins would lose to Joe prime for prime.

In no scenario would Joe beat Hopkins prime for prime.

Never would Hopkins lose to a white boy prime for prime.

[tyson]

Hopkins 2001> Hopkins 2008

[Mozza]

Joe would not beat Hopkins prime for prime.

There is no way Hopkins would lose to Joe prime for prime.

In no scenario would Joe beat Hopkins prime for prime.

Never would Hopkins lose to a white boy prime for prime.

Your last statement is, frankly, embarrassing.

[tyson]

Your last statement is, frankly, embarrassing.

Yeah, I'm racist.