A question...

[bsrizpac]

The only three serious answers to this question if we are talking about real resume making names, rather than just "this decent guy is better than that decent guy" are Glen Johnson, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones.

Of these three the only one who was ever a peer of Calzaghe at SMW is Glen Johnson, and he was a losing fighter at the time with six losses out of eleven fights at SMW, inclusing a loss to Omar Sheika, a guy usually described as a bum on here. Johnson only made his name with his later LHW wins, by which time Calzaghe was on the Lacy and Kessler track, the two prime champs he would surely have been accused of ducking if he'd move up to fight Johnson.

Jones had already finished his SMW campaign and moved up to LHW before Calzaghe won his first title. It would have been nice if they had fought some time, but each had very different priorities, Jones pursuing the HW crown and Calzaghe defending and unifying SMW. A fight was never genuinely on the cards until Roy returned from HW, and we know what happened there. he should probably be glad he didn't fight Calzaghe then! No denying Calzaghe's record would be better with Jones on it though, win or lose.

Hopkins would have been a good name too, and did price himself out of a fight in 2001, which would have been the prime for prime fight everyone here talks about so much. It is unfair to criticise Joe alone for not making this fight happen, as there are clearly two sides to this story, and the fight has happened now anyway, maybe later than it should have, but Hopkins was the best LHW in the world at the time so Joe deserves the credit for beating him in his first fight at a new weight.

*cough*cough*cough*toney, james*cough*cough*

[BattlingNelson]

I'm not sure of the exact offer, but Roy himself said there was no need for him to take a dangerous fight against an unknown opponent because nobody will care.

I'm not saying Roy ducked Joe, but he admitted himself he didn't want to take a dangerous fight against an unknown. Joe was too big a risk with too little reward.

I'm being deadly serious with this thread too, I would genuinely like to know who Joe could have fought for his resume to be as good as most people think it has to be for you to be a great fighter.

Apart from Ottke, who was also appraoched and wanted NOTHING to do with it, I struggle to think of any big name guys he didn't fight.

Ottke? I'm curious. Can anybody give a truthful version of any Ottke vs. Calzaghe negotiations?

A win over Ottke (dont laugh) would have done a lot for Calzaghe.

[abadger]

*cough*cough*cough*toney, james*cough*cough*

They never could have fought in reality. I think Toney was a cruiserweight by the time Calzaghe won his first title, and he sure wasn't coing back! If Toney had stuck around at LHW then maybe, but he didn't.

[x-PeROxiDE-x]

This is why you fail. Get off his knob.

I like how you posted that he was TURNED down by johnson then immediately post about how he basically walked away from the Johnson fight cause of his injuries.

Could you pretend to be more objective when making these?

And this question has been asked about a dozen times already.

Another offer was made to Johnson, who at that point had decided he wanted nothing to do with Calzaghe because he had pulled out of fights in the past.

He made an offer, and was turned down.

If it has been asked a dozen times already, why does nobody here say "Calzaghe should have fought........" rather than "He's fought nothing but a string of bums"

I make a serious thread, prompting a serious discussion about why his resume gets so much **** on these boards, and instead I have to put up with a teenage slut on the rag taking her menstrual frustrations out on the world.

[abadger]

Ottke? I'm curious. Can anybody give a truthful version of any Ottke vs. Calzaghe negotiations?

A win over Ottke (dont laugh) would have done a lot for Calzaghe.

I can't say for sure, but the word that was always reported in the UK was that Ottke flat out refused to consider fighting Joe. Who knows though?

[x-PeROxiDE-x]

Ottke? I'm curious. Can anybody give a truthful version of any Ottke vs. Calzaghe negotiations?

A win over Ottke (dont laugh) would have done a lot for Calzaghe.

I'm not entirely sure about figures etc, but I know an offer was made to Ottke to come to the UK and fight Joe.

Naturally, he refused, and (I think, but don't quote me on this) made an offer to Joe to go there.

Let's all be realistic here, you are an undefeated world champion, would you fight Ottke in Germany?

[BattlingNelson]

I'm not entirely sure about figures etc, but I know an offer was made to Ottke to come to the UK and fight Joe.

Naturally, he refused, and (I think, but don't quote me on this) made an offer to Joe to go there.

Let's all be realistic here, you are an undefeated world champion, would you fight Ottke in Germany?

Kessler went to Cardiff. Calzaghe refused to go to Copenhagen.

If Joe was so sure of winning over Ottke, why didnt he go to Germany? I honestly believe that Joes handlers was unaware of his true greatness, so they kept protecting him by keeping him home in Britain.

And why didnt Joe fight Nunn or Frankie Liles?

[Clegg]

I think that Calzaghe should've unified sooner. Even Ottke unified before Joe did.

I honestly think that Calzaghe would've had been well-regarded sooner if Frank Warren had done a better job. For years we were told 'Calzaghe is on the verge on cracking America' and for years it was typical Warren BS.

[KnockoutTheFat]

Kessler went to Cardiff. Calzaghe refused to go to Copenhagen.

If Joe was so sure of winning over Ottke, why didnt he go to Germany? I honestly believe that Joes handlers was unaware of his true greatness, so they kept protecting him by keeping him home in Britain.

And why didnt Joe fight Nunn or Frankie Liles?

I could understand why Joe chose not to fight in Germany because there was an overwhelming chance he would be robbed like the other fighters that fought Ottke. Nobody could beat Ottke in Germany. Not even Tye Fields.

[bsrizpac]

Another offer was made to Johnson, who at that point had decided he wanted nothing to do with Calzaghe because he had pulled out of fights in the past.

He made an offer, and was turned down.

If it has been asked a dozen times already, why does nobody here say "Calzaghe should have fought........" rather than "He's fought nothing but a string of bums"

I make a serious thread, prompting a serious discussion about why his resume gets so much **** on these boards, and instead I have to put up with a teenage slut on the rag taking her menstrual frustrations out on the world.

Umm, because people troll a lot? I mean his level of opposition WAS low. He's at least fighting people with names now. That's pretty much that. It's his fault that it was low. I take issue with THAT part.

That aside, it's pretty clear that he may have been "protected" or "fighting bums" or whatever people say but he has a lot of talent and is clearly a very good fighter. He's proven that even if he's overrated he's not a bum and he doesn't suck.

He's got tons of natural talent. Speed. Great durablity/chin and an iron will.
So what if he's deficient in some other areas? Why does this get to you?

This question HAS been listed several times before. You can name any of these guys:

Roy
Hopkins
Toney
Griffin
Dariusz

blah blah blah blha

The true answer is, no one. If he had stayed in the super middleweight division which he did after Roy and toney left, well he was going to fight bums. Guess what? It's a WORTHLESS division. That was his choice to some extent, and some of it not, just being his weight. How much criticism he should get for that is up for debate, but what's not up for debate is that he HAD a weak resume.

Why?

Lots of reasons, like the ones abadger listed, and others like well you know the SMW division sucking ass.