Calzaghe's Done A Complete U-turn.

[P4P Opinion]

Calzaghe is fighting Jones for two reasons:

1. Huge payday. Far bigger than a Pavlik fight can offer him and a well deserved big payday considering how long he's had to wait.

2. Motivation of fighting Jones. Calzaghe has wanted nothing more than to fight Jones for years and years. The timing of no big names at 168 and no big names other than Jones at 175 made it difficult for Calzaghe to A) get the fight and B) get paid well enough to fight the P4P number 1 while Jones was still credible.

Deep down I think Calzaghe knows that the Trinidad win did little for Jones in reality, but the two reasons above have deluded him a little. I'm still excited for the fight, but I'd rather see Calzaghe face Pavlik.

Off topic: I still don't get why people don't think the Hopkins win was credible though. We're talking about The Ring champion at 175 who'd beat Tarver and Winky in his last two fights, having been very controversially beaten twice by Taylor. Sure he was 43 years old and sure it was a close fight, but it should still count as a good victory even if Calzaghe didn't perform at his best, especially considering the difficulty of looking good against a spoiler like Hopkins. It should be also noted that the responsibility for the two of them not fighting before this lies with Hopkins and not Calzaghe.

[S.W.F.C]

Calzaghe is ring champ in two weights, he is on the verge of retiring and wants one last big pay day.
I've said before he will fight both Pavlik and Jones but all you're all keep going on about is how he ducked Pavlik.
Its just an excuse to talk **** about him, I still think some Yanks are still bitter that he gave there great black hope Lacy a boxing lesson.
Calzaghe could face Pavlik and beat him then the idiots would be screaming that hes ducking Dawson.

[Peder]

I never said he had to fight Pavlik to prove his legacy but if he would of fought him now and won,then later Pavlik accomplished a decent amount in his career it would of inhanced his legacy.Calzaghe has stated in the past he would come down in weight to fight Pavlik so if he retires without doing so and Pavlik makes a decent career for himself it will seem to some that he ducked him.

Sure, if and if..
I have high thoughts about Pavlik, even though he is new on the scene, but he could still be dismissed if he lost, and it’s not every great talent who makes it back if his confidence is broken. RJJ is a sure thing.

Add the money Joe makes from this fight, and I believe its reason enough to go for this fight.

[bsrizpac]

This was written before Jones beat Tito and worked himself into the top ten at LHW. Jones is a good fight NOW for Calzaghe.

Do you even realize how full of **** you are?

Stop hyping up anything that will make JC look better.

[TheManchine]

Its just an excuse to talk **** about him, I still think some Yanks are still bitter that he gave there great black hope Lacy a boxing lesson.
Calzaghe could face Pavlik and beat him then the idiots would be screaming that hes ducking Dawson.

i really dont think americans give a **** about lacy,

[bsrizpac]

Get over it guys, Pavliks tailor made for Joe like Kessler, but easier. Roy even past his best, has some wins since Joe made that statement and will trouble him more than Kelly. End of.

I am over it. Well except for the fact that guys like you will do a 180 and be posting about how great a win this is and how Roy was never as good as JC. LOL.

Stop propping up Jones.

He's done.

[bsrizpac]

Calzaghe is ring champ in two weights, he is on the verge of retiring and wants one last big pay day.
I've said before he will fight both Pavlik and Jones but all you're all keep going on about is how he ducked Pavlik.
Its just an excuse to talk **** about him, I still think some Yanks are still bitter that he gave there great black hope Lacy a boxing lesson.
Calzaghe could face Pavlik and beat him then the idiots would be screaming that hes ducking Dawson.

And the massive British ******ity and Racism continues.

[El Jesus]

This was written before Jones beat Tito and worked himself into the top ten at LHW. Jones is a good fight NOW for Calzaghe.

Thats ******, titos prime weight was 147, how does that solidify anything but you feeding us a line of bull****?

[Bad_Barracuda]

This just makes Calzaghe look bad.

He's coming to the end of his career, let the man get paid.

Joe makes himself look bad.

Hiding in Wales behind his WBO crap-strap fighting the Tokker Pudwells of an already weak division and letting some very good fights just north and south of him pass by.

Getting brave enuff to fight a 43 y/o Hopkins doesn't cut it for a lot of people.

[BennyST]

Calzaghe is one of those fighters that, no matter what he does, will never be given credit for any of his wins no matter who or at what time or how.

Everyone said the undefeated beast Lacy would just steamroll through him; he didn't, but, Calzaghe doesn't get credit because Lacy was just ****. Kessler was the undefeated two time champ that Calzaghe had to fight to prove his legacy; he did and won, but, Kessler hasn't beaten anyone and was never a good fighter. Hopkins was the current LHW Ring Champ and just coming off two of the biggest wins of his career; Calzaghe beat him more convincingly than anyone since Jones, but, Hopkins was old and past it.

Previous to any of these, Eubanks was a huge win and one of the best of the middleweights and super-middleweights of the nineties. He was also too old though. All the prospects he beat were just crap; Reid, Sheika, Veit etc etc.

Pavlik has simply become the next Lacy or the next Kessler except the really funny thing is that, unlike the others, he is a middleweight with one defense of his title, while Calzaghe is now a light-heavyweight. The other guys at least had numerous defenses of their titles and were actually in his weight division, not two below it.

It really is true that if Calzaghe did fight Pavlik and beat him he would not get any credit for it. Everyone would say that Pavlik having to gain the extra weight made him slow and that he didn't have enough experience. Calzaghe has had his share of undefeated champs, why not enjoy the fight that may, surprisingly, be more competitive than Pavlik vs Calzaghe which is Jones vs Calzaghe.

Honestly, while it may be a good and close fight, Pavlik does not have the speed or skill to either beat Calzaghe on points or knock him out. It has been shown in the past that orthodox, big punchers are easily handled by him and that he has too much savvy and easily enough stamina to go with Pavlik. Pavlik didn't look great with those extra few pounds in the Taylor rematch and only just pulled it out on sheer volume alone. Calzaghe has the volume punching of Pavlik and is a better boxer than Taylor, naturally bigger and much harder to hit as well as being a southpaw. Calzaghe could keep up with him, out-box him and at the higher weight would just take him apart as Pavlik would be not as sharp. Pavlik is a good middleweight fighter but at around 170 would never beat Calzaghe, 36/7 or not.

Jones, on the other hand, has more one punch KO power, has way more speed, has the great and problematic straight right that troubles Calzaghe (which is vastly different than Pavliks and not comparable), has better defense than Pavlik and is showing more stamina and looking better at his natural weight than he has in a long time. I really do believe that Jones will be a much harder fight than Pavlik. It will also be more interesting. If Jones can win, how great will he become?