Jermain Taylor: "I Want To Make an Impact at 168"

[Dirk Diggler UK]

That's fair in this instance, but my criticism of Calzaghe re: Pavlik still stands.

As for Calzaghe making it clear he wanted Jones instead of Pavlik, before Pavlik beat Lockett, clearly you didn't watch this youtube clip I posted:



Skip ahead to about 6:30 and enjoy.

It's been fun, but I've got to sleep sometime.

This clip was still before Pavlik beat Lockett. Calzaghe made it clear he wanted Jones immediately after his fight with Hopkins.

[krispy kreme]

I hope Taylor can take this division over, he is a better boxer than more than 90% of the division. I thought he got over the Pavlik loss when he came back for a rematch, and despite his losing, he showed he had learned from his loss.

[dstew]

So what you are saying is that Calzaghe changed his mind about Pavlik after his own mediocre performance against an aging Hopkins... to me this implies Joe's decision had more to do with his own performance than with Pavlik's. Maybe he saw that he is getting older, wearing down a bit?

Still these are ALL quotes by Calzaghe:

"Roy Jones was a great fighter but he's not a great fighter any more. He's been knocked out twice in his last something like five fights, so I don't see that being a motivating fight for me either. After this fight the number one fight would be maybe Kelly Pavlik/Jermain Taylor, the winner of them two. They're excellent fighters and they're boxing I think next month, so that's a possibility" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDtzdAYTOA

"I'd move back down again to fight either Pavlik or Taylor as either one would be a big fight. Pavlik's a good champion and, yes, I'm impressed by him. He comes to fight and I like his no-nonsense style,"" http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...ory?id=3250542

"There is no way I am going to give up my WBO title. If I beat Jones, I might move back down to super-middleweight to face Kelly Pavlik." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/7511028.stm

He has since relinquished his belt.

"Pavlik is a good fighter and looked very impressive against Gary, but I'm in a different league. Kelly is just establishing himself and is not as big a star as Roy Jones, he's a legend." http://www.finalbellboxing.com/2008/...not-gonna.html

I could keep going. At best, Joe is a man who simply opens his mouth too much, forcing him to go back on his words at a later date. At worst, he is either an idiot who doesn't realize what he's saying, a weasel who says whatever makes him look the best, or both.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

So what you are saying is that Calzaghe changed his mind about Pavlik after his own mediocre performance against an aging Hopkins... to me this implies Joe's decision had more to do with his own performance than with Pavlik's. Maybe he saw that he is getting older, wearing down a bit?

Still these are ALL quotes by Calzaghe:

"Roy Jones was a great fighter but he's not a great fighter any more. He's been knocked out twice in his last something like five fights, so I don't see that being a motivating fight for me either. After this fight the number one fight would be maybe Kelly Pavlik/Jermain Taylor, the winner of them two. They're excellent fighters and they're boxing I think next month, so that's a possibility" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDtzdAYTOA

"I'd move back down again to fight either Pavlik or Taylor as either one would be a big fight. Pavlik's a good champion and, yes, I'm impressed by him. He comes to fight and I like his no-nonsense style,"" http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...ory?id=3250542

"There is no way I am going to give up my WBO title. If I beat Jones, I might move back down to super-middleweight to face Kelly Pavlik." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/7511028.stm (he has since given up his belt).

"Pavlik is a good fighter and looked very impressive against Gary, but I'm in a different league. Kelly is just establishing himself and is not as big a star as Roy Jones, he's a legend." http://www.finalbellboxing.com/2008/...not-gonna.html

I could keep going. At best, Joe is a man who simply opens his mouth too much, forcing him to go back on his words at a later date. At worst, he is either an idiot who doesn't realize what he's saying, a weasel who says whatever makes him look the best, or both.

You can find many examples of other boxers doing this. As I did with Jermain Taylor.

So if we're going to be calling people "idiots" or "weasels", at least lets be consistent

[Kris Silver]

You can find many examples of other boxers doing this. As I did with Jermain Taylor.

So if we're going to be calling people "idiots" or "weasels", at least lets be consistent

Exactly. This is what gets me actually, some people over play the same criticisms of one fighter, but not another.

Osca De La Hoya;

Said he would fight the winner of Cotto/Margarito.
Then said he would not fight another Mexican.
Then said he might. Is not facing either.


Said he would not fight Hatton as he's too light.
Has now a fight with an even lighter Pacman.


These are just some of them, and there far more clear cut more indefensible ones than that of Calzaghe. Yet you don't hear of them even half as much.

Funny that.

[Dynamite Kid]

Exactly. This is what gets me actually, some people over play the same criticisms of one fighter, but not another.

Osca De La Hoya;

Said he would fight the winner of Cotto/Margarito.
Then said he would not fight another Mexican.
Then said he might. Is not facing either.


Said he would not fight Hatton as he's too light.
Has now a fight with an even lighter Pacman.


These are just some of them, and there far more clear cut more indefensible ones than that of Calzaghe. Yet you don't hear of them even half as much.

Funny that.

i thought Oscar said he would not fight another Puerto Rican

[Dirk Diggler UK]

i thought Oscar said he would not fight another Puerto Rican

Yeah he said his missus didnt want him to fight a Puerto Rican as well.

[seebert]

So what you are saying is that Calzaghe changed his mind about Pavlik after his own mediocre performance against an aging Hopkins... to me this implies Joe's decision had more to do with his own performance than with Pavlik's. Maybe he saw that he is getting older, wearing down a bit?

Still these are ALL quotes by Calzaghe:


He has since relinquished his belt.



I could keep going. At best, Joe is a man who simply opens his mouth too much, forcing him to go back on his words at a later date. At worst, he is either an idiot who doesn't realize what he's saying, a weasel who says whatever makes him look the best, or both.

How embarrassing for Dirk. Your "Calzaghe's my Daddy" schtick is also getting old.

[dstew]

You can find many examples of other boxers doing this. As I did with Jermain Taylor.

So if we're going to be calling people "idiots" or "weasels", at least lets be consistent

Your example of Jermain Taylor was him saying he would love to fight Calzaghe for $10 million. How does that make him an idiot or a weasel? If anything it sounds like wishful thinking. He even made a joke at the end about showing up on his doorstep with presents.

That is a far cry from contradicting yourself every time the breeze changes direction, which is what Calzaghe has done over the last six months. You can ignore it all you want, but the facts are as follows:

1. Calzaghe said Jones wasn't that great and he would rather fight Pavlik to end his career.
2. Calzaghe said Pavlik wasn't that great and he would rather fight Jones to end his career.

Those are two diametrically opposed statements straight from the man you are so quick to defend. I almost feel bad for you, that you've been put in a position to defend a weasel like that, but it's not like you have to. You're continually choosing to come to his aid, which makes YOU look ridiculous.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Your example of Jermain Taylor was him saying he would love to fight Calzaghe for $10 million. How does that make him an idiot or a weasel? If anything it sounds like wishful thinking. He even made a joke at the end about showing up on his doorstep with presents.

That is a far cry from contradicting yourself every time the breeze changes direction, which is what Calzaghe has done over the last six months. You can ignore it all you want, but the facts are as follows:

1. Calzaghe said Jones wasn't that great and he would rather fight Pavlik to end his career.
2. Calzaghe said Pavlik wasn't that great and he would rather fight Jones to end his career.

Those are two diametrically opposed statements straight from the man you are so quick to defend. I almost feel bad for you, that you've been put in a position to defend a weasel like that, but it's not like you have to. You're continually choosing to come to his aid, which makes YOU look ridiculous.

No my example of Jermain Taylor was when he said he was very eager to fight Calzaghe for his legacy. That he couldnt make middleweight anymore and he wanted to fight the top guys at 168 before retiring at 30.

The next quote was a few weeks later when he turned down $5m to fight Joe, asking for the ridiculous and unrealistic $10m clearly pricing himself out of a fight which he said he wanted badly. He went on to stay at Middleweight to fight a couple of small men before getting KOed by Pavlik.

The only person looking ridiculous is you by continually calling people "weasels" because of a career choice they've made. Like its been pointed out to you, several fighters have done this including Taylor, including Hopkins, Roy Jones and Oscar De La Hoya. So are they all "weasels" too?

Its like this is some newfound discovery of a boxer changing his mind over an opponent. Like I said, Joe probably saw the $$$ that Jones made from PPV revenue against Tito (which was more than double Taylor v Pavlik II) and thought he better secure Jones before he gets KOed again and completely loses his value. And potentially before Joe himself begins to deteriorate which maybe he feels he already is.