Joe Calzaghe: Final Options For The Italian Dragon

[hammerhiem]

Why should anyone listen to you? You have a strange and uncomfortable man crush on Calzaghe. How many hours do you think you have logged on the internet talking about him?

People listen to him because he's unbiased, informed and clever and clearly likes boxing above boxers.

Also he neither Nuthugs or unduely downtalks any particular fighter without giving real reasons backed up by this strange thing called facts.

[xfiles]

Why should anyone listen to you? You're the same guy who voted Calzaghe's chin 4/10 in a recent poll. From that poll alone, it's seems you are extremely biased and you show a lack of knowledge.

Why should anyone listen to you? You have a strange and uncomfortable man crush on Calzaghe. How many hours do you think you have logged on the internet talking about him?

[Vivid Intent]

Adamek was having trouble with weight? Why do i even bother? Give me a credible source that says he was weight drained when he fought Dawson and that effected his performance. This is why i don't like discussing this with people who don't watch the fights. If you would have looked back on that sho-time card, then you would have see that before the fight, Adamek stated to Karen Bryant( a female sho time interviewer) before the fight that he felt great condition wise and thought that his natural size advantage over Dawson would be a factor in how the fight played out. You can use that excuse( that his fans and random people made up) if you want to, but it shows what kind of a poster you are. Also, look at how fast Adamek started and how he came on strong non stop for the last two rounds. A weight drained body wouldn't have anywhere near the condition to do that.

You must have been watching the first few rounds on fastforward because Adamek didn't do anything. He came on strong for the last 2.5 rounds because he caught Dawson with a good shot and put him on the canvas. Obviously that gives you renewed energy and that's why he finished strong. I actually like Dawson but that's just the way I see it incase you think I'm hating. He did what he had to do and looked outstanding against Adamek and Tarver but they didn't put up any resistence whatsover, apart from Adamek's last surge when he got the knock down. If you knew anything about Adamek you'd know that he was well below par for 10 rounds in that fight and weight was reported to be the obvious cause. Obviously pre-fight he isn't going to come out and say "I'm having trouble with weight, just letting Dawson know he's in for an easy night". I'm not saying he was badly drained or anything but it was evident that it was an issue and factor on his poor performance. Why do you think Adamek went immediately to CW and has looked like a much improved fighter? Just type into google "Adamek weight drained Dawson" or something, on the first page there are a few sources.

http://www.411mania.com/sports/boxing/92302

http://www.fightwriter.com/?q=node/1999

http://www.********boxing.com/news.php?p=18169&more=1

Also which ''fights'' did Hopkins fight at light heavyweight. He made his pro debut at light heavy and that was only a mistake by his manager( which he stated himself on Smithy's boxing show...look it up). The fact is that he spent his career at middleweight and most of his accomplishments were there as well, and he didn't move to 175 until he found the right opponent that he knew he could beat. I admit hes a big middleweight, but hes no natural light heavyweight. I'd say super super middleweight at best. Despite all of this, Bernard was never known as the dramatic big punchers that Adamek and Tarver are. Johnson is not a huge puncher and i stated that, i simply said that he ''could ''punch''. You should see his fight with Ulrich and Jones. He has power and a lot of knockouts. Adamek knocked Ulrich out with one punch and if you seen his latest fight against Cunningham, then you will again see that he is strong. Also, watch Tarver when he was first coming onto the scene against Rocy Gannon or his fights with Jones, Santiago or the way he hurt and dropped a tough and always durable Griffin. Again watch these fights. These are not soft hitters.

You're nit-picking to the max here, I never said Hopkins has "many fights at LHW", I said he had fought at LHW 2 years before the Calzaghe fight which meant his body would be accustomed to the weight. The Winky fight was at a catch-weight of 170 but it was for Hopkins' Ring LHW title, you're really reaching here now. How long ago was this vid of Hopkins or his manager saying he wasn't a natural LWH? You're very gullable if you believe everything that comes out of a fighters mouth, especially if this was said while Hopkins was fighting at MW. Post this vid if you have it. One thing is for sure, Hopkins is not a natural MW by any stretch. If you believe that you must believe Paul Williams is a natural WW.

And that last part of yor post is just pointless rambling. I'm not talking about a pre-washed up Tarver and the Adamek-Cunningham fight was at CW 25lbs above the LHW limit. The Ulrich fight was a couple of year before Dawson when he wasn't having as much problems making weight, still if you've seen that fight it was no walkover and he had a couple of tough fights with a very limited Paul Briggs. I'm not saying these guys aren't/weren't good fighters, I'm saying they weren't at the time they fought Dawson. We saw what happened when Dawson came up against a game opponent in Johnson.

It's a shame about Woods. He never was an exceptional fighter, but he was solid enough. I gotta excuse his last performance though, he was stressed to **** because a close friend died right before the Tarver fight. No doubt it affected his performance. He would never normally be that bad. Be good to see him get his act together again, he's a good kid.

I have a friend who knows Clinton. He said Jones' power was shocking! He never been hit so hard, apparently.

Yeah, that's crazy. The worst possible thing to happen before a fight, hopefully he rebounds well in his title eliminator fight because he's a sound guy.

That Jones fight was hard to watch man, he really got picked apart that night.

Adamek and Tarver are good light heavyweights and legit champions, and if you would have studied their career( the way i have) then it can easily be seen. They were both top 5 light heavyweights when Dawson beat them and the only fighter at 175 to beat Adamek was Dawson. Its also funny how you say i am ignoring things because i have a weak argument when you have to bring up laughable excuses like Adamek being weight drained( which he stated himself he wasn't) and Tarver being a has been( even though he had two titles and was ranked top 3 by your ''ring magazine'' at the time. You also said that Hopkins fought many fights at 175, which is also not true. You are batting 1000, keep up the good work.

I've replied to most of that in your previous quote. Between 168-175 is Hopkins natural weight, I've heard boxing experts say it's 175. And Tarver was washed up, having world titles doesn't prove otherwise, if you think so you're very naieve. He won one of his belts from Muriqi and the other from a very poor version of Woods.

[Boxingwizard]

Calzaghe-Dawson would give Calzaghe plenty of money, it's just that Dawson would have to take a massive paycut. I'm thinking Calzaghe would make around $7mil while Dawson would get around $1.5 or $2mil (which would be his highest paycheck). So Dawson getting a paycut isn't problem for him and Calzaghe would get the money he wants, if it's televised by HBO and the fight is in Wales.

I still don't know if the fight will happen because Dawson has to fight Tarver because of a contract agreement and there is IBF mandatory Tavoris Cloud, who could exercise his right to fight Dawson. But Cloud might step away if a Calzaghe-Dawson match is going to happen, even Cloud doesn't want to ruin that possibility.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Well the first fight took place when RJJ was 34 and tarver was 35 so not young but i'm not about to argue over the rest of your post.

What the hell was tarver doing aged 20-30 anyway? going for medals?

Tarver was having a lot of personal problems around that time and he should have really started his career around the time Jones did, but he had gotten involved with ******* and he had just had his son so not only did he have a new responsibility to take care of, but he also had to be in drug rehab.

And for the person who said Adamek was weight drained( i think his user name was ''Cottowillbeback or something), i would suggest you watch this fight and tell me if this is a body of anyone weight drained. After he dropped Dawson, he came on strong those last three rounds. Since when have you known a ''weight drained'' fighter to show this kind of energy? When people say that, it really makes me unhappy for some reason, and i don't like when I'm unhappy. (that quote was from a mob movie i watching last week).

[hammerhiem]

Don't forget that Jones actually beat a young Tarver in their first fight, so clearly he wasn't as ''shot'' as you and many other people make it seem. So now hes all of a sudden shot when he gets blown away against Tarver in an immediate rematch that was see as even fight going in? I don't buy that excuse. Jones was obviously past his prime when they fought, but was still an elite fighter. Jones stated that Tarver's style would always give him problems and it did. In fact i think they went 2-2 when they fought in the amateurs. Even a prime Jones would his hands full with Tarver even though I'd pick him to win.

Well the first fight took place when RJJ was 34 and tarver was 35 so not young but i'm not about to argue over the rest of your post.

What the hell was tarver doing aged 20-30 anyway? going for medals?

[slicksouthpaw16]

Where did I say that Calzaghe beat a better version of RJJ than Tarver did, I'm sure I said he beat the same shot RJJ not a better version.

Personally I find it hard to give credit to anyone for beating RJJ post Ruiz, I think the trip upto HW ruined him.

But i'm sure you can make a case for tarver beating a better shot RJJ, so fill your boots.

Don't forget that Jones actually beat a young Tarver in their first fight, so clearly he wasn't as ''shot'' as you and many other people make it seem. So now hes all of a sudden shot when he gets blown away against Tarver in an immediate rematch that was see as even fight going in? I don't buy that excuse. Jones was obviously past his prime when they fought, but was still an elite fighter. Jones stated that Tarver's style would always give him problems and it did. In fact i think they went 2-2 when they fought in the amateurs. Even a prime Jones would his hands full with Tarver even though I'd pick him to win.

[hammerhiem]

Hopkins beat a better version of Tarver than Dawson did but Calzaghe beat a better version of Jones than Tarver did? Nice double standards. I also didn't say that Dawson was better than Hopkins.

Where did I say that Calzaghe beat a better version of RJJ than Tarver did, I'm sure I said he beat the same shot RJJ not a better version.

Personally I find it hard to give credit to anyone for beating RJJ post Ruiz, I think the trip upto HW ruined him.

But i'm sure you can make a case for tarver beating a better shot RJJ, so fill your boots.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Johnson is no more a natural LHW than Hopkins or Calzaghe, he fought the majority of his career at SMW same as Joe has.

Johnson moved up to LHW in his 30's after 4 losses at SMW in 5 fights.

Tarver has never KO'd a decent fighter at LHW, he got a TKO against the same washed up RJJ Calzaghe beat, but he couldn't stop reggie or Glen johnson, lost to Hopkins by 8 rounds couldn't put away a mediocre Griffin that both RJJ and G Johnson put away.

your opinions are looking pretty bunk there buddy.

Oh and as far as Dawson being better than Hopkins, well in not one for triangular theory's but Hopkins beat Tarver worse than Dawson did, two years before.

Hopkins beat a better version of Tarver than Dawson did but Calzaghe beat a better version of Jones than Tarver did? Nice double standards. I also didn't say that Dawson was better than Hopkins.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Please tell me you didn't compare the 4 kings titles to Chad Dawson's, who he won from Adamek and shot Tarver. That's beyond rediculous. I think you're just rambling off topic because you know deep down your argument is weak here. Don't put words in my mouth because I never said the alphabets are insignificant, what I said was they don't mean as much as the Ring title.

Tarver wasn't the same since after he bollooned up for the Rocky fight, you're right. He was still alot better fighter 2 years ago than he is now. It's like when Jones went up so far in weight he just gradually got worse and worse because his body was shot. Don't base your opinion on his fight with a washed up Clinton Woods who put up absolutely no resistence in that fight, a punch bag would have been more dangerous. A shot Roy Jones probably would have torn his ass up he was that bad.

I've already been through why Calzaghe should be (and more importantly is) ranked above Dawson so I'm not going down that road again. Either accept the truth or ignore it. It's 3.45am over here so this will probably be my last post.

Adamek and Tarver are good light heavyweights and legit champions, and if you would have studied their career( the way i have) then it can easily be seen. They were both top 5 light heavyweights when Dawson beat them and the only fighter at 175 to beat Adamek was Dawson. Its also funny how you say i am ignoring things because i have a weak argument when you have to bring up laughable excuses like Adamek being weight drained( which he stated himself he wasn't) and Tarver being a has been( even though he had two titles and was ranked top 3 by your ''ring magazine'' at the time. You also said that Hopkins fought many fights at 175, which is also not true. You are batting 1000, keep up the good work.