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Unlike Joe Calzaghe, when Ricky Hatton reached the pinnacle of his career, he called out the No. 1 pound-for-pound champion who was in a weight division above, moved up in weight & took on a career defining fight against the very best in Mayweather. He also had the courage to take on a vicious looking Pacquiao.
Sure he lost, but as was once said 'in great attempts it is glorious even to fail'.
Calzaghe claimed the vacant title in 1997. It took him NINE years to unify the titles with fights against Lacy & Kessler. The gap speaks for itself. And really, wasn't 168 an ultra weak division anyway?? My point: Roy Jones Jr was available to fight at 175 from the point Calzaghe claimed the WBO strap at 168 in 1997, to the point he was knocked out in 02 by Tarver. Instead of Calzaghe calling Roy Jones Jr out for a superfight at 175, he was interviewed in those years and openly admitted that he did not want to RISK that fight.
I'm of the opinion that if Calzaghe had entered the grand American stage during his plastic reign, he would've tasted defeat like his compatriots in Khan & Hatton. Calzaghe ducked the big fights:
He wanted nothing to do with a prime Jones Jr. There's open transcripts of him admitting that he basically ducked the fight altogether. Then he would only fight Hopkins at 43, and even then he sc****d just a SD with his dad telling him he had lost the fight. If you look at their reactions to the decision, I think it's clear that they knew in many ways it was a gift. A prime Hopkins repeats what he did to Calzaghe in round 1 for the full 12.
It goes on. In the words of Jim Lampley, 'Calzaghe BLATANTLY ducked Glen Johnson'.
He wanted nothing to do with Taylor. Ducked Pavlik to fight a shell of Jones. How about the Tarver negotiations? Ended with NOTHING. Winky Wright negotiations? Ended with NOTHING.
So he retires undefeated.
So did Sven Ottke.
Just sayin'.
Sure he lost, but as was once said 'in great attempts it is glorious even to fail'.
Calzaghe claimed the vacant title in 1997. It took him NINE years to unify the titles with fights against Lacy & Kessler. The gap speaks for itself. And really, wasn't 168 an ultra weak division anyway?? My point: Roy Jones Jr was available to fight at 175 from the point Calzaghe claimed the WBO strap at 168 in 1997, to the point he was knocked out in 02 by Tarver. Instead of Calzaghe calling Roy Jones Jr out for a superfight at 175, he was interviewed in those years and openly admitted that he did not want to RISK that fight.
I'm of the opinion that if Calzaghe had entered the grand American stage during his plastic reign, he would've tasted defeat like his compatriots in Khan & Hatton. Calzaghe ducked the big fights:
He wanted nothing to do with a prime Jones Jr. There's open transcripts of him admitting that he basically ducked the fight altogether. Then he would only fight Hopkins at 43, and even then he sc****d just a SD with his dad telling him he had lost the fight. If you look at their reactions to the decision, I think it's clear that they knew in many ways it was a gift. A prime Hopkins repeats what he did to Calzaghe in round 1 for the full 12.
It goes on. In the words of Jim Lampley, 'Calzaghe BLATANTLY ducked Glen Johnson'.
He wanted nothing to do with Taylor. Ducked Pavlik to fight a shell of Jones. How about the Tarver negotiations? Ended with NOTHING. Winky Wright negotiations? Ended with NOTHING.
So he retires undefeated.
So did Sven Ottke.
Just sayin'.
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