This is a Middleweight Golden Era!

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SATURDAY RESULTS: WAKE UP…THIS IS A MIDDLEWEIGHT GOLDEN ERA!

15 October, 2006 by Cliff Rold

THE RESULTS IN SHORT, STORY IN FULL

Alexandria, VA-If you just want the short and skinny, this Saturday night at 168 lbs., in three countries, all four favorites won as expected on a great night culminating two great weeks to be a fan. Those results are: World Champion Joe Calzaghe UD 12 Sakio Bika (also for the WBO/IBF/Ring Belts)
WBA/WBC Unification: Mikkel Kessler KO3 Markus Beyer
Allan Green W KO8 Jerson Ravelo
Peter Manfredo W KO3 Joey Spina.
Those are your results…here’s the real story of this Saturday night.

DON’T WAIT TO APPRECIATE!

So often, boxing is a sport whose fans spend as much time reflecting as they do embracing what is before their eyes. It’s not a new thing. We all know old-timers who talk about the fighters from ‘their days’ being able to mop ass with all the young champions of ‘your’ softer times. It’s usually hogwash and anyone who is dwelling today on middleweights past is missing something…we are currently in the midst of a truly great era at middleweight and super middleweight. I’ve written often in the last two years at this site that it was coming. After this is weekend, it cannot be denied. Let’s not wait twenty years to appreciate what is plainly evident. It was on display in the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Rhode Island. In December, it will be in Tampa and Little Rock but those are fights for another day. Today, though, we appreciate the top of the 168 lb. class (and I mean Class).

Read the Rest Here...

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This is an interesting article:

WHO'S NEXT FOR CALZAGHE

By Mark Staniforth, PA Sport

Joe Calzaghe's promoter Frank Warren has three big names in mind for the Welshman's next defence of his WBO and IBF super-middleweight titles in February.

Unbeaten WBC and WBA champion Mikkel Kessler, recently retired great Bernard Hopkins and middleweight king Jermain Taylor have all been linked to a clash with Calzaghe.

But boxing politics often serve to keep the big fights at bay. What are the chances of Calzaghe's defining fight against one of those big names actually happening?

MIKKEL KESSLER:

STATUS: WBC and WBA super-middleweight champion

RECORD: 38-0

PROS: The strong and rangy Dane brings a proud unbeaten record and the remaining two titles to the table. It is a major European fight and probably the most easily agreed of the three.

CONS: For all his undoubted talent, Kessler is little known in the United States, and Calzaghe's pay-per-view backers Home Box Office would undoubtedly prefer a more recognisable US name.

BERNARD HOPKINS:

STATUS: Retired former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion

RECORD: 47-4-1

PROS: Hopkins remains the biggest name out there and would only be tempted back by a big challenge such as that posed by Calzaghe. Initial talks between the two camps have been promising.

CONS: As Warren has discovered in the past, Hopkins is a notoriously hard bargainer. He has also been on record saying he would favour a return to the heavyweight division.

JERMAIN TAYLOR:

STATUS: World middleweight champion

RECORD: 25-0

PROS: Taylor's two wins over Hopkins elevated him to superstardom in the States and a showdown with Calzaghe would be a guaranteed pay-per-view blockbuster on both sides of the Atlantic.

CONS: Arguably, Calzaghe would have less to gain by beating Taylor, who after all reigns at a lighter weight. A scheduled December defence may also rule out the February date.