Calzaghe Set on Clash with Hopkins

[TonyJ]

Last time i saw BHop fighting it was a good performance @LHW. Hopkins/Taylor is a bigger fight for Joe. I don't whether Taylor is better than Kessler, because Mikkel is a good, strong guy and his win against Beyer was a solid one. But it's about business and legacy.
I think Calzaghe would dominate Kessler because fighting Calzaghe long doesn't work. But in boxing everything can happen and like i said Kessler is a gifted, strong guy. I hope this fight will happen in the future.

[jangeorg]

If he fights Hopkins, does this mean he is dodging Kessler? I bet some would think it does. If he doesn't fight a big name, or Kessler for the belts, in his next fight then feel free to flame away ... he'll deserve everything he gets.

Edit - oh, and the same goes for Kessler now. If he fights some no-mark now after calling out a big name, then he deserves all the criticism.

I thought you said Calzaghe was going to have a big fight next time,ok here is you big fight http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/6132408.stm


And Kessler next fight will be against Librado Andrade in Denmark or US,in February or March

[AintGottaClue]

if joe has the fights left in him, he hsould try kessler to unify all the belts then have a go at hopkins then retire, i really would like to see joe vs B-hop but joe/kessler is needed for the divsion

[R.Winky Wright]

that is the weakest **** i have ever herd, isn't kessler his maditory challenger? ok all the respect to hopkins, he is a legend in my mind when you look at his career.....but joe would come out flying, cause hopkins fight at a slower pace more methodical. techical wise hopkins is light years ahead of him!!! i think joe is looking for names to fight now not actual opponents....i remember when hopkins fought a really good up and commer in antwan ecols that was a amazing fight ecols was as hard as nails! amazing power determination focus, and hopkins number one manditory, if joe keeps running, it just makes him lok like a tool. beat kessler if you can then call out whoever!

[mECHsLAVE]

Hopkins is not going to take the fight. So lose that idea. Joe has been calling Hopkins out for years and years. Hopkins never had any interest in facing Joe, and no interest in rematching Roy, that's why he stayed at MW as long as he could, until Taylor ran him out of that, then he saw easy pickings in a slipping, unmotivated Tarver that nearly every top fighter from 168-175 could have beaten the night Hopkins did.

Now, what I find amusing is that now since Joe has made the move to HBO and is dead-set on breaking through in the States and fighting the top US opponents like Taylor, Wright, Manfredo, etc then NOW the haters are telling him to stay in Europe and beat Kessler. LOL I can guarantee you that if he had signed to fight Kessler in Denmark, then the haters would say he's fighting Euro-bum and hiding away across the pond because Taylor is moving up, etc etc. LOL That's a guar-an-****ing-tee.

Those belts Kessler has, who the predictable Calzaghe-haters are now so impressed with, were never with the best SMW. Do I think Joe should fight Kessler? Sure, that would be a great legacy, to be the first and only undisputed SMW champion. And yes, Kessler has looked impressive lately. But Kessler will only fight in Denmark... he's not leaving. Calzaghe has the FAR better record, is regarded by everyone as the #1 SMW, so why should he have to go into that crazed lion's den in Denmark? Have Kessler's people offered the fight to HBO in the States or the UK?

Calzaghe is interested in setting up a fight with Taylor. Taylor is a huge middle and does not want to kill himself making the weight anymore (smart move, something Morales should have done years ago). Joe knows Hopkins won't fight him, this is just a publicity thing, setting up a Taylor fight. He knows he can beat Hopkins, always has, and Hopkins always knew it, too. But he's interested in now making his mark in the States and securing his legacy, something everyone here has been calling for for years! And now that he wants to do it, then some are changing their minds and suddenly those belts (which were lightly regarded at SMW) are the only thing that matters. LOL

In a perfect world, Calzaghe would fight Kessler in Wales to become undisputed, then defend it against Taylor in the states next year in a mega-fight. But I don't see Kessler leaving Denmark, and would it really change how big the Taylor fight is anyway, with or without Kessler? I think Joe beating someone on HBO with a name in the US, like Manfredo, would do more for making the Taylor fight huge than beating Kessler, who is known by only us here on these message boards, let's face it.