Calzaghe Set on Clash with Hopkins

[SHB]

Maybe I should watch it again. At the time I thought he looked slower than usual, his footwork was poor and he was pretty wild. It actually had me a little worried going into the Lacy fight. If he'd have fought like that in the Lacy fight he would of probably walked on to one.

It was more the way he looked so much more relaxed and happier than anything. I thought he looked a lot quicker also but then it's all opinions isn't it.

[Cletus Funk]

It was more the way he looked so much more relaxed and happier than anything. I thought he looked a lot quicker also but then it's all opinions isn't it.

Maybe it was because he was loading up more and he didn't use his flurries as much. Understandable really, given how he'd dealt with Veit the first time.

I'd agree that he looked happier and keener than in his previous couple of fights.

[jangeorg]

how close are you to kessler ?

I talk to him 1-2 week before he has a fight

[jangeorg]

Because he didn't want to admit he ducked the fight. You'd have to be insane to think it's plausible that Warren would offer only £50k for a unification fight.

Or maybe Kessler thought the offer was in Lira, not £.

Or maybe Warren tells this lie because he will have the world to think Kessler ducked Calzaghe

[Shanus]

Or maybe Warren tells this lie because he will have the world to think Kessler ducked Calzaghe

Frank Warren wouldn't attempt to get somebody with a possible future ahead of them, like Kessler, to come and fight Joe Calzaghe on his home turf for just 50k.. that's just ridiculous, and it would dampen Franks reputation in boxing to even think about it.

[SHB]

Or maybe Warren tells this lie because he will have the world to think Kessler ducked Calzaghe

The interesting thing is that Warren has mentioned this several times in the press and Kessler hasn't denied it. In fact what he has since said is that he will only fight Calzaghe if the price is right. Hardly the open challenge it has been presented as.

[medium-deek]

It was only £50000 Kessler was offer,i have asking Kessler the question and he said to me,the only offer he know about,was £50000 offer from Warren,so why should Kessler lie about this

Really, Jangeorg, be serious. I know Kessler is your boy, but you cannot seriously believe that ****. You just cannot. £50k for a fight. Warren aint that ******.

[medium-deek]

"Not every performance is a great work of art", said a contemplative Joe Calzaghe after his 19th world title defence on Saturday.

And if, in his previous fight with Jeff Lacy, Calzaghe was Picasso at his most vivid, in his taxi-rank brawl with Sakio Bika, he was more like Tracy Emin after 10 cans of Stella.

Before the fight at the MEN Arena in Manchester, Bika's manager Angelo Hyder said his charge was "like an absolute animal in the ring".

Who says people in boxing are dishonest?

"He hit me about half a dozen times full-on with his head," said Calzaghe. "He was an awkward customer."
"Awkward" does not begin to describe the 27-year-old Cameroonian.

A maelstrom of swinging arms, rabbit punches, head-butts, low blows and late shots, Bika was the last man Calzaghe - desperate to put on a show for a primetime UK audience and American cable giants HBO - needed.

It is not the first time Calzaghe has been dragged down to an inferior opponent's level and he admitted afterwards he had tried too hard to impress.

"I'm still the same fighter but it just so happens that I didn't perform at my best," explained a slightly apologetic Calzaghe.

"Hopefully the next fight will be against a top-flight American and you'll see me at my best, like I was against Lacy."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/6054242.stm

[dumdane]

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.

Kessler has time ahead of him to create a legacy.
As for so called no-names, he is obliged to take on two mandatories in Andrade and Mundine next (they could be paid step-aside money if a Calzaghe clash was in the making, but it would be costly).

Calzaghe is the one with very few fights left to prove himself. EVEN if he does beat Hopkins, not fighting Kessler will still leave a significant questionmarkon his career - like it or not.
If Kessler goes on to dominate in years to come that questionmark will only grow after Calzaghe's imminent retirement.

Following the Lacy fight a lot of ppl were prepared to accept Calzaghe as unbeatable. But after the ensuing long wait and now the Bika fight, i think ppl a once again seeing Calzaghe as a mere human being. If he want's to be considered the best at SMW (especially best ever) he'll actually have to finish the job. No matter how inconvenient it may be.

[SHB]

Kessler has time ahead of him to create a legacy.
As for so called no-names, he is obliged to take on two mandatories in Andrade and Mundine next (they could be paid step-aside money if a Calzaghe clash was in the making, but it would be costly).

Calzaghe is the one with very few fights left to prove himself. EVEN if he does beat Hopkins, not fighting Kessler will still leave a significant questionmarkon his career - like it or not.
If Kessler goes on to dominate in years to come that questionmark will only grow after Calzaghe's imminent retirement.

Following the Lacy fight a lot of ppl were prepared to accept Calzaghe as unbeatable. But after the ensuing long wait and now the Bika fight, i think ppl a once again seeing Calzaghe as a mere human being. If he want's to be considered the best at SMW (especially best ever) he'll actually have to finish the job. No matter how inconvenient it may be.

So it would be better for his legacy to fight an unproven fighter than arguably the most proven fighter of the last decade? I'm sorry, but that doesn't follow.

Ideal world - fights both. If it's one or the other - I'd much rather Hopkins. I can't see the BHop fight coming off though, which is a shame. Which makes it either Kessler, Winky or Taylor - and the former is much more likely to come off IMO.

So Kessler already has ready-made excuses for not facing Calzaghe eh. We keep on hearing that the titles mean nothing these days - if he turns down a fight in order to fight a mandatory then he can feck right off.