Calzaghe deserves respect

[scap]

Well, Taylor has the potential to beat Calzaghe. Taylor really has the potential to be the closest thing to unbeatable in boxing. He's got one of the best left jabs ever (see pre-Hopkins fights), and got to the undisputed middleweight title while only knowing two punches (jab and right hand).. once he masters left hooks, right uppercuts and bodyshots, damn. And this guy has awesome speed of delivery if you see some of his late 90's amateur fights and early pro fights (from handheld camera) that has been hampered by draining out to make 160, so moving upto 168 he'll have that great speed of delivery again and be really quite powerful.

Calzaghe is a heart-fighter, ofcourse, with a lot of natural talent and good instincts but not the best thinker. He's got his speed and agility, he's got his strength (the way he can bend at the knees in front of an opponent and pull wide hooks in with no backpull and almost no time between hooks landing - and hurt them badly without turning his knuckles over), his ability to turn opponents without even thinking about it, his ability to move in and out of range effortlessly well, to rinse and repeat with mastery of timing and distance on instincts alone.. but, his heart is TOO big! He's easily drawn into a slugfest, and Taylor IMO is not a guy to get into a slugfest with, potentially. Calzaghe is square-on and hittable, and very weakened at 168 these days (I don't know how he makes weight, because he's a 200lb man).

I'd put my money on Taylor.

KJ-Dont listen to what this ****head says...

Remember Geoff, Lacy will KO Joe in 1 round...you little ***** you betrayed Calzaghe with your silly prediction.

Let me call the fight Im actually someone who knows something...

Calzaghe would have an easy go of it with Taylor, he stands a chance at stopping him as well based upon Taylor and how he tends to fade towards the end of fights.

Taylor never takes the same punishment Lacy took and stands the full 12.

[GEOFFHAYES]

If Calzaghe fought like he usually did (trying to take his opponents head off from the opening bell and not stopping until the fights over), he would of been KO'd in one round by Lacy. And bare in mind I was also informed by an insider that Joe had broken his hand in training, and informed by another insider than Joe was weighing "177" and in full training, full diet and everything, and that the last two fights of Joe's I'd seen were the horrible, horrible performance against Salem (though I now realise it was because his head was elsewhere due to going through a messy divorce and not totally because of the weight problems and age) and breaking his hand against Ashira's head and fighting one-handed for the rest of the fight.

What you must understand is that the Veit fight was only on German TV (with German commentary), and I didn't see it until a few months back.. so I obviously didn't realise that he had put in arguably the most sizzling performance of his career! (though the Lacy fight overtook it)

[Guest]

Well, Taylor has the potential to beat Calzaghe. Taylor really has the potential to be the closest thing to unbeatable in boxing. He's got one of the best left jabs ever (see pre-Hopkins fights), and got to the undisputed middleweight title while only knowing two punches (jab and right hand).. once he masters left hooks, right uppercuts and bodyshots, damn. And this guy has awesome speed of delivery if you see some of his late 90's amateur fights and early pro fights (from handheld camera) that has been hampered by draining out to make 160, so moving upto 168 he'll have that great speed of delivery again and be really quite powerful.

If Taylor's jab was really great, it wouldn't have been completely taken away from him by Hopkins and Winky Wright. Wright has a much more dominant jab than Taylor. Calzaghe-Taylor is a pick'em fight, but Winky Wright would dominate Calzaghe if he stepped up to 168...

[rocco1252]

**** Calzcrappy. Fight Kessler you ****in coward

fight anyone better than who he's fought his whole career, which has been nobodys other than a green jeff lacy. he is a coward and in his "25 years of hard work" he hasnt really had a hard fight so no respect goes to him until he fights someone in their prime worthy of fighting to actually prove his due other than calling out washed up fighters and people who wouldnt even have a shot.

[GEOFFHAYES]

If Taylor's jab was really great, it wouldn't have been completely taken away from him by Hopkins and Winky Wright. Wright has a much more dominant jab than Taylor. Calzaghe-Taylor is a pick'em fight, but Winky Wright would dominate Calzaghe if he stepped up to 168...

No, honestly, his jab just wasn't working against Hopkins or Wright.. I know, Hopkins and Wright were better fighters that he'd fought and all that, but honestly his jab, you haven't seen the best of his jab in his last three fights, man.

[Guest]

No, honestly, his jab just wasn't working against Hopkins or Wright.. I know, Hopkins and Wright were better fighters that he'd fought and all that, but honestly his jab, you haven't seen the best of his jab in his last three fights, man.

You're telling me that for three consecutive fights his jab has not been what it normally is and it's not because of his opponents? You gotta be joking. Taylor is athletically gifted and that's what's carried him to where he is right now. As a boxer, his ring IQ is not that high. He let Hopkins dictate the pace of both fights rather than press the action on his own. Winky Wright dominated Taylor with his jab and made Taylor look like a fool against the ropes.

I give Taylor all the credit in the world for what he's done up to this point, but he's the type of fighter that will get destroyed once he jumps up a division or 2 and doesn't have the size advantage he enjoys at middleweight. He's not much of a fighter...

[GEOFFHAYES]

he hasnt really had a hard fight

After the Eubank fight he was in bed for three days straight with his face smashed up, bruises over his body and non-stop headaches.

In the Reid fight he was eating up HUGE RIGHT HANDS, overhand lefts and counter left hooks alnight long and fought the last eight rounds with a broken hand.

He also fought with a fractured hand and fractured elbow in the Thornberry and Starie fights but had to go through with the fights before seeing therapists because he had a family to feed.

The Sheika fight was tough, the Woodhall fight was tough, the Brewer and Mitchell fights were all-out wars and the Salem fight was very tough, and the second Veit fight was in Germany where he had to take his own food (because they'd of tried poisoning his food) and had a tiny locker room with no facilities, and he had to stop Veit or they'd of robbed him (even if he won every round)! He broke his hand on Ashira's head and the Bika fight wasn't a walk in the park.

[medium-deek]

As Joe repeatedly says, in order to see him at his best, he needs to fight the best fighters out there: Taylor is one of the best around. When Joe fought Lacy, I placed a £150 or £130 bet on Calzaghe. I'll do the same again when this fight is arranged. I dont care if Taylor has home advantage, Joe will beat him. There is too much at stake for Joe not to win. That alone, you could argue, is enough to back Joe (though I just think he is a better fighter than Taylor). I hope the bookies make Taylor the over-whelming favourite. I'm very confident.

[GEOFFHAYES]

You can't ever write off big Joe..

[Derranged_]

Forget Taylor, shouldn't we be on the subject of a possible fight between Calzaghe and Manfredo? Or have I missed some current news on a Taylor fight?