Did we americans gain any respect for Joe?

I am Amercian. Any American who saw Calzage's paint job on Jeff Lacy or his performance vs Kessler considers him #1 at 168, or a top ten pound for pound type of fighter.

 

Calzaghe's performance was more to do with Hopkins style being so awkward. No one looks good when fighting Hopkins as he is so negative and his defensive skills are excellent. The fact that Calzaghe grinded out a victory after a 1st round known down against an atg shows what a class act he is.

Pavlik would be a completely different story. Pavlik's style is more aggresive and he would take the fight to Calzaghe. It would be another Kessler style fight imo, which Calzaghe would win comfortably on points.

 

I have the same respect. He is not the best BOXER out there by far but his natural ability and his technique is a hard one to defeat b/c of his work rate as everybody knows. He is raw and he did nothing to adjust in the ring and land his shots he did not start landing until Bhop got tired. He did not out box bhop in the middle of the ring at all. He came forward and barraged that is all. Thats what I always thought he was and that is what he is. Oh and Kessler is a ****ing robot that does not know the meaning of angles as I said before. I said in prior posts that Calzaghe would win by his slap fest tactics but he would look ugly doing so and getting proven to that he is less skilled then Bhop. Bhop has no left hand at all thats why he lost.

 

Even Fraudley??

 

when did hopkins take the middle of the ring and try to fight a technical fight v calzaghe for joe to have the slightest oppurtunity to attempt this stratergy ????????????????????

 

Pavlik is the hardest hitting guy at 168.
Roy is past his prime.
But it'll be an entertaining fight.
RJJ vs. JC = PBF vs. DLH
Joe needs to fight Pavlik.
Floyd needs to fight Cotto.

 

Of course Pavlik is a favourable style match for Calzaghe. He is a natural counter-puncher and prefers opponents like Pavlik who will come staright at him. Hopkins on the other hand was a difficult style match and Calzaghe knew it going into the fight and he said as much in a pre-fight interview. The problem is he had no strategy for dealing with Hopkins. Calzaghe allowed Hopkins to dictate the pace of the fight and he let him neutralize his speed and reach advantage. When a 43 year old man makes you look like an amateur, maybe it is time to consider retirement.

 

First and foremost, Calz won the fight. Let's please cease with commentary that suggests otherwise.

Having said that, I consider Calz a talented and worthy champion. An all-time great, however? No. Period.

Had the two fought 4-5 years back, I am not sure the result would have been the same.

 

I don't think either fighter looked good, or did anything to improve my opinion of them. BHop talked a good story before the fight, but he performed miserably.

Calzaghe spent the last 7 months calling Pavlik out, but after last nights dismall performance he is now talking about being a "legend killer" and calling for a Jones fight! The guy has 1 Hall of Fame level fighter on his resume', a 43 year old career middleweight, and suddenly he's a legend killeratsch

I've known all along that all his bluster about Pavlik was bull****. He needs to stay away from legit guys in their prime, or he will get hurt. Fighting Jones is a good idea, unless he wants to spend his retirement struggling with brain damage. Beating the "B-" level robo-dane is as good as he will ever do.

 

There were many instances when Calzaghe did not just barge in and they where in the middle of the ring and Calzaghe did nothing and landed nothing. Bhop just neutralized ALL of his power punches until later on in the fight when he got winded. Bhop showed what great footwork is and how to use angles and throw punches from angles. **** you dingbats claim calzaghe can do. He baited him and dropped his ass from pure skill alone not just flinging a bunch of ****ing slaps together.

 

There's a lot of truth in this post.

As I stated earlier, Calz won and deserved to win the bout. Conversely, this notion of him as a "legend killer" is absurd.

Swapping shots with Pavlik, as you intimated, may not be the smartest career decision for Team Calz.

 

I just don't see the god like fighter being portrayed in Calzaghe. He slaps Bhops gloves and he is a ring general?

 

I already respected him.

 

That is the best win on his resume. He gets my respect wether he wins or lose.