did calzaghe say that ? i know his promoter said this after the fight but i am not sure if calzaghe has reiterated this in another interview.
This fight was already in the planning stages. Bernard asked for $3m. Calzaghe immediatelly agreed. Bernard then doubled his demand to $6M, thus killing the fight. Bernard is an ATG. The fight could easily take place at 168, giving Joe the chance to extend his streak and Bernard the chance to be the man in THREE wt classes. Joe has the more meaningful Dawson, if he wants to move to 175. Who does Bernard have? Winky again? Taylor again? Have Spinks move up to a catch-weight? Joe is undefeated and clearly the man at 168. He deserves at least a 50-50.
those were figures from around 2001 to 2003 when a calzaghe fight v hopkins was in the works and not the current situation.c
Joe needs Bernard? Only for cash mate. Joe's ATG legacy is secure. Personally I'd be ok if Joe announced his retirement today, he has nothing more to prove, who is left to prove against? Dawson? Too green, looks very good but not a proven name... yet. Bhop? Too old. Pavlik? Too middleweight. And he'll stay there if he is wise. Woods? Too dominated by Jones Bute? Scraping the barrel now. Maybe he should just retire. He has just beat the second best in his division in Kessler. And BHop is going to be a **** to deal with AGAIN probably. But Joe wants Bhop, wants to be a two weight champion, wants a big payday, and who can blame him, it does sound good - undefeated 2 weight world champion. So I hope Joe accepts the old gits unfair demands, I hope he goes over to Yankee Stadium and retires Mr Hopkins in emphatic style. I just think it sucks that the best fighter in the world has to accept 40% from an (albeit great) has - been.
True. But it's indicative of who wanted the fight and who didn't (or was too greedy). It's also known as bad-faith bargaining. 50-50 if it's to happen.
as i said i am not sure if calzaghe has said the words attributed to him by hopkins . warren definatly did , but is now in full reverse gear in every link i have seen. his big mouth got the better of him after the fight and as hopkins said. what fighter gives away his bargaining power before they even get to the negotiating table. seems a 25 year promoter just got outsmarted by a rookie promoter.
"A teleconference was set up in my office in New York for July 30trh, 2002, and on the call was myself, Don King who was in the room, Frank Warren and Bernard Hopkins' lawyer, Arnold Joseph. Along with Arnold was a woman named Linda Carter, who was there on behalf of Bernard. We asked Arnold if Bernard wanted to fight Joe Calzaghe and we asked him how much money would he want if he did. The response we got was $3million and the fight would have to take place in the United States. After a little scratching of the head, we said 'Okay, done.' Frank Warren agreed on the spot, DOn King agreed and we agreed so as far as we were concerned all parties were singing off the one hymm sheet. Arnold excused himself with Linda and I can only assume it was to call Bernard. Either that day or the next day, they came with a new demand: $6million, dobule the sum that had been agreed, the deal blew up.....he had then and still has no desire to fight Joe Calzaghe, that much is pretty clear. Joe gets criticised sometimes for not having fought the big-name Americans, but in this case the fault has never rested with him." - Jay Larkin, then Showtime TV Network's Senior Vice-President of Sports and Event Programming. see also news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/3030004.stm
60-40 is good, there should not be any problem with that. Calzaghe is moving up in weight class to face the champ B-Hop in the US where is he doesn't have a big following, B-Hop is the star. It makes sense to me.
What's all the fuss about? 60/40 isn't quite fair but it's not a bad place to start negotiations. Let's not forget the crap money Joe accepted to fight Lacy!! But then again, let's not forget that Hopkins called out Calzaghe after his fight with Ronald. I reckon Frank Warren would accept a 55/45 split which I think could be easily negotiated if both parties want this to go ahead. I'm sure that Hopkins is looking for a big payday and Joe Calzaghe is a big name in boxing now. Hopkins does good PPV numbers due to the names he's fighting.
as to the 60 to 40 split in favour of hopkins, calzaghe should have no problems with that as long as his piece of the pie is say 8 million usa dollars, after that it does not matter what hopkins gets paid and should not concern him. but i do not know if he will be offered that much, as so many usa posters reiterate over and over again that calzaghe does not have a usa fanbase or any pulling power so the fight will be down to hopkins drawing power. with hopkins taking 60% that means his cut will be say $12 million and calzaghe $8 million are those numbers viable given calzaghe`s status and the fact he has never fought on ppv in america or even been to america ? if they are then lets get the fight on.
Well he may be greedy, but he's an ATG and has to try to capitalize to the max on his few remaining fight. But he has to accept that if the fight doesn't happen, he bears the lion's share of the blame. Also, at this point I think he knows his chances of winning this thig are slim and this might be his last payday.