Calzaghe debate part 2

continued..

Add Former Champ Byron Mitchell to the record who put Calzaghe down for the first time and got put on the deck straight after and was stopped for the first time in his career by Calzaghe, honestly though the ref did jump in too soon for my liking. Being put on the canvas doesnt mean a boxers chin is weak its how they react after that and their recovery rate that counts and shows how strong a chin they have, Calzaghe always got up and went on to win like a Champion does “Aka “ Ali vs Henry Cooper”

Calzaghe did not want to fight Manfredo, but did because HBO or Showtime said the the winner was to fight Taylor who sadly outpriced himself, by rejecting the offer of $4m to fight Calzaghe by demanding $10m., which is another case of Calzaghe wanting the top fights but his opponents backing away.

Bika was a rough contender with a dirty style still Joe beat him one handed, Bika is still up in the top 10 SMW division , plus a fighter with Bika`s style will make any good boxer look bad.

World Champ Mikkel Kessler, how can people critisize Calzaghe for going head on against an undefeated two belt fellow World Champion and putting it all on the line to become Undisputed Champion? Is this called ducking ??

Now to Hopkins, Hopkins played it crafty against Calzaghe but why did he fight like that?? I think its pretty simple, Hopkins is a tactician and a good one at that he does his analysis of his opponents before he fights them, and saw those skills that Calzaghe possessed and knew he did`nt have a chance going toe to toe with Calzaghe, so he had to make it look close by dirtying the fight, but at the end of the day its easy to see that Hopkins respected Calzaghe far more than he has let on due to the way he fought in their fight. Calzaghe did`nt exactly make that fight easy for himself as he allowed Hopkins to hold all night, As Former Champ Richie Woodhall pointed out Calzaghe came in with the jab and kept holding his feet allowing hopkins to hold him, If Calzaghe had stepped in jabbed and then pulled away with his feet Hopkins would have not had much choice but to go after Calzaghe or simply get outboxed, still he got beat then was excused because critics said he was past it, then only to go on and school a highly acclaimed Middleweight World Champion Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins schooled Pavlik because he had already done his homework on Pavlik and knew he`d outbox him, it makes all the excuses look meaningless and desperate. Hopkins was to have fought Calzaghe round about 2003 getting his biggest pay day of about $ 2.5 million but at the last moment he asked for double probably after watching a few of Calzaghe`s fight`s ruining any chance of the fight being fought, at the time his trainer Bouie Fisher said this about Calzaghe "he was a tall order. he was by far the fastest fighter bernard had seen since jones and had an un-dentable chin."
Be honest what does that say??? Hopkins knew he did`nt stand much of a chance back then, Hopkins is a boxer who has improved with age he would not have given Calzaghe much of a fight and Calzaghe`s punch power had not deflated so much at the time.

Lets look at the issue of Pavlik, Calzaghe chucked the ball at Pavlik after the Lacy fight and Pavlik did`nt catch it , then again after Pavlik beat Taylor, although Pavlik stated that there was a rematch clause with Taylor which is a fare point. After the fight was arranged with Jones, Pavlik decides to chuck the ball at Calzaghe whose hands were tired up due to contract, so Pavlik chucking the ball really did`nt make no sense other than trying to make Calzaghe look bad to those ignorant of the facts. Pavlik soon got found out though when fighting Hopkins, if Hopkins did what he did to Pavlik what would Calzaghe have done?? Im not asking that question because Calzaghe beat Hopkins either, as i know that one fighter can beat another and yet lose to a fighter who their former opponent beat as in the Hopkins, Pavlik ,Taylor trilogy. Just objectively look at the Boxing skills between Joe and Kelly theres a big difference. Look at what Martinez did to pavlik.. outboxed him.

When Jones and Calzaghe fought Calzaghe won by UD. Calzaghe wanted to fight jones after the Eubank fight, Jones did`nt want to know and had too much to lose and it was too big a risk for him which he stated, aswell as some contract issues. ,he also turned Benn and Collins down, Is that called ducking?? Jones and Hopkins fought Joe when it was safer to do so and when there was nothing to lose “aka Jones Jrs own words "if he beats me who cares? But if I beat him I`ve stopped his undefeated streak". To who would win the fight between Jones Jr and Calzaghe in their prime is pure speculation, though it would have been very close, and i say that out of great respect to both fighters.

Many said Jones was back after he beat and schooled Sheika and Lacy these two guys are now B Class fighters. When Joe fought them one was a undefeated world champ and the other was a top notch A class contender but Joe broke their boxing spirits.( thats why they are B class now).

Don`t get me wrong both Hopkins and Jones are Greats but why not take on the fighters at the top who were outside their comfort zone? `aka homeland America. Calzaghe was an undefeated World champ at the time he opposed Hopkins and Jones outside the ring in his prime, i think that fact had its merits to back it up at the time, thats probably why Hopkins and Jones backed away with the fear of too much too lose, the boxing world knew Calzaghe was strong but the rest of the world knew nothing of him.

And for those critics that say that Hopkins and Jones had a right to stay and fight at home, that can be viewed as just Ignorance at its worst and yes the argument can be thrown straight back so its just a game of swings and roundabouts, boxing fans lets let that go shall we?
Jones and Hopkins opposition can be disected and devalued just like Calzaghe`s can, its just too easy to do.

If theres a boxer who critics wish to rightfully berate then its Sven Ottke , Go watch his fights against Brewer, Reid , Mitchell and even David Starrie( calzaghe beat all four of these fighters fairly), yet they all got cheated. Ottke is the fighter who truly had home advantage and was protected by the German and Belguim Ring Refs and officials. If any boxer has tarnished Calzaghe`s Legacy then its Ottke indirectly,if Brewer and Mitchell hadn`t have been cheated out of rightful wins they would probably still have been champions when fighting Calzaghe which would have raised Calzaghe`s reputation.


Its a Shame that Calzaghe`s Greatness in the ring makes good fighters look bad and that bitter critics use this against him and that he`s a victim of sporting circumstance.

I Believe time will hail Calzaghe as a Great! Because there will not be too many boxers out there to compare him too.