Joe obviously is a great 168-170 fighter. Now he apparently is fighting at 175. Problem is that he hasn't fought any real LHW. Hopkins is the closest, but Hopkins is (like Calzaghe) not a career LHW. The question is: IF Joe wants history to remember him as someone who fought at BOTH smw and lhw - does he then have to fight a real lhw? What do you think?
name your serious challenge at 168 ? calzaghe was a champ in that division for 10 years and the number 1 ranked fighter at 168 is mikkel kessler ? calzaghe moved up to light heavy, to fight the number 1 ranked light heavy in ring rankings , did it on the number 1 light heavys patch , and is now fighting the number 7 i think ranked light heavy because he brings by far the most money to the table. if calzaghe fights again it woiuld be pavlik or possibly hopkins as that is where he could earn the most money. dawson , IMO is calzaghe`s biggest challenger , but in a fight between tarver and dawson in las vegas , drew a crowd of just a few hundred people. they are simply not ticket sellers at the moment and throughout boxing history , fighters have been avoided , not because they were not good , but because financially they bring nothing to the table. this is dawson`s problem in getting a fight with calzaghe in the next 6 months.
Dawson is proven at LHW because he beat Tarver, but Calzaghe isn't proven at LHW after beating the guy that previously schooled a younger Tarver, at LHW? I see....
Don't forget that B-Hop is currently the living re-incarnation of Sugar Ray Robinson for beating Pavlik - wheras Calzaghe is supposed to be the crappiest fighter alive for urm...beating B-Hop. The only thing that Calzaghe can achieve by beating Dawson is his respect amongst (some) internet fans. He is definitely getting in the hall of fame, he will forever be a legend in his own country, and he will retire with a few million quid. Calzaghe would have to fight Dawson, Hopkins (again), Kessler (again), kill Jones Jr in one round and reveal himself to be secretly American to get any respect from some people. It's lucky that their opinion doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure when he's getting inducted into the HoF he'll regret not fighting Chad Dawson!
Hopkins is a carreer MW. Dawson is a 6'3" real LHW. Pacquiao, Pavlik and Hopkins might be better than Dawson - who knows? BUT they are NOT real LHWs. They are not natural LHWs that are at LHW in their primes. I don't why that should even be hard to understand? Personally I think Joe needs to step up and meet a real LHW and no just meet these other fighters that went up a division. Otherwise Pac could go to HW and fight Hatton and they would both have fought at HW, right? No, of ocurse not. Hopkins has fought a LHW in Tarver. Sure Joe beat Bernard, but at 170 - that's really closer to SMW, right? No Roy is old and who knows what he has left. IF Joe wins that fight it doesn;t really prove much. Remember that Roy's opponents at LHW rcently have been Trinidad and Hanshaw - neiher are natural LHWs, right? Hopkins fought Pavlik, not a natural LHW, right? You see where this is going? These guys are fighting at LHW against LMWs, MWs and SMWs. They draw people up on their names and call them LHW fights. There can be an argument for Hopkins and Roy having beaten real LHWs, but there certainly is no argument that Joe has ever beaten a natural LHW. _____________ and the people who cry "Calzaghe never gets his dues no matter what. buhu..buhu..." are wrong. I recognize that Joe has shown to be an excllent fighter at exactly the weight he always fought at. No doubt about it. The Kessler and the Hopkins fight have earned Joe a lot of recognition - and deservedly so. Don't pretend they didn;t. However, let's be real. Joe is not a LHW and h certainly hasn;t shown anyone that he could beat a live natural LHW. That is just a fact. No hating, as I said, I am a fan, but lets be real.
Who cares? What, Calzaghe fights Nathan Cleverly, and then he gets more respect because now he's beaten a 'natural LHW'? He beat the best fighter at the weight.
Joe never beat a natural LHW champ. Never. That is the fact. He can handle good fighters we have seen that (Kessler and Hopkins), but can he also handle real LHWs like Hopkins and Roy have shown they can? Maybe size is Joe's achilles heal.
Err, yeah, whatever. But then you want him to fight Dawson, who has fought as low as 160 and repeatedly said he could make 168. Dawson would probably make 168 as comfortably as Kessler. So, if you really believed the above, Dawson would be far from your choice.
Rubbish. Kessler started and fought many fights at 152! Still Kessler is natural SMW. Dawson is natural LHW (or CW even as he is taller than Adamek and as tall as David Haye). Kessler is a medium 6'1" no bigger than Calzaghe, while Dawson is a real LHW at 6'3"!!! What about Dawson makes you so defensive and scared?
Screw Dawson, he needs to man up and give Glen Johnson a rematch and then the winner fight Joe. I think Glen would give Joe just as much trouble as everyone else that is tuff enough to get in the ring with him.