I've seen it a bunch already. Just excuses to fight the easier fight. Enzo is quoted as saying they want the best available. RJJ is not the best available now. 5-6 years ago yes, today the big name and arguably the toughest fight is Kelly Pavlik. He is the best available. Calzaghe does not want to take a risk in his last fight of getting ko'd. Too bad we will never see this fight.
RJJ was the best available LONG ago, where was Calzaghe when he was REALLY the best available?, fighting cans in Wales?
I used to like Calzaghe and if he didn't fight Pavlik it wouldn't have mattered. That is until Calzaghe called him out himself, and also said fighting RJJ would be a let down. This is boxing, you're supposed to take on all comers. What happened to those fighters? Luckily we've got Cotto and Pavlik.
Unfortunately Calzaghe is playing out to be another over-protected Euro fighter. He would have been exposed by Pavlik, but with a win over a faded past prime RJJ, all his fans will think he is the greatest of all time.
jones was one of the best "ever" available in that weight range about 5 years ago, not just best available, let's not discount jones. hopefully jones has enough left to decision calzaghe to ruin his fanboy party
RJJ is my favorite fighter of all time. I have watched him ever since he was ripped off in the Olympics in Seoul. The only way I see him beating Calzaghe is by knockout (unlikely, as he has not scored a ko since 2003) or accumulation of points by several knockdowns (possible, but unlikely as Calzaghe has never been dropped twice in a fight and has a good chin). Most likely scenario is Calzaghe by farely wide UD (117-111). RJJ is not active enough and like the Hopkins fight, the judges will reward Calzaghe for his aggressive style regardless of whether he is landing any effective punches or not. A prime RJJ against a prime Calzaghe is a wipeout (RJJ by KO).
The fight will be a sham to "cement," only in the eyes of Calzaghe and his delusional fans (not all but the blind nuthuggers), his legacy. RJJ is waaaaaaay past it as evidenced by devastating KO losses to Tarver and Johnson, both of which occurred FOUR YEARS AGO!!!! And yet, Team Calzaghe thinks this is the "best available?" Get the F out of here. Dan Rafael sure knows his boxing to put this guy at #1 P4P.
More money fighting Jones Jr. its not because Kelly doesnt deserve a shot, we have heard Joe (not any member of his team, but actually Joe) say he wants to fight Pavlik because he is a fantastic fighter! Enzo is spouting off! im confident we will get 2 more fight out of JC!
in the article in setanta he mentioned he was impressed with jones win over tito and was a legit win but he completely disregarded b-hops win over trinidad which was a prime trinidad and closer to his natural weight than 170 was...the calzaghes are full of **** dont deserve your support
Pavlik-Calzaghe is the fight the boxing public wants. I'll bet its the fight that HBO wants. By some reports its the fight that Frank Warren wanted. But the Calzaghe ( both of them ) want no part of it. And I'll bet these speeches are the Calzaghes' attempt to toss cold water on the thought of the potential matchup. Fine. But these "poison pill" speeches by both Joe and Enzo (and Lockett as well) are doing far more damage to Joe's legacy than the action of declining the fight with Pavlik could ever have done. They sound so ridiculously disingenuous that it certainly looks like Calzaghe is ducking Pavlik out of fear even if that isn't the case.
For all the people on here that hate Calzaghe. Why are you all pissed off? The man will be gone in a few motnhs according to himself. You won't have to put up with his **** anymore. Are you really that upset that he might beat a shot Jones or that he won't fight Pavlik? Or is it that he might retire undefeated? If you hate him that much, you should be singing from the rooftops that he'll finally be gone!! BTW, Enzo is a nutjob. But he does what so many others do and that's talk **** to hype fights. Hardly a crime.