Joe Calzaghe: The wasted years

Warren's fault up to a point. Joe is his own man, I think he was comfortable with that situation.

 

Same as hatton really, building up a massive record in Europe before getting some big names interested ! also the same promoter the idiot Frank Warren who was just content in making money long term .

 

I think it was both of their fault but more Joe's. Joe is as much of a cherry picker than Mayweather. I give him respect for his dismantling of Lacy and his win over Kessler, but he didn't step up earlier for the reasons he himself gave in an interview. The competition in those years was superior than Joe and he didn't want to risk it. Now he's just cherry picking. Why not fight Hopkins, Jones, Tarver, or Johnson five years ago?

 

What a shame ******ed people who didn't know anything about the SMW scene have these opinions.

"Sven Ottke left overs". Funny, the guys he usually fought after they fought Ottke were judged by the media to be the victors of their fights against Ottke.

Mitchell and Brewer definitely, even Reid had a closer fight than the scorecards left.

Also, go have a look back at the champions of the era. Anyone who was a champion was either beaten by Calzaghe or beaten by someone Calzaghe beat - with the exception of Ottke, but then, Ottke got beat at least four to five times and seemed to always get the result.

It's not Joe's fault that SMW was not a marketable division until an American captured the imagination.

It's also not Joe's fault that Hopkins amongst other people verbally agreed to contracts that they then backed out of.

Could he have fought better opposition? Yes. Do we care now, considering who he has beat? No.

 

The Mitchell fight was not controversial. Neither was Brewer II.

 

Bhop refused to fight him and backed out of an oral agreement.

The reason he couldn't fight anybody is because nobody would fight him, he was too dangerous.

 

God, did you ever see the Mitchell fight?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8pXhRyJnnQ

Go watch the highlights and tell me Ottke won that fight.

 

3 mins of highlights really tells the story. :roll:

Believe me I have put myself through many Ottke fights, that was not one of the robberies.

 

This is true to some extent but lets not act like he didn't want to leave Wales ..It was a bit of both he didn't want to leave his hom,e court and no one wanted to travel to it ..But the Hopkins fight could have happend in 03 but the Executioner refused ..

 

I'm so glad you're not a professional judge.. in fact, you sound like one of the monkeys who gave Ottke those fights he lost.

 

He was THE CHAMPION, the challenger SHOULD come to him, thats how it works.

Not only was he the champion, he could draw huge crowds in wales, why on earth should he have fought anywhere else? He was the champ, he was the draw, and the fights would make more money in Wales, there was nothing to be gained by leaving.

 

And you sound like one of those gullible fools who believe the myth that every close fight in Germany must be a robbery.

Its fairly clear you havent seen those fights and I somehow doubt you have seen many Ottke fights at all. A bit of advice for you, dont watch small highlight packages and then try to convince people you have seen the whole fight...people see through that pretty easily .