Lewis Interview On Calzaghe" All He Did Was Slap"

Is it time to mention Glen Johnson yet? :hey

 

the fact that calzaghe was injured for the johnson fight and it is not just calzaghe but others who have said that in 2002 they looked for a fight with hopkins had it arranged and then hopkins suddenly wanted 4 million instead of 2 and this was when he wasn't getting the big payday.

 

So it was 2002? Okay, I'll give you the DLH thing. That payday was further around the corner.

It just goes to show that there was very little of it in the media outside of obviously Joe's land. Because I didn't even know the exact date.

But 2002!!!

Joe was SOOO far from Bernard's radar it was not even funny. You do know he was having HARD negotiations with the p4p no. 1 (of the time, and of the GENERATION) in Roy Jones?

2002 was following the biggest win of his career, Trinidad (Sep 2001). Bernard had what was called OPTIONS. I even remember having SERIOUS negotiations between a then Cruiserweight champ Toney (perhaps Toney beat Jirov after 2002, but still, AROUND that time there was SERIOUS negotiations between a cruiser champ and the middle champ).

Joe, in 2002, brought NOTHING. It was that simple. Nard had so many more options, and was ALWAYS a **** at the negotiating table.

He didn't duck him. And I'll defend that to the day I die.

 

He claimed to be injured, I suggest he probably wasn't in reality. He also pulled out of fighting Johnson twice, not once.

It's really not logical to call a man who fought prime Jones a ducker, especially when you consider the other big fights he's been involved in. Calzaghe on the other hand has been protected pretty much his entire career. Last Saturday night we saw why :yep

 

we know you hate calzaghe but your bias makes you look stupid on a number of matters when you are more intelligent than many of the posts you make l you ook.

 

this is from a copy of the ring magazine a few months back.... (december i believe, will need to dig it out to be sure)



"A teleconference was set up in my office in New York for July 30th, 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.

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so it seems hopkins agreed a deal, then went back on that and demanded money he knew he'd only be making against the likes of oscar. his opposition after this and before DLH hardly sets the world alight either, hakkar, joppy and allen (for a third time ). so what was it? if joe was a nailed on win as you'd like to think for a 'prime hopkins' then surely jumping up to 168 and beating his arse and adding a title from another division as well as improving his legacy wouldn't have been too much bother?

or maybe joe was a much tougher assignment than you give him credit for.

 

But would it have added much to his legacy at the time?

Joe's also agreed on a fight and not gone through with it.

It's still a bit much to say that Hopkins ducked him, simply cause he asked for more money. When he's got 10 million dollar pay days against STARS like Jones and Dela Hoya as, at least, POSSIBLITIES.

And again - by fighting him after his (Calzaghe's) most impressive career performance/s and when Hops was in his mid-40s - kinda takes away from this "Hopkins ducked Calzaghe" argument.

 

going up a division and defeating an undefeated title holder? sure as hell add's more than beating the three he fought in the meantime, and of course the payday is pretty nice.

 

Oh yes I hate Calzaghe, I'm not a big fan of Hopkins either, incidentally but you only have to look at their 2 records to see who the more likely ducker is. I agree Hopkins could be a ***** to negotiate with but the other guy has it right, Hopkins was the undisputed 160lb champion back when Calzaghe claims Hopkins ducked him. That just doesn't make sense on every level, especially when you look at the fights Hopkins took back then, and the ones that Calzaghe was taking. If Calzaghe really wanted Hopkins back in those days why didn't he take some big fights to get himself noticed? Calzaghes career from 98-2005 was one long line of nobodies, even a dedicated Calzaghe nut-hugger would struggle to justify some of the competition Joe was taking on back then.

 

So die-hard Calzaghe fans are going to cling onto the whole Hopkins ducked him thing?

Despite the fact that Hopkins has fought guys like a Prime RJJ, Trinidad, Wright, Tarver, Dela Hoya and every 160 pound contendor in his division?

Despite the fact that this supposed ducking came in 2002, JUST after Hopkins biggest win in his whole career, where there were OPTIONS a plenty, from guys like RJJ to Dela Hoya (whether he went for them or not, he still had them; he was just a **** at the negotiating table)?

And, of course, despite the fact that Hopkins fought Calzaghe himself 6 years after, when he was FORTY-THREE?

Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. It's the beauty of this world. "To each his own". :good

 

it can also be said that will the hopkins fans continue to defend it despite the fact he has never come out and refuted these claims and that there was a written testimony by the head of showtime boxing who was present at the meetings.

but if it makes you feel better, yes driving miss daisy did eventually man up and take his loss.

i wish i could say like a man but hops never lost with grace.

 

Well going back to the Lewis comments is it just sour grapes b/c he never had the support shown to him how it`s being shown to Hatton & Calzaghe?
I liked LL but most boxing fans coming from the UK couldnt give a **** about him and having no fan base has gotta hurt him.

 

It's doubtful he's saying something like that out of spite. Lets all quit acting like children for a ****in sec and LOOK at a lot of Joe's flurries. They are reminiscent of Juan Diaz's and no one's going to call him apower puncher, even when he scores a TKO.

 

Wow I can't believe all the morons on here who are in here acting like the foremost authoritites but evidently have only seen one Calzaghe fight, ever, saying that he never throws with power and never hurts anyone. He doesn't have great power but he is feather fisted either

He had Lacy staggering around the ring on numerous occasions and hanging on for dear life in the last few rounds

He hurt Kessler noticeably on numerous occasions to the body and the head

He doesn't sit down on his punches with the frequency that he used to because of his hands.

Against Hopkins, he was in there with someone who wanted nothing to do with a fight. So he did the smart thing, and only bothered with throwing punches that were intended to land, he took what Hopkins gave him. If Hopkins had actually come to fight, not to hold, spoil, and tried to steal rounds, Calzaghe would've thrown a lot more full force punches. But in there against someone he realized had not desire to actually fight, he did what it took to win the fight

But anyone who actually thinks that Calzaghe normally fights the way he did against Hopkins is either stupid, or has never seen him fight before

 

Shotgun...Lewis WAS talking about the Hopkins fight you know.

I'm starting to see a similar trend that happened with Mayweather and his fans. They would DEFEND simply ANYTHING said about Mayweather, no matter how inconsequential or miniscule.