Why did Glen Johnson struggle so bad at super middleweight?

Like many of Hopkins victims, Calzaghe was no longer the same mentally, physically, spiritually or emotionally after he got BHop'd. Glen Johnson suffered and had to move 2 divisions north of Hopkins just to get some success. Calzaghe suffered, and became a background dancer on national television while fuelled on coke.

Calzaghe only stuck to his word because Hopkins, and to a lesser extent, Froch, were lurking around his weak territory crowned by the paper lineal title. You making it seem like Calzaghe spoke the truth at all times and 'stuck to his word'

Calzaghe said he wants the crown jewels to fight Roy Jones Jr, but when it came down to it, he never 'stuck to his word'.

Calzaghe said RJJ is shot, but when it came down to it he never 'stuck to his word' and said RJJ is a legitimate opponent.

Calzaghe said he is the legend killer after beating Hopkins, then said Hopkins is not a legend. When it came down to it he never 'stuck to his word'

Calzaghe agreed to fight Glen Johnson, but never 'stuck to his word'.

Calzaghe also said leading up to the Roy Jones Jr Clash: "‘If I beat Jones, I might move back down to super-middleweight to face Kelly Pavlik."

http://metro.co.uk/2008/07/17/calzaghe-set-to-ditch-retirement-plans-286921/

Calzaghe was looking to not stick to his word, and face Pavlik after RJJ. But after seeing what BHop did he decided to leave boxing to become a background dancer on national television.

You tell me now, Calzaghe was at the pinnacle of his career and had just started being given his dues, he was being given his overdue respect, people at his local supermarket began recognising him, and he chose that moment to turn from professional boxer into a background dancer on national television while high off coke.

Saying I dont do rematches is just a way of ducking.

Robin Reid was offered a rematch but halted and lost his next fight to Silvio Branco which damaged the chances of a rematch.

But team Calzaghe did offer Reid an immediate rematch, but didn't want no part of getting BHop'd twice.

 

Calzaghe had never been an ambitous fighter and rarely got himself workd up for the big fights - he had to be talked into fight Lacy for gods sake! - you taking Calzaghe's quickly waning interest in boxing after a career of him being perfectly happy rarely accepting a challenge and turning into "Hopkins ruined him". You are completely disregarded the type of person Joe Calzaghe was and is.

No I am not. I am saying that an unambitious fighter who rarely got himself worked up for big fight was loosing interest in being an active pro anyway and stuck to his guns about one particular issue.

And Froch was not a legitimate opponent at the time so he's got no relevance to the issue at all.

Said he wanted the crown jewels to fight prime-Jones, not shot Jones. Different levels of danger involved.

Jones was the biggest money fight available at the time and I remain unconvince that Calzaghe called him a legitimate opponent for any other reason than to hype the fight, he certainly didn't believe Jones was that much or a threat anymore.

...I fail to see what mud-slinging with Hopkins has to do with keeping promises.

And Glen Johnson was responsible for the fight not happening on at least three different occiasons so you cant pin that solely on Calzaghe. Plus, Johnson said he wanted nothing more to do with Calzaghe and went off to fight Jones, so any promises made to fight Johnson prior to that would be moot due to Johnson.

He also talked with Dawson about a potential fight but chose not to do that either. It's called "keeping your options open". After beating Jones he was asked what he intended to do next and he said he'd have to think about it, which implies that he was considering going back on his plans to retire, but in the end he followed through with it and walked away. Keeping his word on one particular issue.

I dont give a flying **** how you imagine Calzaghe's life changed after he became an international star, that's why I didn't bother giving that bit of your post a reply the first time round. Please do not again run through how you think everybodies attitudes towards him changed. I'm not interested.

If Calzaghe had any regrets about chosing to retire when he did then he would have made a comeback by now. He left boxing on his own terms, at the height of his fame and at peace with himself.

Your right, he was offered a rematch by W-arren but he chose not to take it because he wanted more money. Maybe Calzaghe would have been up for it if Reid had accepted the offer of an immediate rematch, but Reid didn't and spent a great deal of his subsequent career trying to get a rematch that neither Calzaghe nor W-arren were prepared to offer him again. That sort of set the tone for his career thereafter where rematches were concerned.

The Hopkins situation was also entirely different to the one with Reid. Calzaghe was a young man when he fought Reid with years still to go where as he was approaching 40 when he fought Hopkins and felt his career was in its final stages and still wanted that fight with Jones. He couldn't rematch Hopkins and fight Jones in one year, he picked the bigger money fight. If the roles had been reversed and Hopkins had been given the win instead of Calzaghe then he would have done exactly the same thing and refused a rematch to take a bigger money fight.

Now, I'm all for giving Hopkins his due for being a great fighter long after his prime and troubling everyone he's ever fought, but I dont buy into this idea that he was somehow some kind of super human bogeyman who ruined every opponent, especially when your making that argument by ignoring the personality and plans of the fighters he fought.

 

Great post mate!

I agree entirely, especially the last bit regarding The boxrec King/King of spin - Bailey.

 

If Calzaghe had stayed around it would have been inevitable he would have had to face Bernard Hopkins again, and Calzaghe didn't want to go through such process twice as it clearly took the best out of him the first time, while BHop only got tactically stronger, Calzaghe looked weakened as evident in his fight with a shot Roy Jones Jr.

Carl Froch being mandatory challenger for the WBC SMW title last held by Calzaghe was enough to be considered a 'legitimate opponent'. This is a different topic, but my point was had Calzaghe stayed around a little longer a fight with Froch would have been in demand, and I think Calzaghe wanted no part of Froch either even though Fat Mick supposedly offered 5 million pound, Calzaghe rather be a background dancer. But Hopkins was obviously the bigger risk.

My point there was Calzaghe was not Tony Montana who never broke his balls/word. Calzaghe like any other salesman had to use some lies time to time.

You completely missed my point. Once Joe Calzaghe got what he wanted, the big money fights, the recognition, the local corner shop giving him the 'champs discount'. He decided to change occupation and became a background dancer for national television while fueled on cocaine. Hopkins was lurking around, Froch was lurking around, and Calzaghe wanted no part of them.

The first Hopkins fight weakened Calzaghe, imagined what a rematch would have done to him. Calzaghe made the right move.

Robin Reid went on to lose to Branco, Hopkins went on to beat Pavlik who Calzaghe was thinking of fighting. Calzaghe was ready to give Reid a rematch, but when it came to Hopkins II, he says 'I don't do rematches'

Calzaghe could have rematched Hopkins after Jones Jr, no one is talking about an immediate rematch. It would have made sense, the winners of Hopkins-Pavlik and Calzaghe - RJJ, they were only a month apart.

But when Calzaghe saw what a motivated Hopkins did to Kelly Pavlik, where Hopkins looked even stronger than his last fight, and Zaggers saw himself getting dropped by a shot Roy Jones Jr elbow and looking like a constipated rabbit trying to showboat against a 39 year old, he realised Hopkins would batter him and called it a day.

-Oscar De La Hoya became a crackhead after Hopkins beat him up.
-Tarver started taking drostanolone after Hopkins beat him up.
-Kelly Pavlik became an alcoholic after Hopkins beat him up.
-And Calzaghe became a coke head after Hopkins beat him up but got robbed.

The track record does not lie. Tell me one fighter who has ruined more fighters than Bernard Hopkins.

 

That is from 1998 to 2002, during this time the LHW division was definitely stronger than SMW division.

But comparing the divisions from 1990 - 1998, and 2006 - present, the SMW division seems to be stronger.

http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine's_Annual_Ratings

Take a look at the SMW ring ratings for 1993.

1. James Toney
2. Michael Nunn
3. Chris Eubank
4. Nigel Benn
5. Tim Littles
6. Darrin Van Horn
7. Frankie Liles
8. Tony Thornton
9. Antoine Byrd
10 Vincenzo Nardiello

Steve Collins came about later on. While the LHW division had Maske, and Virgil Hill (who got beat by ATG and former WW/LMW/MW/SMW Thomas Hearns), Monetell Griffin, Mike McCallum....

Basically in short, the SMW division was tougher than the LHW division except during Joe Calzaghe's reign. That is my opinion anyway.

 

Have you actually watched the fights. He got jobbed in the majority of his losses.