Hakkar would have been Hopkins' next fight either way (Hakkar was a mandatory). By ducking the Calzaghe/Showtime offer Hopkins fought Hakkar for half as much money as he would have if he'd accepted and then fought Joppy instead of Calzaghe.
but thats a different proposition. there's more to lose and little to gain from fighting a skilled champion from wales who isn't known in the states and isn't going to bring in PPV. so there was no network interest in a calzaghe fight, not enough to override joe's lack of marketability. it sucks that fights like this weren't made because of it, but that's the business of boxing that people need to understand when they look at matchups like this. once hopkisn and jones lost their mantle the stakes weren't as high and that was fine with everybody.
Again tho that is not the issue, the issue is Calzaghe gets attacked for not trying to fight Hopkins while Hopkins was in his Prime, Calzaghe is the one blamed for the fight not happening.
because frank warren was notorious for milking his fighters like this. hatton knew this and look what happened to his career once he left him. he became popular internationally and that means PPV and big fights once he beat just 3 guys in the US. now amir khan has done the same and he's making his name in the states too.
So in a round about way you are saying Calzaghe should have dumped Warren and then as CHAMPION come to usa on his kneess and fought bums and C level fighters until the american champions deemed him worthy of their attention?
it's not fate or coincidence it didn't happen. look at felix sturm - he got offered a once in a lifetime fight with oscar that he didn't earn, most people would say he won it and what did he do? he stayed in germany and was never heard of again. nobody will remember an ottke or sturm, but they will remember calzaghe because he was the best fighter at 168. but..he never fought a proven world class fighter in his prime and i can't think of one fighter of his ability who never did that their whole career. the jones and hopkins fights will be the defence until the end of time for pro-calzaghe fans who won't accept the truth about his career choices. i just find it a waste that such a talented fighter can take that midset and consciously run his career the way he did.
no, i'm saying being the legitimate 168 pound champ already gave him a head start if he decided to come to the US. it's not 'right' that fighters have to make their mark in the states to get big fights and recognition but that's the way is because no fighter can command a strong international fanbase and PPV ratings until he does that. that's just the way it is and ALL promoters know this. imagine if calzaghe had fought jeff lacy in the states? that was his mealticket in one fight because he would never had lost that fight blindfolded. EDIT : but absolutely, he needed to dump that leech warren.
look where warren was a few years ago. he had joe, hatton and khan. now he's got nothing and that's a good thing for boxing.
Beating lacy in the stats wouldnt have mattered because he would still have gone from next tyson to hype job. Fact of matter is for whtever reason Hopkins was the one to turn the fight down so its very unfair to blame calzaghe for it. To say the fight was unreasonable to expect is fair due to all the circumstances people have mentioned, but to say calzaghe is to blame for it not happening IMO is not fair.
lacy was popular in the states before he lost to joe. even if he was dismissed as a hype job (which he was) that was the perfect platform to invade the US. look at the contenders from MW to LHW around that time. guys like montell griffin and william joppy are what were standing between calzaghe and the best fighters of his era.... EDIT : lacy may of faded into the background afterwards but "that calzaghe guy" would have been talked about.
Are you not reading? Showtime offered Hopkins the three fight contract which would have included the Calzaghe fight as the second fight. Calzaghe was a longtime Showtime fighter. Hopkins turned down the Showtime contract, fought Hakkar for half as much money as Showtime had offered him for the same fight and then fought Joppy instead of Calzaghe.
How would it have been different? The same number of Americans would have had the same opportunity to watch the same fight at the same time on the same TV channel. I'm never really clear as to what difference it would make if the fight had been in Miami rather than Manchester?
i read that now read what i said before about that... while hopkins was the champ and joe was a fighter not known in the states, despite being a legit champ also, that was high risk low reward.. why should a fighter who has established himself on the international stage risk what he has earned, because a talented fighter who hasn't taken the same risks, doesn't have the same international notoriety and isn't known to the beercan fan, wants to fight him? once hopkins lost twice to taylor - and that's how you get a fight with hopkins, you beat his ranked contenders - hopkins didn't have to worry about that side of it anymore. he could just fight for the cash. like i said above...it's the same theory when jones fought green in australia. established international names shouldn't have to give free meal tickets to fighters who don't take the same chances to earn their shot. damn..how many times do i have to say it?
the big difference is the armchair fan. THAT'S the guy who makes a difference when it comes to PPV sales. if a fighter outside of america spends his career not making his mark there then he won't carry true financial muscle into fight negotiations as a rule. i spent 5 years living in denmark and kessler is a god there. women who don't know **** about boxing and have never seen him fight were talking about the calzaghe fight the morning that fight was going to happen, but nobody knew one person joe calzaghe had ever fought... thats just an example (not specifically aimed at calzaghe), but thats exactly the same thing. just put it in reverse and in the states. EDIT : EVERYBODY knows who joe calzaghe is in denmark now.