When did you jump on the Joe Calzaghe bandwagon?

Don't get me wrong- I'm no great fan of Hopkins (though I dislike him far, far less than you do, Kauki ::). But to compare the guys he's fought to the guys Ottke fought, in terms of 'class' (not weight) is just ridiculous...

 

dsimon writes:

I don't think much of Joe but I respect him. He has stepped up. Bernard is a live dog.... just ask Tarver.

Joe has managed his career. He is stepping up trying to increase his legacy as his twilight years come upon him.

I know nothing of Ottke but I do know what I have seen with Joe. When Roy Jones was at his best and Hopkins as well it would have realistically been tough for Calzighe to compete with either guy. So he did his own thing.... nothing wrong with that. Now the years have mellowed Hops and it is a competitive fight. The time is right, and Joe is stepping up. What more could you ask of the man.

 

He squeaked a SD against Byron Mitchell to partially unify. The same Mitchell that Calzaghe KO'd inside of two rounds three months later.

When did Ottke look to go to the States and fight there? Actually, when did Ottke fight anywhere bar Germany? Admittedly, Joe has left it very late, but again, this is because he was completely over-protected early on and has now stepped out of his comfort zone. Ottke never did. He just stayed in Germany and 'won' decision after decision.

Sure, Lacy was after Ottke's time, but do you honestly think Ottke would have fought him? Or Kessler?

The FACT is that Ottke 'beat' a number of the same 'bums' that Joe was pilloried for fighting. He 'beat' many of them controversially, whilst Joe beat them clearly. Ottke got a number of gift decisions, whilst Joe has never needed one.

THIS is the major difference between the two. At least Joe was hammering the bums that were being put in front of him. With a couple of rare exceptions, Ottke was scraping by courtesy of bad judging and 'odd' referring.

 

Did you pick Joe to win that fight?

 

Yes, I hate Hopkins a little too badly, human beings shouldn't foam like dogs, sometimes I've got to log off and engage in another activity for a while until I'm feeling a little less scrambled, dettached mania should be expressed through the canvas or the kiln, not on a messageboard amongst friends.

 

Joe wanted to fight Hopkins years ago. It was all agreed until Hops doubled his asking price late in the day.

That fight would have been competitive even then. Joe is no spring chicken himself...

As for Jones, well, much as I rate Joe it's hard to envisage him having ever beaten Roy if they fought. Roy is probably the only 168-lber in history to have had faster hands and foot speed than Joe does. Without those advantages, it's unlikely that Joe would have been able to prevail.

 

Do you need to ask? ::

 

Please jog my memory. Where were all the great American super middleweights during Ottke and Joe's collective reign? the answer is they didn't exist. The only american supermiddleweights who were recognised as contenders, the likes of brewer, tate, sheika, mitchell, couldn't draw flies to shit. Supermiddleweight has been a weight dominated most recently by Europeans since late nineties or so, there would have been no reason for Calzaghe or Ottke to fight in the states against non-entities.

The only argument was that one of them should travel to their respective home countries but then both enjoyed home comforts too much and it was never going to happen.

Anyhow, I suspect you haven't seen any Ottke fights outside of the Reid one if you think Ottke was scraping by most his title challenges with the help of refs and judges. Plus, you must be having a laugh if you think Calzaghe never enjoyed the benefits of being at home - ask robin reid in fact or watch the mitchell fight or even ask peter Manfredo; Joe has often enjoyed a quick stoppage after a brief unanswered flurry and the roar of the crowd.

 

After the Lacy win.

 

I was never on the Lacy Bandwagon at ALL..

but I think I picked him to KO Joe::

 

Well there you go LOK. Therefore you have to give Joe credit for the win.

Lacy is not great, but you picked him to KO Joe, therefore Joe is significantly better than you thought.

How confident are you that Nard beats him LOK?

 

I guess I do have to give him some credit::

honestly.. I'm not very confident at all.. I'm hopefull,

I have picked againest Hopkins for years and years and only in the last few years have I become a fan. You look at the Tarver fight which IMO was VERY impressive from Hopkins.. I see Hopkins whup Winky.. Hopkins is great no doubt..
Joe C has fast hands and a great work rate though.. and I can't help but think.. HOW in the hell did Taylor beat Hopkins?

I'm going with Hopkins though as I see he is normally able to take away others weapons. I hope he lays Joe C the F out so we are rid of his welsh ass

 

I agree, to this day I still wonder how the fuck Taylor beat Nard.

I've liked hopkins for years actually, he doesn't have the prettiest style to watch, but he is so crafty and effective I can't help but enjoy watching him.

And after this past weekend, the Tarver win has gone up in my estimation, because I know woods isn't up to much, but Tarver didn't look shot at all.

And you have to respect someone that can still fight at this level age 42.

 

Im not a huge fan but I first considered him a bona fide p4per after the Lacy fight and a top 5 p4per after the Kessler fight.

 

whomever made this poll must not be a Calzaghe fan::

 

I just hope Joe C gets DOMINATED and totally embarassed!!

 

Joe is a master of distance. This is why I think he will be a tough fight for Bernard. Joe is great at keeping distance, picking shots, and getting back out. Joe will do this all night and not let Bernard get off.

 

Calzaghe got my respect after the empahtic Lacy win and more so after the Kessler win, but against Hopkins the bandwagon is going to be derailed.

 

I never have been and never will be on this bandwagon.....FUCK CALZAGHE!!!

 

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

 

My opinion remains the same.
I was impressed when he dropped and outpointed the severely limited and overrated Chris Eubank 10 fucking years ago.
During that 10 years he's fought nothing but cans littered with the odd media-hyped 'defining fight' (Brewer, Mitchell, Lacy).

I mean...Jeff Lacy....did anyone actually, seriously think this guy was something good after 23 fights? A one-punch scrub who labours to beat the stellar Omar Sheika and Robin Reid.

As for the Mikkel Kessler fight - firstly, who the hell is Kessler and who had he fought that makes him such a name on Calzaghe's resume? :dunno:
I think people here have described him as a 'spineless, Danish pastry'.
No shit, Sherlock.

He'll always be Joe 'Sick-Note' Calslappy to me.

 

Eubank is anything but overrated. The guy was a great fighter. Underrated I would say. Even post Calzaghe, he showed his worth against Thompson.

 

Please, 'Man-With-Girl-Hands-and-Chicken-Legs' - Eubank is the archetypyal 'Brit-Who-Did-Just-Enough-to-Win-Against-Scrubs' fighter. :shit:
Never fought Jones, never fought Nunn, never fought Jackson, never fought McCallum, never fought McClellan, never fought Toney. :dunno:

All he fought were Barry Hearn (that should tell you all you need to know) picked cans and bums and got paid a measly million quid per fight for a labourious points win.

You're just using the Thompson fights as a yardstick to measure mediocrity. :dunno:

 

Mex, did you catch 'when Des met Joe' on Setanta last night?

My God Calzaghe is one dull, solipsistic bastard! I almost felt sorry for him at times, nervously laughing at his own piss poor jokes, droning on and on monotonously for minutes and minutes, casually slipping reference to every one of his achievements since he was 10 years old whenever an opportunity came up, and even when one didn't come up. All the time making a dreadful attempt to seem blasé like a snotty child prodigy. Guy is socially inept.

Reminds me of Mayweather - neither seem to be a fully formed person. You can tell they were locked in a sweaty gym with their father every friday night when their friends were out drinking in parks, trying to get laid.

 

Beat Benn, Beat Watson, was robbed against Collins and Thompson. The guy was never the same after watson, but he could fight, he could punch, and he was incredibly tough.

By the way I don't have girl hands or chicken legs, in fact I have incredibly strong hands. I'd beat you at peanuts any fucking day of the week son.

 

:: :: ::

I didn't see it, no, but now I am going to try and get hold of it.

I know exactly what you mean. I've come to respect Calzaghe, but he is painfully dull and dreary.

It makes me wonder who's been writing his smacktalk material since engaging with Nard.

Have you noticed how often he says "at the end of the day" in his stupid Welsh accent?

"Well you know, at the end of the day, I am a great fighter. At the end of the day I know I am a great fighter. At the end of the day I am a true champion, at the end of the day I beat lacy, they said I was going to lose, but at the end of the day I proved I was a true champion, and at the end of the day I beat lacy".

 

I knew you'd bring up the Benn fight(s).
This is usually what every fairweather UK boxing fight does. :nono:

Fuck Benn.
He also avoided most of the top-rated guys on my earlier list.

As for Watson - fuck Watson, too.
Who did he ever fight? Oh yeah....Benn.

You put any of the following: Benn, Watson, Eubank, Collins against Jones, Toney, Jackson, McCallum - and the latter win every matchup.

I'm right and you're wrong, winkle-picker wearer. ::
This is exactly what the Yanks go on about: Brits-Who-Only-Fight-Other-Brits.
And they're dead right, too.

 

Who knows. Only Jones and Toney I would pick over a pre-Watson Eubank.

Are you forgetting what Benn did to the big, bad American Barkley? Fucking demolished him in 1 round.

Benn could be an absolute force. Watson was an excellent fighter too, and Eubs handled the pair of them.

Thompson too, fucking KO'd haye, and Eubs handled him too right at the end of his career.

Underrated, you schmo, not over.

 

Blind Barkley? The same guy who at that point was all but washed up and was on two straight defeats against Little Fat Duran and Nunn?

Thompson?? 'The Cat'??? :laughing:
He was 40 years old!!!!

 

So what?

Hopkins is 42 and still considered a pound for pounder, the Coffe is almost 40 and just bashed the guy many considered to be the "man" at light heavyweight.

Don't be so retarded next time yeah?

Some fighters miraculously defy age, and Thompson was one of them.

He KO'd Haye for fuck's sake. The guy that has established himself as the best cruiserweight in the world, KOing mormeck and enzo, both of whom beat the next big thing from America - Wayne Braithwaite.

And a few year's previous to that - Eubs beat him.

And Barkley lost to Duran, arguably the greatest fighter ever, no shame in losing to him at any weight.

And Nunn? You're acting like it's a disgrace to lose to Nunn by decision? The same Nunn that was beating Toney hands down, and the same Toney that you feel is vastly superior to Benn and Eubank, the same Toney who took 10 or 11 rounds to stop barkley, the same Barkley that was decimated in 1 round by Benn ::

You're dismissed now Mustard Minor.