Calzaghe’s defining fight.

roy will beat calzaghe and il finally get to see the arrogant cunt lose.

 

Calzaghe has already proved himself...its no different than those who say Lennox should have rematched vitali, fought ruiz etc., as if those would have been his defining fights...Kessler was his defining fight IMO

 

around the time roy was prime, he was calling roy out but failing to have the balls to fight him. if he had moved up then and gone to america to fight roy and beaten him, that could have been his defining fight.

 

I think he'd get more respect for beating Pavlik than Kessler, Nard and Roy.

Which is ironic because it seems like the Pavlik has only just popped onto the scene, but he is prime, he is big, he is aggressive, he can fight and he can punch.

Kessler is Calzaghe's best win, Kessler is world class, and Kessler is prime.

But Pavlik has already made more impact in boxing than Kessler, and personally I think he's a better fighter. Plus Kessler is a Danish pastry.

 

Calzaghe has proven himself now by beating Hopkins. He should just retire now.

 

BUT...if Joe were to continue then the only fight that matters is against Kelly Pavlik!

 

If Joe can get back down to 168, the Pavlik fight is by far the best one out there for him. Thats a very intruiging fight, and Pavlik's style would suit him and make for high action. I think though, this fight will define him in many ways, because it demonstrated that he is NOT as good as Hopkins/Jones and never was.

 

He should fight Glen Johnson

 

Calzaghe decimates Pavlik in my opinion.

Tarver a tough style match-up for him.

Glen Johnson? He'll never fight him.

Dawson is a tough match-up for him as well.

Pavlik is the easiest opponent out there for him.

 

Hut Hut, I seriously, seriously suggest you rewatch the fight.

Hopkins won the first 3 round AND knocked his man down, a great start. At that point I was sure Nard was going to win and couldn't help but root for the old wardog.

Calzaghe then proceeded to win EVERY round after that. I had it 9 rounds to 3, the same score as Lederdude and Giampa.

Calzaghe was walking him down, landing jabs, straight lefts, counter right hooks, backing him up, forcing him back, and landing almost twice as many punches.

Nard was backing up, throwing the occasional right hand-grab-'n'-headbutt move and that's it.

Calzaghe landed almost twice as much, was the aggressor, controlled the pace, backed nard up, and hardly took anything in return. And this was consistent, for almost 3 minutes of every round.

Rewatch the fight, and actually score it round by round. If you still have hopkins winning I'd be amazed.

 

will do. I gave up scoring during the fight because the rounds were so close and turgid. But I still think Hopkins proved he was the better man, regardless, for one simple reason: if Joe won it was merely because Hopkins couldn't sustain for 12 what he could for 4 or 5. IOW, if Joe won it's because Hopkins is old.

I think Bernard proved he was a level above Calzaghe on saturday in terms of skills and smarts and that's what this fight was all about - seeing if Joe was on the level of Hopkins and Jones historically. That was definitely answered in the negative.

 

Agreed with MWS that Kessler was Joe's defining fight. An elite guy at the top of his game, beaten comprehensively.

IMO, the ONLY fight Joe should be looking at is one at 168 against Kelly Pavlik. Pavlik is a big name in the States, a current champion, in his prime and, above all else, a perfect style match-up for Joe. His face first, attacking style is made to measure for Calzaghe's fast handed, counter punching style. I'd imagine that fight going very much the same way as the Kessler fight, though I suspect Mikkel hits harder than Kelly at 168 judging by Pavlik-Taylor II.

Unfortunately, it seems Joe now wants to cash out and fight the shell that is Roy Jones Junior circa 2008. That fight means absolutely nothing at this stage except money IMO.

MTF

 

Depends what defining means, i suppose. If defining just means 'best win' then certainly the Kessler & Eubank fights are the two that stand out. But if defining means the fight that will ultimately decide his place in history, as it should, then I think the Hopkins fight is definitely the one. Joe could have laid claim to being right up there with the best fighters of his generation with a convincing win on saturday, as it is I think the fight will always confine him to the second rung of champions of this era.

Agreed that the Pavlik fight is the one that Joe should be chasing though. Thats the only really significant one out there, and it's one that he could be made to look very good in.

 

But how do you beat a style like Hopkins convincingly?.. He's backing away all the time, and as soon as you dare come near him to try and make a fight of it, he lunges in with a punch/clinch and headbutt... if the referee doesn't enforce the rules, nobody will ever beat Hopkins convincingly, he can keep fighting till 70 with this style.

 

I've sort of mellowed a little after re-watching the fight yesterday. I was also pretty critical of Joe after first watching the fight on Saturday, but now, it's easy to see that most people beforehand were right. That fight was never going to be one in which Joe was likely to look good. No fucker ever does against Hopkins, and when you factor into the equation the fact that Joe is also a much more effective counter puncher than he is an aggressor, you can see how and why the fight played out as it did.

I think Joe will rightly go down in history as one of the great champions of this era- a level one champion for sure. It's just that Jones and Hopkins are arguably (esp. Jones) all time greats, not just champions of this era. They are arguably at the very, very highest level, and Joe, for all that he has done, is not quite there. His resume just isn't quite good enough, even if he added Kelly Pavlik to it before retiring.

 

Well, making him miss and then mixing in an uppercut every once in a while could help.

 

calzaghe should do what steve collins did and retire.

he's a had a great career, and is/was already contemplating retirement, so he might as well leave the sport while he's on top.

arum has pavlik lined up for the rest of the year, so i doubt we'll see that fight.

 

I think he should probably retire now, as well.

He's undefeated and he is slowing down and he's proven just about all of his doubtes wrong these past six months or so, against two very elite fighters, and did so while coming back from adversity.

He certainly won't do anything to help his legacy against Jones. The paycheck would help in other ways, though.

 

Make him miss?..but that lead right punch turns into a clinch in the one motion, any offense is going to be smothered immediately, this is why he makes people "fight his fight" .. he's completely concerntrated on timing or counterpunching you with the one shot before wrapping you up, and then restarting that process over, and over, and over again..... it's a truelly bullshit style that should warrant warnings and an eventual disqualification, the only way a proper fight can take place is if both fighters try to lead, which is something that happenned when Calzaghe fought Kessler.

 

I actually think there is some merit in that. Honestly, even a Calzaghe nuthugger like I am can see that Joe is very slowly beginning to decline. Certainly his power doesn't seem to have quite the kick it used to have, and both Kessler and Hopkins tagged Joe with more power shots than anyone else did combined.

It's pretty obvious, though, that he intends a big, cash out fight with the shell that is now Roy Jones Jr.

 

I feel like this thread was started directly at me, since I am a resident Calzaghe hater.

But with that said TKO, Joe earned my respect after the Lacy fight. The Kessler fight made me look at him as a borderline great fighter, the win over Hop(almost a decade past due) cements him as great.

I still don't like Joe's style. He slaps and his punches don't mean shit, kind of a better version of Chris Byrd if you will. He is the reason why many of my friends won't watch boxing anymore. He isn't a closer, he has no killer instinct. Is he a great boxer, sure. But Europe can keep him with Ottke, hopefully retired.

Joe could make alot of money fighting in England. He's the Ring LT HW champ so a fight with Woods could be a big payday for him. A fight with Roy Jones or Tito would make him good coin as well and I see both fights very winnable for him, lopsided win over Tito. A fight with Pavlik is a recipe for disaster for Joe. As a poster said Kelly is tied up for the rest of the year and I would suspect he will pursue Abraham in 09. Time is Joe's enemy now.

Just my opinion, the fight was average at best and not rewatchable.

 

A "Defining" Fight is 1 N Which the Chips were Staked AGAINST U for the Most Part, Going N 2 it...Not Always but Most of the Time...A Fight where there was a Good Bit of DOUBT about U as a Fighter &/or your Chances of WINNING...& it Occurs when a Fighter is Still Considered "UNproven" N Many Ways...

A "Defining" Fight is 1 N Which your Perception is ALTERED, the Moment the Bout is Over...A Fight N Which the Critics Barked the LOUDEST, Prior to U Winning...That Fight where U CROSSED OVER to a Higher Place N the Boxing World...

w/Out Question, Calzaghe's "Defining" Fight is Jeff Lacy...N Hindsight, it's EASY to Denigrate Lacy, but the FACT is, Prior to that Bout Lacy had a TANGIBLE "Aura" about him & Most Expected him to KO Calzaghe...Lacy was YOUNG & @ the PEAK of his Career...It was a Unification Bout, to Boot...

What Calzaghe is Doing Now, is Putting those FINISHING TOUCHES on his Legacy...He Became UNDISPUTED Against Kessler, Finally Made it to the States vs. Bernard...& he's Looking for 1 or 2 More Fights, to Put the Proverbial "Cherry" On Top of his Career...



REED

 

Hut hut I think you're looking at the fight wrong completely.

Nard is crafty, nard is skilled, nard is tough - but he did the same thing from round 1 to 12. He didn't adapt. He just crept around the ring like a creature of the night, then doing the right hand - grab - headbutt move at every opportune moment.

It's not like Nard suddenly stopped fighting. If there is a breakdown of the compubox stats, I bet you'll see his punch output was similar in each round, and didn't drop.

It was actually calzaghe who made the adjustments, found his range, found his rhythm and started to move away from Nard's right hand and anticipate it etc.

I'm not even a calzaghe fan, but you're really underrating him, and underrating the adjustments he made.

He never would have beaten Jones though, but that was obvious before this fight, Jones was just too good.

 

MTF, Calzaghe a counter puncher? That's news to me. Calzaghe likes to get off first in every fight he's ever had, he zips in and out, but he always gets off first. Even against Kessler, it was Calzaghe getting off first, beating the Pastry to the punch, and Kessler trying to counterpunch.

Pastry is a counter puncher, Nard is a counter puncher, Calzaghe is not a counter puncher.

Also, Pavlik is not a face first brawler, he just happens to be aggressive. You're making him sound like he's arturo Gatti.

His defense isn't great no, but watch both Taylor fights, Pavlik is a boxer puncher, not a face first brawler.

 

Kauki talks sense.

I'm disappointed in some of you to be honest.

Hopkins' retreating, unwillingness to engage, countering, grabbing, headbutting etc is a style that's just IMPOSSIBLE to look good against.

And a lot of you, that I know aren't idiots that don't know boxing, seem really surprised that Calzaghe didn't look great against him :dunno:

Nobody, and I mean nobody, ever has looked good against hopkins, or ever shall. It's impossible.