Joe Calzaghe vs Chad Dawson at 175..

by fighting someone halfway notable for the first time in his life?

 

Cdogg :nono:

We were getting on so well in the Olympics thread you little fecker!

 

Reasons, not excuses. Hops made more fighting Oscar than he would in all 3 fights on showtime

 

....right. There we go.

 

Hopkins went on to fight Oscar, Jermain Taylor twice and Tarver at light heavyweight.

Calzaghe went on to fight a guys whose name I can't spell, Salem, Veit, Ashira and Lacy.

I'd say he chose a tougher route BY FAR.

Plus made more money in the process.

So yes, Calzaghe had more to lose because he fought far inferior guys. Less risk to stay perfect over those two years.

 

Oh, I didn't realise that when we were considering the decision of one fighter not to fight another that we, as boxing fans weighing up the strengths of said fighters, should give less than a flying fuck about how much money X, Y and Z did or didn't get paid. :dunno:

In summary, then;

Hopkins is allowed a complete pass for fighting a light-welter/welterweight in a middleweight title fight instead of fighting the best super-middleweight in the world because he got paid more for the former. This means he did the exact right thing in the eyes of boxing fans. In the meantime, the super-middleweight guy, who travelled to the US to negotiate the fight and got a pre-contractual agreement for that same guy but saw it reneged upon, is a cunt/coward/jazzerciser/fake.

That makes sense. :notallthere: It's remarkable how perfectly sensible and intelligent people can be found to argue some of the most ridiculous :shit: simply because they really dislike the person involved.

MTF

 

Apples and Oranges. Calzaghe wasn't a middleweight, ever. He had no realistic chance of fighting Oscar, who was a welterweight, or Taylor, who was a middleweight. His biggest fight available, outside RJJ, was Hopkins, which he actively sought out and agreed to but was reneged upon, and Lacy, who he was an underdog against and whom he shit-kicked.

And here comes the money argument again...

MTF

 

and :: at 'Less Risk'. Calzaghe was a betting dog against Lacy; how was that not a risk, exactly? That's not forgetting the fact that Hopkings only fought Tarver because he got run out of middleweight by the second proper middleweight he fought, the mighty Jermaine Taylor. Note how he conveniently skipped super-middle out in doing so, by the way, where the jazzercise master Calzaghe continued to reign as champion and so Hopkins conveniently 'missed' fighting him again.

MTF ::

 

Whether we like it or not isn't at issue. The question was whether Hopkins was scared of Calzaghe and the answer is he wasn't - he did what every pro fighter does, namely followed the money.

 

"Scared of Calzaghe"

This is impossible for any decent fighter

"Christ, I don't know if I have spent enough time at Curves doing my jumping jacks... It's going to be tough to out-aerobics this motherfucker"

 

The issue is that Hopkins had an opportunity well before he did get round to it and refused, fighting some blow up welters in borderline fixed fights instead. That's okay, though, because he got some more dosh. That gets him a pass round here, fine. I guarantee that it wouldn't have done if it was your favourite Jazzercise exponent doing the same thing.

MTF

 

When Slappy is inducted into the IBHOF someday, I hope he acknowledges his trainers, Susan Powter and Jack LaLanne and all the good people at his training camp, Globo-Gym

 

I don't criticize Calslappy for fighting RJJ instead of a relevant opponent, do I? I say it's a meaningless win, which it is, but it was a career high day as Oscar was for Hopkins. Pro fighters fight for $$$

 

at that time Hopkins wasn't a super middleweight either. How does Calzaghe have "more risk" fighting a guy coming up in weight?

Isn't that the argument used against Hopkins when discussing his wins over Trinidad and De La Hoya?

Also, don't pretend Joe wanted Roy at that time he didn't. Joe ridiculously called out Roy for a fight at 168 when Roy had left the division six or seven years prior.

I don't recall Joe saying he'd go to 175 to fight Joe at that time. Therefore Joe had the same "option" Hopkins had by moving up. Bottom line is/was he was quite satisfied staying where he was rather than challenge himself.

I've always said Hatton was a bum, which was proven true when he stepped up in competition, but at least the guy was a real fighter and wanted to challenge himself. That I respect. Same holds true for Froch. At least Froch seeks out the best, win or lose. I have tons of respect for him.

Calzaghe...can't say the same for him.

Fookin' hell guys...get back to Calzaghe-Dawson. I can't continue to defend hopkins. It's making me ill.

 

don't forget Billy Blanks

 

that's where he learned to punch

 

He learned his footwork from Jane Fonda.

 

:hammert:

 

:laughing:

Trying to argue Calzaghe is superior or comparable to Hopkins is really asinine. You don't even need to compare their records and bicker over statistics, all you have to do is watch them fight.

 

exactly

The younger Hopkins was not a one-punch every 45 seconds, negative bore.... He actually had a real workrate

Even with an ideal match-up in front of him (the older, more negative, cynical Hopkins) , Calzaghe failed to impress... winning basically a 7-5 fight via slap avalanche bemusement

 

Hold on, if Calzaghe is getting shat on for being a light-heavyweight boiling down to 168 then Hopkins gets the same treatment please.

 

I have, I always thought Calzaghe would win, and when Hopkins finally nutted up I was proven correct.

 

Barely and against an older version absolutely perfect for him

 

::

Can you imagine what Roy would have done to Calzaghe when he wasn't totally shot?

 

Roy at 168?

KO 7

 

This "barely" nonsense is just that, nonsense. It was a 9-3 fight, minus a point for the KD. Wasn't really that close.

 

I've never said Calzaghe would beat prime Roy so it's irrelevant to bring that into the discussion. :dunno:

 

It's 9-3 if you count slaps as powerpunches, I suppose

 

Jones would have hammered this Flashdancer in his younger days