Joe Calzaghe

[shamboo]

I see Calzaghe is tempted to continue fighting. Another big name for him probably another 40 year old Glen Johnson will be his next opponent then we l hear again how great he is when he wins. Some legend if you ask me beating washed up greats and no bodies his entire career.
The only fighter hes beaten at their peak is Kessler which was a good win but who else? a joke of a fight against RJJ the scarpeing by a 43 year old man in Hopkins and Eubank all decades past their primes , but still Joes a "legend" lol you mark my words glen johnson will be this "legends" next fight

[states]

Johnson would actually be a decent fight. Not the best, but far from the worst.

[Exoddus]

I think either Chad Dawson or Carl Froch. If not, then he should retire.

[gobbles]

I see Calzaghe is tempted to continue fighting. Another big name for him probably another 40 year old Glen Johnson will be his next opponent then we l hear again how great he is when he wins. Some legend if you ask me beating washed up greats and no bodies his entire career.
The only fighter hes beaten at their peak is Kessler which was a good win but who else? a joke of a fight against RJJ the scarpeing by a 43 year old man in Hopkins and Eubank all decades past their primes , but still Joes a "legend" lol you mark my words glen johnson will be this "legends" next fight

Who would be "acceptable" to you? Not that I imagine you are a paying customer.

[scottyboy_1978]

I think a fight with Carl Froch in Wales.


British showdown.

Give his fans a decent goodbye............ which afterwards hopefully remains goodbye.

[Chambers2]

I think a fight with Carl Froch in Wales.


British showdown.

Give his fans a decent goodbye............ which afterwards hopefully remains goodbye.

I couldn't have said it better myself

[stujones]

I'd still prefer to see Dawson, but I can see the appeal in that scenerio - but personally, I just want him to retire now and none of the flaffing about.

[Autobarn]

I'm going to take a leap of the imagination and suggest -

maybe he's waiting to see if Tarver can land a money punch on Dawson. something big, something shocking, enough to create interest

then fight Tarver.

[Cannibal]

He beat Rocky Balboa by SD, if that doesn't make Tarver a marketable fight then I don't know what does!

[gobbles]

I'm going to take a leap of the imagination and suggest -

maybe he's waiting to see if Tarver can land a money punch on Dawson. something big, something shocking, enough to create interest

then fight Tarver.

Why can't you just accept that he has wanted to have Christmas off to make his mind up? Maybe Joe Calzaghe doesn't spend his life plotting about 'what would be the easiest fight for me?' Just in the same way as Hennessy knows he won't get questioned about how he is going to come up with the £5million he promised Calzaghe, even though he clearly doesn't have it.

If Dawson looks good against Tarver, good enough for HBO to cough up good money, it could be him, if not Hopkins. The reality is, if HBO did not want Taylor v Froch in the US, the are not going to pay good money for Calzaghe v Froch, are they?

[Autobarn]

You might be taking it the wrong way, gobbles. I'm not being cynical. Dawson is a difficult opponent and I doubt any 36 yo with bad hands, in his final year, will face that kind of threat. No one's getting excited about Dawson other than the hardcore fans/writers, ppl who post on the current scene forum, etc.

Surely if Tarver found the 1 punch KO to beat Dawson (as he did with RJJ and Harding, in rematches), it would be sensational, shocking, and so it would change the scene dramatically enough to warrant a fight.

Re Calzaghe-Froch - can only see this happening if Froch gets and beats someone like Taylor, and that fight's obviously delayed.

I took HBO signing Dawson not as setting up Calzaghe-Dawson, but as investing a bit in the future, to have the main man for when Joe has vacated his place, and to pay less for hopefully more competitive bouts.

[gobbles]

You might be taking it the wrong way, gobbles. I'm not being cynical. Dawson is a difficult opponent and I doubt any 36 yo with bad hands, in his final year, will face that kind of threat. No one's getting excited about Dawson other than the hardcore fans/writers.

Surely if Tarver found the 1 punch KO to beat Dawson (as he did with RJJ and Harding, in rematches), it would be sensational, shocking, and so it would change the scene dramatically enough to warrant a fight.

Re Calzaghe-Froch - can only see this happening if Froch gets and beats someone like Taylor, and that fight's obviously delayed.

Being more cynical, it looks like Joe cashed in when the money was there last year. Will that kind of money be there now, given less than scintillating TV ratings/PPV #s? If HBO are wanting harder fights, for the same or for less money, then would Joe still do it, I don't know.

he'd get top money hbo - they wouldn't go PPV though. I am sure HBO would rather pay to watch Calzaghe than Klitschko

[Autobarn]

But would he want the top money, coming as it does with the risk of Dawson - southpaw, prime of his life, fast hands...I mean, Joe did get easy money v Jones, and Joe seemed to make a point of it with the showboating - he looked very happy in there. Would he want similar money, in a harder fight? Would those terms be sufficient?

For instance, would he want a lucrative Hopkins rematch? The money's nice, but what of the difficulties he'll have during the fight? Must have been a stressful experience fighting Hopkins. It must have taken all Joe's concentration just to tap him 4 or 5 times per round. When Joe got hit, he seemed genuinely shocked and unprepared - look at his stance and his guard when he got shot, hands all over the place. Would he want that experience again?

I think he could do better in Wales. Big UK crowds are a nice setting for charged up, high energy fighters. I could see Joe improving on his performance, But he doesn't seem to react well when the name HOPKINS is mentioned.

[gobbles]

But would he want the top money, coming as it does with the risk of Dawson - southpaw, prime of his life, fast hands...I mean, Joe did get easy money v Jones, and Joe seemed to make a point of it with the showboating - he looked very happy in there. Would he want similar money, in a harder fight? Would those terms be sufficient?

For instance, would he want a lucrative Hopkins rematch? The money's nice, but what of the difficulties he'll have during the fight? Must have been a stressful experience fighting Hopkins. It must have taken all Joe's concentration just to tap him 4 or 5 times per round. When Joe got hit, he seemed genuinely shocked and unprepared - look at his stance and his guard when he got shot, hands all over the place. Would he want that experience again?

I think he could do better in Wales. Big UK crowds are a nice setting for charged up, high energy fighters. I could see Joe improving on his performance, But he doesn't seem to react well when the name HOPKINS is mentioned.

I think he is realistic enough to know that to get a big crowd at the Millennium Stadium needs an opponent they can sell. He might get 30,000 for a Glen Johnson, but he wouldn't get 60,000. Tarver (always says he has never lost a rematch, doesn't he) would be possible if he won, or Dawson if he won, or Hopkins. I think he would be loathe to give Hopkins a rematch as he was so graceless after the first fight. All the other champions are nobodies and he's unlikely to go back to super-middle.
My thought is he would go with Dawson - a fresh challenge to motivate him.

[WildWaylon]

I think a fight with Carl Froch in Wales.


British showdown.

Give his fans a decent goodbye............ which afterwards hopefully remains goodbye.

I agree entirely, that would be sensational, but will Joe boil down to SM though, I doubt it.

[Autobarn]

How about Taylor, if Taylor starts looking sensational (unlikely, I know)? I think JT had his chance with the Lacy fight which proved he wasn't ready for any mega fight above middleweight.

[CheckHook]

I think Joe should call it a day now, personally. I think he's done all he can, without fighting on for at least another couple of years. The guys out there aren't really enough right now to enhance his legacy. Dawson is the obvious and most challenging fight for him, I think Dawson's hand speed and combos would give him a great chance to beat Joe, but you'd have to make Joe favourite in a potentially tough fight. But what if he beats Dawson? Its not going to do alot to sway the doubters, after all Dawson isn't exactly a proven talent yet and we all saw problems with Dawson when he fought Johnson, so if Joe beats him it'll just be another 'He wasn't all that good anyway' situation.

As for the other potential bout, Hopkins rematch, I really have no interest in seeing it personally, the first fight was a shambles. If it did happen though and Joe won it'd just be a case of Joe beating an old, past it Hopkins, same as he did the first time. It's not like the guys who have an axe to grind acknowledged the fact that Hopkins had been peforming well either side of fighting Joe they just point to the age as there defense against Joe's win over Hopkins.

That said, I should point out I have plenty of problems with the way Calzaghe's career has unfolded and I think he's really lucky to have not ended up a completely wasted talent. It's sad that such a large proportion of his career was wasted fighting sub standard opposition. I can and do, however, appreciate the standard he has achieved over the past few years.

[gobbles]

I think Joe should call it a day now, personally. I think he's done all he can, without fighting on for at least another couple of years. The guys out there aren't really enough right now to enhance his legacy. Dawson is the obvious and most challenging fight for him, I think Dawson's hand speed and combos would give him a great chance to beat Joe, but you'd have to make Joe favourite in a potentially tough fight. But what if he beats Dawson? Its not going to do alot to sway the doubters, after all Dawson isn't exactly a proven talent yet and we all saw problems with Dawson when he fought Johnson, so if Joe beats him it'll just be another 'He wasn't all that good anyway' situation.

As for the other potential bout, Hopkins rematch, I really have no interest in seeing it personally, the first fight was a shambles. If it did happen though and Joe won it'd just be a case of Joe beating an old, past it Hopkins, same as he did the first time. It's not like the guys who have an axe to grind acknowledged the fact that Hopkins had been peforming well either side of fighting Joe they just point to the age as there defense against Joe's win over Hopkins.

That said, I should point out I have plenty of problems with the way Calzaghe's career has unfolded and I think he's really lucky to have not ended up a completely wasted talent. It's sad that such a large proportion of his career was wasted fighting sub standard opposition. I can and do, however, appreciate the standard he has achieved over the past few years.

I see the Dawson-Tarver rematch is set for the Palms in Las Vegas. Ant Evans could probably confirm, as UFC does shows there, but that's a really tiny arena - about 2,000, I think - which doesn't show that he can pull much of a crowd.

[tonyevs]

I don`t really see him fighting Johnson .. Johnson has no belt and is a very live threat at the weight .. Dawson barely scraped past him.

I`m still thinking Hopkins re-match if he continues .. whilst the Froch fight is mouthwatering to us in the UK .. it doesn`t mean anything outside of here..

[observer1]

I'm going to take a leap of the imagination and suggest -

maybe he's waiting to see if Tarver can land a money punch on Dawson. something big, something shocking, enough to create interest

then fight Tarver.

If Calzaghe was half-decent, he would have challenged him right after he KO'd RJJ.

But i guess he was set on facing guys like Veit considering Tarver was a threat then

[Twinkle Toes]

The only information I can find about Calzaghe continuing is that he was quoted that he would like one final fling in front of his home fans, and the three names in the frame are: Dawson, Hopkins and Winky Wright.

Can't see the point myself.

[Captain Hook]

I think either Chad Dawson or Carl Froch. If not, then he should retire.

Agreed, Johnson is a decent fighter but his day is gone, there is nothing to gain from this.

[Captain Hook]

I'm going to take a leap of the imagination and suggest -

maybe he's waiting to see if Tarver can land a money punch on Dawson. something big, something shocking, enough to create interest

then fight Tarver.

If Calzaghe was half-decent, he would have challenged him right after he KO'd RJJ.

But i guess he was set on facing guys like Veit considering Tarver was a threat then

If he was half-decent?! That was at light-heavy, he was super middle champ and went on to beat Lacy and Kessler. give me a break...

[stujones]

Yes, CH - I aint Joe's biggest supporter but I thought that comment was a bit out of order.

[Captain Hook]

PS I said Winky ages ago, and I have a sneaky feeling still that it may happen.

He was talking to the TV cameras on Setanta before the Jones fight if I remember correctly.