Calzaghe review of 2004 and preview of 2005

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 01 Jan 2005, 18:08

icwales

ANOTHER year over and a new one around the corner but the targets remain exactly the same for yours truly - to become a two-weight world champion and to have at least three big fights.

After 2003, when I had just one fight, a cracker at that, against top American Byron Mitchell whom I got up off the canvas against to stop in two rounds, I'd hoped to achieve those goals in 2004.

But in the end I only had two fights, stopping mandatory Armenian challenger Mger Mkrtchian in seven rounds and then outpointing Egyptian Kabary Salem.

The biggest disappointment was having to pull out of the clash with then IBF light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson just a week before a bout which would have fulfilled my two-title ambition.

I'm convinced I would have had too much speed and power for Johnson, but we could still meet next year if promoter allegedly does the business.

Johnson has since gone on to KO Roy Jones and then beat Antonio Tarver, another who ko'd Jones, on points to prove that you are never too old to reach the top in this game.

A return bout with Tarver and a Tarver win could scupper all those plans but that's the fight I would love, though technically it wouldn't mean me becoming a double champion.

Johnson and Tarver relinquished their crowns in order to meet for the IBO title, which means nothing, but I would still take the bout because by winning I would be universally recognised as the best at that weight as well as at super-middleweight, and I wouldn't have to relinquish the WBO crown.

Clinton Woods is due to fight Rico Hoye for the now vacant IBF crown in England in February, his fourth attempt at a world title, and if he can't beat Hoye then he'll never be a champion.

I don't rate Hoye at all, but then I don't rate Woods who is just an ordinary European fighter I know I could beat easily.

I suppose if a Johnson fight doesn't come off - and I have every confidence allegedly will succeed in setting that up - then Woods could be the one to help me fulfil my ambitions, but I wouldn't hold your breath. For all his talk about fighting me in the past, I doubt he will be talking that way if he wins the title.

So though 2004 was disappointing in some ways, in other respects it was not.

I did stop Mkrtchian, a good fighter whom I made to look ordinary, and I did beat Salem, a dirty, awkward opponent, albeit on points.

The latter was an ugly fight and people criticised me and I suppose I was a little ring rusty, but I won easily and you can't do more than that.

And at the end of the day I'm still undefeated, I beat Chris Eubank's British record for world title defences and I'm still the longest-reigning champion.

If that's disappointing then I'm sure there are hundreds of boxers all over the world who would love to share such disappointment.

But I do need a new challenge to motivate me and get me going so the light-heavyweight title and more meaningful fights remain the aim and I'm confident I'll get them.

But there has been no further news over Christmas so I still don't know who I'll be meeting in Manchester in February, be it Mario Veit, Scott Pemberton or someone else.

Keeping on the theme of 2005, I think the year is going to be a very big one too for two more Welshmen, one right here on our doorstep in Gwent.

The first is WBU world cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli, reported to be set to make his next defence against little known American Rich LaMontagne at Bridgend on January 21.

Montagne has fought nobody of note, is not ranked in the top fifty in the world and, at 35, shouldn't present Maccarinelli with any problems.

The fight the Swansea puncher wants is against Johnny Nelson for a more meaningful version of the world title and there's a good chance he'll get that in 2005.

It's probably because of that prospect that he's facing LaMontagne. It'll keep him ticking over and there's really no point in over-matching Maccarinelli at this stage.

He's still only 24 - I was 25 when I met Eubank to win my title - so still has time on his side and he is still far from the finished article.

But he's getting there and when he eventually, hopefully, meets Nelson it will be an intriguing fight. The second fighter set for a big year is Pontypool welterweight Tony Doherty, winner of all ten of his contests so far.

I have been really impressed by the 21-year-old and believe he has the attributes to go all the way.

He is a confident and very exciting performer with fast hands, fast feet, excellent combinations, powerful punches and bags of skill.

It's time for him to step up from fighting journeymen to meeting some more prominent opponents. I think he'll do that and I think he'll succeed. I like his style and rate him the best young British prospect I've seen.

I wish him a very happy 2005 and I wish the same to all my readers.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 01 Jan 2005, 18:30

Joe Calzaghe

I don't rate Hoye at all, but then I don't rate Woods who is just an ordinary European fighter I know I could beat easily.

Well if Wood wins the title lets hope a fight between Calzaghe and Woods can be made. I would favoure Calzaghe on points but it would be a good competative fight in my opinion.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 01 Jan 2005, 18:37

Christ it was a 2004 review yet he kept harping on about Chris Eubank - that was more than 7 years ago now.

Mkrtchian good? Thats says it all about that article.

Zzzzzzz

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 01 Jan 2005, 19:12

Why did he pull out with Johnson if he wants to move to Light Heavyweight though? Wonder if a younger Eubank would of whooped him. Plus if he had of fought Johnson back then, maybe one of Warren's guys could of had a title outside of the WBO or WBU.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 01 Jan 2005, 23:27

New year and the same old bullshit...world record defences...Chris Eubank (still) etc etc

"I don't rate Hoye at all, but then I don't rate Woods who is just an ordinary European fighter I know I could beat easily."

Well a fight with Woods would be a step up in class considering some of the other bums he's been fighting...Kabary Salem anyone?

Calzaghe's quotes are perfect manure for the back garden, he is clearly unfazed at facing Mario Veit again even though it will be one of the worst rematches EVER made...last year he said before the Salem fight "He is a tough guy and deserves his shot at the title" Why the f**k does he?!

Just say's it all really doesn't it?

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 02 Jan 2005, 08:44

Max Molyneux wrote:Why did he pull out with Johnson if he wants to move to Light Heavyweight though?

Calzaghe pulled out of the Johnson fight claiming a back injury.

JimmyJamJerusalem · Post by **JimmyJamJerusalem** » 02 Jan 2005, 12:45

Steve, why would it be one of the worst rematches ever?

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 02 Jan 2005, 12:47

JimmyJamJerusalem wrote:Steve, why would it be one of the worst rematches ever?

I assume because Calzaghe has already KO'd him in one round.

JimmyJamJerusalem · Post by **JimmyJamJerusalem** » 02 Jan 2005, 13:05

Well Veit has gathered alot of momentum since then, and claims he was merely caught cold. I'm a Calzaghe fan, and the fight would shut a few people up. I think he should change promoters and move up. Allegedly

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 02 Jan 2005, 13:10

JimmyJamJerusalem wrote:Well Veit has gathered alot of momentum since then, and claims he was merely caught cold. I'm a Calzaghe fan, and the fight would shut a few people up. I think he should change promoters and move up. Allegedly

Even if Viet has improved since the first fight Calzaghe beating him again would prove little and I don't see how it would shut some people up either.

JimmyJamJerusalem · Post by **JimmyJamJerusalem** » 02 Jan 2005, 13:23

People I've spoken to reckon Veit was caught cold. Reckon by demolishing Brewer in devastating fashion he proved that. But hey, I'm a little too close to home to be impartial on this one. Joe writes in our local Rag every Friday, so I may just be swallowing his hype to bluff the fight up.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 02 Jan 2005, 16:29

JimmyJamJerusalem wrote:People I've spoken to reckon Veit was caught cold. Reckon by demolishing Brewer in devastating fashion he proved that. But hey, I'm a little too close to home to be impartial on this one. Joe writes in our local Rag every Friday, so I may just be swallowing his hype to bluff the fight up.

JJJ,

I hope your right - but remember Viet was lucky vs Salem and I'm sorry but he was no more than a club fighter.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 02 Jan 2005, 18:19

JimmyJamJerusalem wrote:People I've spoken to reckon Veit was caught cold. Reckon by demolishing Brewer in devastating fashion he proved that. But hey, I'm a little too close to home to be impartial on this one. Joe writes in our local Rag every Friday, so I may just be swallowing his hype to bluff the fight up.

I respect your points mate but i don't see how this fight is beneficial for Calzaghe either though, what can he do to look good? Blow Veit away faster than before? If the fight goes longer then what happens, do we assume Calzaghe is slipping or that Veit has become a better fighter. To be honest i don't particuarly think Veit has been improving much at all, i saw him struggle to a ludicrously wide points win over game but limited Spaniard Jose Maria Guerrero and he only narrowly beat Kabary Salem who is just a club fighter.

Veit appears to have done much the same as he did when he first secured his shot at Calzaghe...blew up his record to an over inflated and frankly deceptively flattering staight, full of padding with average wins over average fighters.

Sorry but even with the Charles Brewer win that's just the way i see it, only the WBO could sanction this type of nonsense for a "world title" fight, for goodness sakes a few decades back Veit wouldn't even be in the top world 150!!

lirva33 · Post by **lirva33** » 02 Jan 2005, 18:29

JimmyJamJerusalem wrote:Well Veit has gathered alot of momentum since then, and claims he was merely caught cold. I'm a Calzaghe fan, and the fight would shut a few people up. I think he should change promoters and move up. Allegedly

Who exactly would this fight "shut up"?

Calzaghe would be an even bigger joke than he is now if he rematched Super Mario.

Bard of Boxrec · Post by **Bard of Boxrec** » 04 Jan 2005, 08:54

lirva33 wrote:
Who exactly would this fight "shut up"?

veit?

glittermonkey · Post by **glittermonkey** » 04 Jan 2005, 14:00

I'm not sure which gave me the bigger laugh: Calzaghe's deluded and quite frankly, rubbish account of his year and his future plans. Or Veit claiming he was caught cold.

I'll sum up last year for Joe, because it really seems to me that he's a little biased when it comes to talking about himself. It was crap. Total crap. Were there any highs? If there were, then I must have missed them.

Having said that it wasn't his worst year ever. I remember the year he fought McIntyre and Veit, those two behemoths of world boxing. Looking at the mans career objectively, he's done very little for a long while now. It says a lot that his best days have all been against somewhat faded fighters. Probably one of our most talented fighters to emerge over the last decade, but he's gone on to achieve less than Reid, Catley, and Woodhall have in this division, three fighters with, I believe, much less ability.

BubiScholz · Post by **BubiScholz** » 04 Jan 2005, 15:00

what about Michalczewski - Calzaghefor the WBA-Belt (if DM would win vs Tiozzo of course) ? Ok, Joe has to travel. that would be difficult, but I would like to watch that fight.

BubiScholz · Post by **BubiScholz** » 04 Jan 2005, 15:00

what about Michalczewski - Calzaghe for the WBA-Belt (if DM would win vs Tiozzo of course) ? Ok, Joe has to travel. that would be difficult, but I would like to watch that fight.

BubiScholz · Post by **BubiScholz** » 04 Jan 2005, 15:03

what about Michalczewski - Calzaghe for the WBA-Belt (if DM would win vs Tiozzo of course) ? Ok, Joe has to travel. that would be difficult, but I would like to watch that fight.

Manos de Oro · Post by **Manos de Oro** » 04 Jan 2005, 19:45

But you have to remember Bubi, Joe would never travel for a challenge, and would only accept such a fight if it was for the Undisputed 175lb crown at Cardiff Ice Rink with him getting the lion's share of the purse. Even then you've got to consider he might get sore hands from slapping a punch bag, or a sore back from banging his 21 year-old bird, so if the fight were made and DM were made to travel home at the last minute he better accept a rematch at Joe's choosing, or else he's a chicken and scared of Joe.

The Undisputed 168lb Bullshit Artist wrote:I did stop Mkrtchian, a good fighter whom I made to look ordinary

What a hypocrite. He has spent the vast majority of his career fighting ordinary fighters to make him look good.

lirva33 · Post by **lirva33** » 05 Jan 2005, 15:07

I think Echols will do Calzaghe to be honest.

I remember Echols had Hopkins competely out of it. Hop was more hurt in that fight than any other. In his fight against Brewer Echols was being taken apart and out of nowhere he detonates a huge punch that nearly beheads Brewer and virtually ends the fight in his first fight at 168. Echols may just be the best puncher pound for pound. But he can't box. he's shit and can easily be outboxed as Mundine showed.

Saying that, you would be a fool not to have a substantial amount of money on an Echols stoppage.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 06 Jan 2005, 07:28

On the one hand you have to say that if Salem can deck Calzaghe like that, then Echols even if he is past it has a good chance of hurting him.

On the other hand you could say that Calzaghe was undermotivated for Salem.

As a final point, what if Calzaghe isn't able to raise his game? It happens to a lot of fighters who have been treading water for a long time, they go in against someone a cut above their last few opponents, and suddenly they realise they aren't the fighter they were two years ago.

I still hold out some hope that Calzaghe will fulfill the promise his early career showed. Sure, he can go on about the number of title defences, and how he's happy to be a failure if that's other people's idea of failure. However, it would be a crying shame if he never fully exploited his talent and exchanged that for being the longest running WBO champ in history.

Sports Network get pissed off with their fighters being criticised, but Calzaghe is probably still our biggest talent, and the reason he gets criticised is that boxing fans want to see our biggest talents strut their stuff on the world stage against the very best.

Bard of Boxrec · Post by **Bard of Boxrec** » 06 Jan 2005, 08:01

i can easily see calzaghe flapping his way into a big right hand like he did vs Salem.

I hope echols can land it. If I knew Joe was going to go on to a big fight, I'd be rooting for him. But he's not, so I'm not.

glittermonkey · Post by **glittermonkey** » 06 Jan 2005, 12:38

jamesmcdonnell wrote:As a final point, what if Calzaghe isn't able to raise his game? It happens to a lot of fighters who have been treading water for a long time, they go in against someone a cut above their last few opponents, and suddenly they realise they aren't the fighter they were two years ago.

This, I feel, is the real problem with Sports Network, and in particular, Warren's style of managing his fighter's careers. And if all the recent speculation about their headline fighter's opposition for the coming year is true, then it's going to become a real problem for their boxers too. Warren always does a great job concerning the finances, and the building of impressive looking records for his charges, but should the much talked about fights occur this year, then it'll be a real crunch time for Frank, and we'll find out if he's taken the right path with the likes of Hatton, or if the selection of opponents has been his undoing.

Let's face it, Hatton has had little in his career that'll prepare him for someone as good as Tszyu, and the same applies to Harrison, should he be matched with Barrera. If Calzaghe finally gets a fight of a reasonable size, then that'll complete a trio of our fighters who've been preparing to fight the best in their division by beating up faded, or in some cases plain awful, fighters.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 06 Jan 2005, 12:49

I think Calzaghe is on a hiding to nothing again with Echols and if he keeps fighting these guys with no sense of real danger i think he will come a cropper to someone who no way should be beating him.