Hatton Calzaghe on same bill?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 20 Mar 2006, 09:03

Hatton seems to me to be either testing the suggestion of him and Calzaghe fighting on the same bill together.....

'we can break the states'

Mar 19 2006

Peter Shuttleworth, Wales on Sunday

RICKY HATTON last night issued Joe Calzaghe with a call to arms, saying: 'Let's break America together.'

Hatton is all set to be a standard bearer for Britain's resurgent boxing fraternity in the coming months.

He's hoping to prove once and for all to the US audience that Brits don't cross the pond simply to make up the numbers.

But Hatton would love to be joined on his American adventure by reinforcements - and who better to have at your side than a fearsome gunslinger like Joe Calzaghe?

Joe's profile has sky-rocketed Stateside after his annihilation of Jeff Lacy, a man previously hailed as 'the next Mike Tyson'.

Now Hatton is challenging Calzaghe to join him for a double strike on the big hitters of US boxing.

"The Americans might realise us Brits can fight a bit now," Hatton told Wales on Sunday.

"They look on British boxing with contempt. They seem to think we win world titles then defend them in our country before coming unstuck against an American. It's a very arrogant and unrealistic view.

"So, after Joe demolished Lacy it was nice to see the Americans go home with their tails between their legs. The Lacy camp have treated Calzaghe with disrespect.

"They didn't look closely at the videos to see how good he was.

"The Americans have this tunnel vision on British fighters; they think it'll be a walk in the park. So Lacy's defeat made it rather embarrassing for them.

"Joe made a very good fighter look like a novice. It was nothing short of a boxing master-class.

"It has been a long time since we've seen a British fighter win such a big fight in such a convincing fashion. I'm sure it won't happen again for a while.

"Lacy was totally outclassed and outgunned."

Unbeaten Welsh hero Calzaghe is set for a Cardiff homecoming at the Millennium Stadium on July 8 and he'll be dreaming of flooring an opponent with the kind of stature in keeping with such an event. Four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jnr would be ideal. Light-welterweight world champion Hatton - himself dreaming of world domination and a unification showdown with the awesome Floyd Mayweather - believes Calzaghe is right to reward his Welsh fans with a big show at home. But then it's got to be time for inroads into the lucrative American market.

"It's never a mistake fighting in front of your home crowd," said Hatton, who will begin his American assault against Juan Lazcano on May 13 in Connecticut.

"When I fight in Manchester, it's not just a boxing match but a great occasion. And it should be the same for Joe in Cardiff now.

"He's a champion and I'm sure the Welsh know what a sporting legend they've got on their hands.

"Great sportsmen like Joe Calzaghe don't come along very often. But we've both got ourselves into a very fortunate position and should be looking at the States.

"I don't want to hang up my gloves without having topped a bill at Madison Square Gardens or one of famous arenas like the MGM Grand or Caesars Palace. I've taken it upon myself to make that happen. I've worked too damn hard to get to this position and not reach the very top. Fighting at one of those world famous venues is when you've made it.

"I'm sure Joe is from the same mould as me. I'd love for us to jointly top the bill. Joe is a great mate; we've jointly topped bills twice before and it would be great if us two pals could go over there together.

"But I'm sure allegedly would have a view on that."

To say that Calzaghe's promoter Warren and Hatton aren't best of pals right now is an understatement.

'The Hitman' left British boxing's highest-profile promoter to 'go it alone' after beating Kostya Tszyu last summer and the well-documented fall-out has, as Hatton so eloquently puts it, 'gotten messy'.

Warren is suing Hatton's old man and trainer Ray for alleged breach of contract. But 'The Hitman' is desperate to ensure his issues with Calzaghe's promoter do not impinge on his friendship with the record-breaking Welsh boxer.

And as a friend Hatton wants the best for Joe.

The undisputed super-middleweight king has ruled his division for a world-record eight-and-a-half years. But Calzaghe has made no secret of his ambition to be a two-weight world champion.

Roy Jones Jnr would be an ideal fight for Calzaghe as it would be a gigantic pay-day against a fallen hero, a fighter whose career is on the wane. So that option might represent the quickest path to wider acclaim, a less-pressured step forward than tackling light-heavyweight hardman Antonio Tarver or Glen Johnson.

While Jones Jnr has kudos in the boxing world, he doesn't bring any titles and that's why Warren has been looking at a potential match-up with German WBA super-middleweight champ Markus Beyer. Hatton's advice is simple.

"I'd move up to light-heavyweight; there's nothing left for him at super-middleweight," he said. "Beyer is a southpaw and that won't make for an entertaining fight. I can't see American TV being interested.

"Joe needs a statement of intent to fight one of America's big boys. If he fights a Mr Average then American TV may lose interest in him.

"There's no real big names in the super-middleweight division and I can't see Joe being interested in any of the other champions; they're not in his class. Joe has dealt with the most dangerous fighter in that division by beating Lacy, so a move up to light-heavyweight is what he needs now to keep challenging himself.

"And if Joe loses to an average super-middle fighter, all the hard work to beat Lacy could be for nothing. He needs to capitalise.

"It's funny because no-one was bothered about light-heavyweight a few years ago, but now it's among the best divisions."

Is it just me or does this sound a bit like an olive branch to SN?

Cannibal · Post by **Cannibal** » 20 Mar 2006, 09:13

Apart from money why are fighters so obsessed about breaking America? Just as much money can be made in Europe and Europe has enough top level fighters to rival America now. In fact I'd even say that Europe is starting to pass America by in top level fighters with all these guys from the likes of the Ukraine and other such countries coming through.

Coconut · Post by **Coconut** » 20 Mar 2006, 09:21

Do England footballers want to play against Brazil at Villa Park or Wembley?

Plus, the finances involved in the US, with a far more mature PPV market, do point to it being a more lucrative place to ply your trade.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 20 Mar 2006, 09:45

A cry for help maybe?? Only way this happens if RH gets back, in some way, with FW.
All this confusion over his latest fight date must be doing Ricky's head in.
Can't remember one fight having so many names coming in and out of the picture - makes your head spin.

Getting the call for this Hatton fight is The Kiss Of Death. Are mysterious powers at work?

Urkal?? Please NO. Harris should get the call - he'd give Hatton a great fight and it'd be a classic boxer/puncher v slugger affair. With Clint Woods on the UK side of the show.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 20 Mar 2006, 10:49

Urkal No, but I also think it should be Harris no either.

He lost to Maussa FFS and has done nothing to warrant a second chance - he was also lucky to beat Urkal first time.

Plenty more worthy than Harris - I would have actually prefered Lazcano to Harris.

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 20 Mar 2006, 10:51

"They seem to think we win world titles then defend them in our country before coming unstuck against an American. It's a very arrogant and unrealistic view."

Well Ricky, when was the last time a major British champ not named Lennox Lewis defended one of the 3 or 4 major in the US? I'm not saying British champs are lesser, by no means they're not, but that comment was pretty dumb.

BigEars · Post by **BigEars** » 20 Mar 2006, 10:58

MightyWarrior wrote:Getting the call for this Hatton fight is The Kiss Of Death. Are mysterious powers at work?

As Cannibal said on another thread it's Lovemore N'Dou and his vodoo dolls .

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 20 Mar 2006, 11:00

I can picture N'dou dressed up like a witch doctor.

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 20 Mar 2006, 11:11

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I can picture N'dou dressed up like a witch doctor.

With a name like "Lovemore" how could you not?

Phenomenal-Nutrition · Post by **Phenomenal-Nutrition** » 20 Mar 2006, 11:30

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I can picture N'dou dressed up like a witch doctor.

You imagine him dressing up? What are you doing

Wanting some Lovemoore?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 20 Mar 2006, 11:35

N'don't go there....

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 20 Mar 2006, 14:07

quite a bit of that going round.

Wayne Braithwaite's mother said that Jean Marc Mormeck's camp put a spell on her son, hence the defeat to JMM. "Those French are good at doing that," she said.

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 20 Mar 2006, 14:14

viciousmaussa wrote:quite a bit of that going round.

Wayne Braithwaite's mother said that Jean Marc Mormeck's camp put a spell on her son, hence the defeat to JMM. "Those French are good at doing that," she said.

They're also exceptional at giving up, but I noticed JMM had none of that.

BigEars · Post by **BigEars** » 20 Mar 2006, 16:13

Mattyp151 wrote:
viciousmaussa wrote:quite a bit of that going round.

Wayne Braithwaite's mother said that Jean Marc Mormeck's camp put a spell on her son, hence the defeat to JMM. "Those French are good at doing that," she said.
They're also exceptional at giving up

Tell that to the Welsh rugby team , if they could have only held out that extra 5 minutes Ireland would have won the 6 nations

.

shoutout · Post by **shoutout** » 22 Mar 2006, 02:07

Cannibal wrote:Apart from money why are fighters so obsessed about breaking America? Just as much money can be made in Europe and Europe has enough top level fighters to rival America now. In fact I'd even say that Europe is starting to pass America by in top level fighters with all these guys from the likes of the Ukraine and other such countries coming through.

sorry amigo...not quite yet!!

shoutout · Post by **shoutout** » 22 Mar 2006, 02:09

Coconut wrote:Do England footballers want to play against Brazil at Villa Park or Wembley?

Plus, the finances involved in the US, with a far more mature PPV market, do point to it being a more lucrative place to ply your trade.

thanks for bringing some realism back into the topic!!

altho the UK may have a similar % of fans to USA, in SHEER NUMBERS there are way more fans in usa to support those PPVs...or for that matter the world-class matchup on ESPN2 this friday between eastman and miranda!!! that could easily be an hbo or ppv undercard bout!!

shoutout · Post by **shoutout** » 22 Mar 2006, 02:28

"It has been a long time since we've seen a British fighter win such a big fight in such a convincing fashion. I'm sure it won't happen again for a while."

"Joe needs a statement of intent to fight one of America's big boys. If he fights a Mr Average then American TV may lose interest in him."

i find these 2 quotes from ricky to be the most interesting in the article!!

the first seems to imply a lack of confidence in his own ability to produce such a performance...

the 2nd is an astute observation, but one where ricky needs to take his own advice!!

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 22 Mar 2006, 03:56

it seems not that many in america buy PPVs. 400,000 is deemed outstanding numbers. that's not so many ppl really. Ricky Hatton vs Carlos Maussa apparently got around 150,000 in the UK

what are the biggest US ppv #s, i'm sure they were a fair bit bigger for post prison Tyson and DLH fights?

I don't doubt Hatton can get rich quicker in the US. Cotto, Mayweather, Castillo, Corrales...

But I wonder about Calzaghe - his biggest purse ever was the Mario Veit rematch so I've heard. I know he'd make good money if he went to Denmark to face Kessler and he'd make a bomb going to Germany to face Beyer. German TV in particular has a massive following.

If he went up to light heavy, I doubt he'd get rich from fighting Tarver, who has a purist following in America but isn't highly regarded anywhere else. Hopkins, if he beats Tarver, would generate some real $s as he has the pedigree, history and what one guy called the 'De La Hoya Halo'. Glen Johson's building a nice Sth Florida following among Jamaicans, but that's the only place he will draw. Adamek and Briggs can really fight, but DK, after staging such a great fight, has kept these guys on the shelf.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 22 Mar 2006, 04:36

biggest PPV buy ever was I think Tyson v Holyfield II with 1.2 million.

TerribleTerry · Post by **TerribleTerry** » 22 Mar 2006, 04:50

Wasn't the DLH - Trindad match the biggest non-Heavyweight PPV?

I think that got over 1 million buys.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 22 Mar 2006, 06:54

Tyson v Holyfield II was actually over 2 million, just found the figure, and yes, DLH Trinidad is biggest non heavyweight.

Hatton Calzaghe on same bill?

Hatton Calzaghe on same bill?

Re: Hatton Calzaghe on same bill?