Calzaghe-Taylor Appears to be in the Works

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 27 Oct 2006, 04:54

http://www.tigerboxing.com/articles/ind ... 1001245804

Read the bottom half of this article.

Taylor wants Ouma and then Mora, before moving up in weight to face Calzaghe later in the year. They've washed thei hands of Wright, who keeps turning down offers.

Calzaghe is having an HBO fight in February, which will lead to Taylor. DiBella wants him to have it in America, to make Calzaghe more marketable & hence make the fight bigger.

Ah well, I'm disappointed about the Kessler situation. But I guess we have to see the bright side. Good that Taylor's ambitious level of opposition applies to 168-pounds as well.

overhand_right · Post by **overhand_right** » 27 Oct 2006, 05:38

When Taylor is reduced to defending the title against the likes of Kaim Who-ma, then i'm sure he realises its time to bring on JC.

No win situation for JC though. Fra more impressive IMO to step up to light heavys.

Phenomenal-Nutrition · Post by **Phenomenal-Nutrition** » 27 Oct 2006, 06:01

Terence wrote:I know you thought the draw was fair 'Maussa but the look on Winky's face after the fight showed that he did not fancy a return fight with Taylor. Now he is trotting out this pathetic 'peoples Champion' BS, Winky found out what life is like at middle and did not like it one little bit.

As far as this strand goes, it says a lot that the only hope of unifying SM seems to rest on the shoulders of the linear MW Champ, Taylor will have to take care of MW, clean Joe's clock and then acquiesce enough to make the Kessler fight.

I can see Taylor working for a SM unification more than Joe at this point and Taylor is a MW

Any argument that Calzaghe-Kessler need not happen is pure nonsense. A novelty fight with Glen, Hopkins (being turned down as small-fry by a retired fighter, sad) or Jones is very poor.

Agree completely. I scored for Taylor but thought it could be scored to Winky. BUT Winky was HURT in that fight and doesn't want Taylor to improve and KO him.

If Taylor moves to 168, beats Calazage and Kessler then Winky that will certainly be ATG impressive. I even expect him to be a champ at 175. I think that is certainly within his capabilities too.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 27 Oct 2006, 06:07

Terence wrote:I know you thought the draw was fair 'Maussa but the look on Winky's face after the fight showed that he did not fancy a return fight with Taylor. Now he is trotting out this pathetic 'peoples Champion' BS, Winky found out what life is like at middle and did not like it one little bit.

As far as this strand goes, it says a lot that the only hope of unifying SM seems to rest on the shoulders of the linear MW Champ, Taylor will have to take care of MW, clean Joe's clock and then acquiesce enough to make the Kessler fight.

I can see Taylor working for a SM unification more than Joe at this point and Taylor is a MW

Any argument that Calzaghe-Kessler need not happen is pure nonsense. A novelty fight with Glen, Hopkins (being turned down as small-fry by a retired fighter, sad) or Jones is very poor.

I don't agree with the Yanks who say Winky won 8-4; that is despicable. IMO a draw was fair. Winky backed Taylor up & kept taking the play away; Taylor landed by far the harder leather & busted him up.

Definitely, Taylor's heavy hands made enough of an impression on WW to make a rematch painfully different - I agree with that.

Too many ppl had 'crowned' Winky when he beat Trinidad. After the Taylor fight, Wright is saying that he's "making my first defense vs Quartey"LOL

Yes, it's painfully clear that we have to rely on someone else to sort out super middle. Maybe it could be Taylor - he might really grow in strength/stamina moving up. He could also have a bit of a shock vs big-ish fighters, who knows.

That's why I'm big on Kessler. Very good technically, very willing, doesn't pick embarrassing opponents. I just hope Mikkel doesn't become the forgotten man.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 27 Oct 2006, 06:47

Terence wrote:Phenom', I agree with that 110%, in fact pre-Hopkins I said Tayor would make a very solid 175lb Champ one day. His stamina would be much improved at the higher weight.

'Maussa, what impressed me was the way Taylor hammered Winky's body in the fight once he saw how tight the guard was. Plus he forced more fight from Wright and countered the jab with his own right hand. Winky is becoming a bit of a MW joke figure right now. How he can turn down Taylor for Ike is beyond me, good money was there to be made by fighting Taylor. For me the tenth round broke Winky's resolve at MW a little bit.

I may seem overly-harsh on Joe but I am very, very tired of fighters picking 1-2 'defining' fights and doing nothing in between them, as Joe has done. Why partially unify then give up? SM is close to being unified and if it is not Joe will be a title-holder in a division that is hard to gauge histrocially due to its hesistant fighters.

Is it coincidence that SM has been in British/European hands for a long time and has never been unified or had a linear Champ?

We lead the world in drift at times.

That's why I like Glyn Leach's little editorials. i.e. a career defines a career. Crap title defenses also define a career. In that case, was Evans Ashira Calzaghe's defining night? lol

SN have no problems sending out press releases about equalling the title defense stats of Hopkins and of course Joe Louis. But they have fvck all grasp of history. Because there is the chance right now to make some & they have little or no inlination to do anything about it.

I wish Calzaghe well in his US foray. I hope that this will dramatically raise the level of his opposition on a consistent basis. But I do feel let down. Kessler has proven that he is the business by coming from nowhere to school & batter Siaca; by going to Oz and beating Mundine; by boxing Lucas' ears off; and then artfully dismantling Beyer in their unification clash.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 27 Oct 2006, 07:35

This situation typifies the sad, protected asset mentality we have today in Boxing. Why can't Calzaghe fight Kessler as a warm up for Taylor and then move up and fight Adamek, flip 50 years ago he would fought all three in a month :P

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 27 Oct 2006, 08:51

So February he may fight Glen Johnson? Jesus that is pathetic if that is the case and Calzaghe will truly have lost all momentum gained beating Lacy so impressively. Johnson is an old man and looked past it against Woods. Don't give me any crap about his punches looking better than ever his gas tank is running on empty, anyone outworked by Tarver needs to take a long hard look at themselves! Johnson is a good honest pro but he has been flattered by the lack of depth previously at 175. And they'll want him to drain himself to make 168.

ALI · Post by **ALI** » 27 Oct 2006, 09:19

I expect Calzaghe to fight an unkown in February in the UK! Promises of Taylor next will be the selling point.

Calzaghe/Taylor would be a good match-up, but he's a fcuking middle-weight and it pisses me off that Calzaghe is always looking for some sort of edge. Fight someone your own size in there prime........ Kessler!

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:05

Well reagrding the size issue, Kessler was actually a middleweight in the early stages of his pro career.

Chambers2 · Post by **Chambers2** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:13

Calzaghe-Kessler is the only contest that should be looking into getting made for Joes next fight.

Boxing reaches a new low IMO if these 2 don't fight each other. They're the 2 best SM's in the world by some distance, they hold all 4 belts between them, they are both looking for BIG fights, the winner goes down in history as being the first to unify the division and Calzaghe is calling out everybody but Kessler......this sport beggars belief at times

I'm not optimistic about this fight happening and 95% of the blame will be on JC and FW's shoulders IMO.

Why not fight Kessler in the US in February with the winner to face Taylor towards the end of the year, there simple

FW has promised us a BIG fight for Joe in early 2007, the only contests I rate as BIG fights are KESSLER, Taylor and Woods (I love a Batlle of Britain). Johnson and Tarver are not BIG fights now IMO

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:14

How many fuckin tuneups do British boxers need these days? Hatton and Calzaghe have so many filler fights its ridiculous. Get the big fights made!!

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:16

Well said Chambers.

Don't know about JC fighting Kessler in the US though, I don't think that makes financial sense but they really should get it on.

Even do something inventive and have a guaranteed rematch clause for them both and have one fight in Wales and one in Denmark if they are that worried about travelling for the fight.

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:26

Well if you read Frankly speaking on FW's site then he does say he's in talks with Palle.

I agree with you guys saying it should be Joe's next fight though. Nah Kessler should fight Joe over here, Palle seem to be in financial trouble to stage it in Denmark.

5% of the blame will be on JC and FW's shoulders IMO.

There would be no facts to back that up.

Joe hasn't mentioned Johnson since Woods got the win either and seemed disinterested. Doesn't want Tarver either.

Don't know what some of you guys are reading.

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:26

Terence wrote:
nickd wrote:How many fuckin tuneups do British boxers need these days? Hatton and Calzaghe have so many filler fights its ridiculous. Get the big fights made!!
It is enough to make you give up on the sport. How can any other match be considered? Kessler and Joe have had 80 preperation bouts (How many even bouts were there in that lot?) between them. Call me impatient but maybe they are warm enough to get this fight on?

The whole concept of a 'world champion' having tuneup fights is ridiculous. Every fight should be a meaningful fight if you're a champion.

Chambers2 · Post by **Chambers2** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:37

Max Molyneux wrote:Well if you read Frankly speaking on FW's site then he does say he's in talks with Palle.

I agree with you guys saying it should be Joe's next fight though. Nah Kessler should fight Joe over here, Palle seem to be in financial trouble to stage it in Denmark.

5% of the blame will be on JC and FW's shoulders IMO.
There would be no facts to back that up.

Joe hasn't mentioned Johnson since Woods got the win either and seemed disinterested. Doesn't want Tarver either.

Don't know what some of you guys are reading.

I didn't say JC was targetting fights with Johnson or Tarver, I was just listing the options available for this supposed BIG fight in Feb.

You're right that there are no facts to back up what blame should be levelled at FW and JC if the fight doesn't happen, but when JC is calling out the the retired Hopkins instead of Kessler it sets alarm bells ringing, I just get the overall impression that JC doesn't fancy the fight, not necessarily because he thinks he'll lose, more because he thinks that there are easier earners for better money.

JC and FW should be crossing hell and high water to make the Kessler fight happen, its a humungous fight and it's a career-definer IMO.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 27 Oct 2006, 10:45

50 Years ago he'd have never gotten a title shot at all. Let's not over simplify matters.

dumdane · Post by **dumdane** » 27 Oct 2006, 11:17

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:
Terence wrote:I know you thought the draw was fair 'Maussa but the look on Winky's face after the fight showed that he did not fancy a return fight with Taylor. Now he is trotting out this pathetic 'peoples Champion' BS, Winky found out what life is like at middle and did not like it one little bit.

As far as this strand goes, it says a lot that the only hope of unifying SM seems to rest on the shoulders of the linear MW Champ, Taylor will have to take care of MW, clean Joe's clock and then acquiesce enough to make the Kessler fight.

I can see Taylor working for a SM unification more than Joe at this point and Taylor is a MW

Any argument that Calzaghe-Kessler need not happen is pure nonsense. A novelty fight with Glen, Hopkins (being turned down as small-fry by a retired fighter, sad) or Jones is very poor.
Agree completely. I scored for Taylor but thought it could be scored to Winky. BUT Winky was HURT in that fight and doesn't want Taylor to improve and KO him.

If Taylor moves to 168, beats Calazage and Kessler then Winky that will certainly be ATG impressive. I even expect him to be a champ at 175. I think that is certainly within his capabilities too.

I think perhaps you're either overrating the middleweights or underrating the SMW's if you think it'll be easy for Taylor to just move up and take out the two top-guys at SMW.

Just because they haven't been shown (much) on american TV doesn't mean they're crap.

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 27 Oct 2006, 11:26

i'd rather see calzaghe-taylor over calzaghe-kessler.

taylor is a bigger name and didn't lose in 3 fights with hopkins and winky.

dumdane · Post by **dumdane** » 27 Oct 2006, 11:32

Max Molyneux wrote:Well if you read Frankly speaking on FW's site then he does say he's in talks with Palle.

I agree with you guys saying it should be Joe's next fight though. Nah Kessler should fight Joe over here, Palle seem to be in financial trouble to stage it in Denmark.

5% of the blame will be on JC and FW's shoulders IMO.
There would be no facts to back that up.

Joe hasn't mentioned Johnson since Woods got the win either and seemed disinterested. Doesn't want Tarver either.

Don't know what some of you guys are reading.

True enough there'll be no facts to back up that only 5% !!! of the blame should be on Joe and Warren. A lot more than that for certain.

So Joe hasn't mentioned Johnson since Woods. Maybe so. But then he's moved on to Tarver, Hopkins, Taylor and whatever other american big name pops up on his radar whenever Kessler is mentioned.

Lennox Lewis put it very well when he said that Calzaghe-Kessler would be an excellent fight, but since Calzaghe's heart wasn't in it, it was no use thinking along those lines.

But of course the official version (according to Fwank) is gonna be that Kessler outpriced himself - Oh how Fwank would have LOVED to put that fight on, but it just wasn't possible to talk reason with Palle.

Let's not kid ourselves - that's how it's gonna be.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 27 Oct 2006, 13:10

That's what everyone says, 'Kessler priced himself out.' That's what Gary Shaw said about the prospect of Lacy-Kessler and that's what bloody Warren hinted at before. Yet Kessler is the only guy who wants to fight everyone. & it seems the only guys who want to fight Kessler are the ones with nothing to lose.

No fvcking way is taylor going to go up and blow everyone away en route to further titles at 168 and 175. Put together Calzaghe, Kessler, Taylor, & maybe Andrade/Bute when they were ready and you'll have nothing but close and competitive fights...& what does anyone think Adamek or Briggs would do to him??

Anything bad happens to Taylor on the way & I know what we'll be hearing, 'Taylor deserved to lose to Hopkins & Wright' & 'Taylor is only dominant when he fights 154-pounders' from the resident revisionists.

Good point on the tune up fights. Half of Calzaghe's title defenses should've been non title affairs. The type of guys that JC Chavez or James Toney used to batter in between big fights. 19 defenses is impressive considering longevity, fitness, consistency etc. But if he has to face Stieglitz and Tatevosyan he may as well dump the belts in the nearest bin. Plenty of time before next Wedndesday's collection!

lankester · Post by **lankester** » 27 Oct 2006, 13:23

I would prefer kessler over everybody for calzaghe however ... taylor is a pretty damn good name.

In the best case he won 2 fight and draw 1 agains bhop and wright
In the worse case he draw or loss vs them.

They are/were both TOP P2P and just having a draw or a close fight agains them is pretty damn good.

who i want calzaghe to fight .. kessler, however will I be mad if he fight taylor ... no !!!

Deram · Post by **Deram** » 28 Oct 2006, 00:36

lankester wrote:I would prefer kessler over everybody for calzaghe however ... taylor is a pretty damn good name.

In the best case he won 2 fight and draw 1 agains bhop and wright
In the worse case he draw or loss vs them.

They are/were both TOP P2P and just having a draw or a close fight agains them is pretty damn good.

who i want calzaghe to fight .. kessler, however will I be mad if he fight taylor ... no !!!

I agree

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 28 Oct 2006, 06:54

dumdane wrote:
Max Molyneux wrote:Well if you read Frankly speaking on FW's site then he does say he's in talks with Palle.

I agree with you guys saying it should be Joe's next fight though. Nah Kessler should fight Joe over here, Palle seem to be in financial trouble to stage it in Denmark.

5% of the blame will be on JC and FW's shoulders IMO.
There would be no facts to back that up.

Joe hasn't mentioned Johnson since Woods got the win either and seemed disinterested. Doesn't want Tarver either.

Don't know what some of you guys are reading.
True enough there'll be no facts to back up that only 5% !!! of the blame should be on Joe and Warren. A lot more than that for certain.

So Joe hasn't mentioned Johnson since Woods. Maybe so. But then he's moved on to Tarver, Hopkins, Taylor and whatever other american big name pops up on his radar whenever Kessler is mentioned.

Lennox Lewis put it very well when he said that Calzaghe-Kessler would be an excellent fight, but since Calzaghe's heart wasn't in it, it was no use thinking along those lines.

But of course the official version (according to Fwank) is gonna be that Kessler outpriced himself - Oh how Fwank would have LOVED to put that fight on, but it just wasn't possible to talk reason with Palle.

Let's not kid ourselves - that's how it's gonna be.

He hasn't even mentioned Tarver, some of this people are just making up.

No, the blame would have to be 50/50 as none of you have the full facts to back up your claims if it doesn't happen.

I don't see how you all can be so sure of this since boxing is a suprising sport and no one thought the Lacy one would of happened.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 28 Oct 2006, 07:24

I just hope Kessler doesn't go ignored. Just as Brian Mitchell was in favour of Azumah, and just as Pedroza was compared to Salvador Sanchez.

We know how great things can be when the best just get on with it and fight each other. We get rivalries like Barrera-Morrales, Casamayor-Corrales, fights that add a punctuation mark to excellent careers.

On these grounds, I really hope Adamek & Briggs do well. Who knows how well regarded their own rivalry will be, one day? Say, if Briggs distinguishes himself by holding a rival world title, and if Adamek keeps coming through these tough fights and makes title defenses close to double figures.

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 28 Oct 2006, 07:38

Calzaghe definitely mentioned Tarver as a potential opponent. Before the Bika fight.