BoxRec

what's calzaghe got to do with it? how is a 2 weight world champion with "24 titles fights baby", "WBO baby" relevent to what has turned out to be yet another british vs british debate?

calzaghe fought a british rival - delaney - and was quickly moved up when warren got him the WBO title fight with eubank.

calzaghe eventually moved up in stature when he stepped up and faced the other champs in a career he had admitted was "stagnating."

macklin's career has gained momentum with cult leader joe gallagher, he won a british title, the tasty payday with barker didn't happen - and now he is moving upward to the next level, europe. what's the big deal? macklin has a good opportunity.

it is a shame for barker, though.

whats calzaghe got to do with it? just echoing your own oft-used tactic of getting him into conversations, with a decidedly 'waah waah' tone to your posts, where he doesn't belong, mate.

EG someone praises Froch's ambition, in comes 'barn with a quick 'thank god Froch isn't like that cad Calzaghe, waah waah waaah, sat on WBO title for years waaah waaaah slappy southpaw' 'waah waah why doesn't Calzaghe fight Froch' etc.

whats good for the goose and so on, i am saying had Calzaghe (Macklin) avoided Froch (barker) or any other prominent domestic rival in this way, i doubt you would have been so phlegmatic about it.

oh and its amusing to see you taking on the mantle of the hardnosed realist, the wizened jaundiced denizen of boxing realpolitik, when it wasn't all that long ago you were somewhat more idealistically wishing a (retired lightheavyweight) Calzaghe would fight (active) supermiddleweight froch, listing the reasons he should, great for british boxing, a man can dream, etc etc etc etc

Maybe I have just become more cynical. Re Calzaghe, I have learned never to expect anything. My problem was high expectations. 2 good things happened - Lacy and Kessler - and none of my expectations were fulfilled by anything that followed. He whined about being left out of the clique (Hopkins, Jones, Wright, Tarver), then wouldn't answer the call when everyone wanted to fight him. None of them brought sufficient reward - Pavlik, Dawson, Taylor - around 2007-8, and this is understandable. But hey he wasn't such a big timer himself, of we're being realistic. Poor ratings, underwhelming PPV (minus cost of twentyfraud seven, and divided between various parties) and it's clear he basically cashed out without really giving anything positive (putting on dreck undercard to add insult). Jones fight was a poor man's fringe superfight: it was a genuine museum piece, which is why the advert with the 2 statues and Bunce-as-janitor was apt. This is a top 5 p4per who didn't go the extra mile and shoot for the #1 spot, this is a guy who wants "the money, the money" but didn't leave the comfort zone until the very end.

So yeah, I'm not a Calzaghe fan because as a boxing fan who watches the likes of Adamek or Vazquez go to war, for blue collar thrills. I would have wanted nothing more than Froch to KO him, because no one tries to finish Joe with 2 fisted attack while he's hurt, and because he looked soft in the last 2 fights, cos he looked hurt at the end of the Jones fight, and because I figured maybe he'd get greedy and come back - this, before he'd officially vacated his title...Now this is irrelevent, as Froch has his platform following 2 thrilling back-to-back wins.

Fact is, Macklin's career needs to move forward. Hatton got him the EBU title opportunity. Macklin maybe expects something above British level. He knocked out Elcock better than Arthur Abraham did. Asikainen was on the verge of fighting Dimitri Pirog, and was considered a great step up for Pirog, regarded as one of the best middleweight prospects. Pirog also has a recent win over Kofi Jantuah. Didn't Mick H name drop Jantuah and Ouma, for Barker? They would have sufficed for a tasty Commonwealth title fight, surely. What happened to those fights?


"Waaaaaah, waaaaah" echoes off the stones. "Waaaaaah, waaaaah" echoes in the wells. But no one is there to listen. Things haven't changed. A vague unease sets in. I think about the things that might be happening in a certain area of South Yorkshire. Given that some of these people might have jobs in high places, I shudder. I debate whether to tip off the News of the World.

Autobarn wrote:Maybe I have just become more cynical. Re Calzaghe, I have learned never to expect anything. My problem was high expectations.


"Waaaaaah, waaaaah" echoes off the stones. "Waaaaaah, waaaaah" echoes in the wells. But no one is there to listen. Things haven't changed. A vague unease sets in. I think about the things that might be happening in a certain area of South Yorkshire. Given that some of these people might have jobs in high places, I shudder. I debate whether to tip off the News of the World.

hahaha. you do take something of a spurned lover tone. 'Joe, i expected so much more from you. all those things you promised, but now my cherry has been taken and I'll never be innocent and virginal again'