Will Calzaghe ever get his defining fight?

[The REAL McCoy]

After Calzaghe beats the Armenian cat with the funny name in his next fight, he says he is going to step up to light-heavy & attempt to become a two weight 'champion'

McCoy believes Calzaghe will go down the WBO route, & face current WBO champ Julio Gonzales in what will be a good fight for Joe but NOT a defining fight

If Joe faced the winner of the Glencoffe Johnson & Clinton Woods rematch & win a genuine world title, it could sureley only be good for him, but beating either of those two men would hardly be a defining fight either, as you would have to say Calzaghe would be a strong favourite to beat both men

In McCoys big humle opinion Joe Calzaghe is in danger of becoming a wasted talent, he aint getting any younger(unlike McCoy) & he aint exactly stepping into a division full of talent

Lets face it, Joe's only defining fight at light-heavyweight would be a fight with Antonio Tarver now that Roy Jones is going to heavyweight to fight Tyson or retiring you would have to say Tarver is the best light-heavy in the world but McCoy wouldnt bet money on that one happening

Unfortunately McCoy doesnt see Joe get his defining fight but hopes he is wrong for once!

There is no doubt that Calzaghe is the second best british fighter behind Lennox Lewis just now, but history wont be kind to him if he retires anytime soon

Sure he will always get respect in Britain, but NOT worldwide, as the WBO title & a bunch of decent scalps on your record wont get you anywhere near the hall of fame

Joe Calzaghe HAS to have a fight where for once he isnt the favourite & prove to his critics that he is indeed for real

McCoy has no doubts that he is, but there are many who would disagree, & as long as Calzaghe aint fighting the best out there, they are entitled to disagree

[Ulysses]

He should stay well away from Antonio Tarver, for me, he beats Joe. I'd love to see Calzaghe go to Germany and beat either Sven or Daruisz, but a real good tear-up would be new WBO light-heavy king Julio Gonzalez!

[The REAL McCoy]

He should stay well away from Antonio Tarver, for me, he beats Joe. I'd love to see Calzaghe go to Germany and beat either Sven or Daruisz, but a real good tear-up would be new WBO light-heavy king Julio Gonzalez!

McCoy would also lean towards Tarver winning that fight, & thats exactly why Joe should take the fight if he gets the chance, because who knows, Calzaghe could rise to the occasion & if he won he would be the best light-heavyweight in the world & a genuine world champion & go down as an all-time British great

As for Sven Ottke, McCoy thinks Joe would beat him, especially as Sven looks increasingly like Father time is catching up with him, its a fight that should have happened a few years back but with Sven looking on his way out & Calzaghe stepping up in weight, sadly it looks like it will never happen

As for Michalczewski, like Ottke he looks to be on his way out after his shock defeat at the hands of Gonzales, although McCoy felt Dariusz did enough to shade the fight

Fighting Gonzales would still be a good fight for Joe, because he has to be the second best light-heavy in the world but he is slow & somewhat predictable, & McCoy thinks that Joe would beat him as he thinks Joe would beat Ottke & Michalczewski(but not in Dariusz prime!)

No doubt they would all be very good fights, but if Joe wants that defining fight, then Tarver is the way to go!

[Ulysses]

The gonzalez fight would be a war!

[MightyWarrior]

You're right McCoy, it's all in danger of slipping away for Joe. At the top of his game he should be making a much bigger impact than he's managed so far.
This next guy might give him a very good fight from what I hear, but his name will mean nothing in the scheme of things.

I'd love to see Joe in with Tarver - yes a 50/50 fight but that's what he needs. A real chance to shine. Beating Tarver would be a big step up, and he'd have a decent chance. Might even happen, Tarver's not exactly tripping over decent opponents to make the big bucks with.

I think Joe would beat Gonzalez, but that wouldn't mean a helluva lot either.
Got to be Tarver I think. At least Hopkins had to wait a long time too for his defining fight.

[The REAL McCoy]

The gonzalez fight would be a war!

A war it most certainly would be, but one that Calzaghe probably would win on points

[MightyWarrior]

Anyone else notice this whole website just changed??! Or is it that whiskey I just had??

[The REAL McCoy]

Anyone else notice this whole website just changed??! Or is it that whiskey I just had??

We must be sipping on the same whisky then Mighty one!

[The REAL McCoy]

I'd love to see Joe in with Tarver - yes a 50/50 fight but that's what he needs. A real chance to shine. Beating Tarver would be a big step up, and he'd have a decent chance. Might even happen, Tarver's not exactly tripping over decent opponents to make the big bucks with.

Good point, it would be a big fight for Tarver also in a division that aint exactly full of talent

If Calzaghe stepped up it would be a fight that would capture the publics imagination, it would have to happen

[Eric the Viking]

I think the real question is, will Calzaghe & Warren ever seriously try to MAKE a defining fight? Based on their track record to date I'd say Warren is none too keen to make a fight which his cash cow has a real chance of losing. Gonzalez would be good, but I'll believe it when I see it. The best LHW I can see Calzaghe fighting is WBA "champion" (basically the belt fell out of the sky and bonked him on the head after Jones vacated it) Silvio Branco, who barely squeaked by Robin Reid and lost to both Ottke and Stipe Drews. That way Calzaghe (should he win) gets the cachet of of a real "Big 3" belt, without ever having fought a real "Big 3" beltholder. But hell, after this latest vowel-challenged "opponent" I'd be happy to see JC in even against a second-tier guy like Branco.

[jamesmcdonnell]

In a word, no.

I have come to the conclusion that although there have been difficulties in securing the fights they wanted, they are not prepared to take on numerous other people because of the risk.

The derisory offerof 250,000 what was it Dollars or pounds to Mundine is laughable, presuming it is true.

Calzaghe isn't a serious champ I don't think, how come Ottke has managed to fight anyone and everyone and Calzaghe has managed only Mitchell and Brewer?

Whilst I understand that some of those people might not have responded to Calzaghe's overtures, I find it hard to believe that there is nobody they can get in the ring who is in between the two extremes of Hopkins at one end of the scale, and Myterherhi4thioehtroie at the other.

Although Calzaghe has been hinting at moving up for a while now, it's slightly worrying that he seems to be timing his move to co-incide with Branco being gifted a belt.

Whilst I understand that this is shrewd move, it's getting a major belt by the back door, and won't in the slightest enhance Calzaghe's reputation.

[Goz]

Too true.

All this talk of Calzaghe getting a 'big' and 'defining' fight hasn't been going on for 12 months.

Not 2 years. Not 3.

Ladies and gentleman I won't hear 4 years.

Anyone give me 5 years?

Calzaghe beat Eubank to win his title 6 years ago!!!

And in that time he has been about as close to fighting a P4P ranked opponent as I have come to shagging Cameron Diaz. It's sorry tale and a big waste because I do believe Joe has the ability to cause waves in the very elite but he's not interested.

If he were my friend or brother I would commend him for pulling in the cash without risking too much. But he isn't and I'm a boxing fan.

To let Ottke gazump him as clear No 1 in the division is a farce as well.

[MightyWarrior]

[quote="jamesmcdonnell"]Calzaghe isn't a serious champ I don't think, how come Ottke has managed to fight anyone and everyone and Calzaghe has managed only Mitchell and Brewer? quote]

That's a but harsh JM - I think Mitchell would tell you Calzaghe is a "serious champ" - as for Ottke...well yes he's made a load of defences but just look at the manner: 3 punches per round and home town decisions - the guy makes Johnny Nelson look like Henry Amrstrong.

I think the German's have always known Ottke would get blown away by Joe - and as for all the rumours about Ottke's huge paydays at home - I heard he's only just been able to afford a house?!

There's still time for Joe to make an impact at L.Heavy - Hopkins had too wait years for his big fight, but got it in the end.

[jamesmcdonnell]

By serious champ, I mean he isn't prepared to take any big risks, like leaving Wales. I know Ottke has fought exclusively at home too, but look at how many defences he has, and against how many top people.

I think Calzagghe may well be the best out there, but unless you prove it, it ain't a fact.

Calzaghe should get his ass over to America and spend a couple of years training and fighting there if he really wants to make the most of his career.

He's running out of time and options, and he needs to do something big soon, people, including me are getting increasingly frustrated by his lack of big fights.

Hell I would have been happy to see him fight virtually anyone rather than this 'mandatory.'

[Twinkle Toes]

In regards to defining fights, Calzaghe being with Warren does not make a good partnership.

Calzaghe is a 'good' fighter, but sadly, I don't think he will ever be a 'great' fighter.

There is still time for him to have a couple of defning fights, but they need to happen in the next 12-18 months.

Say what you like about Otke, at least the team behind him have matched him at a high level of competition. All Joe gets is Otke cast off's and the Podwill's of this world. It would be sad for Calzaghe to finish his career being labelled as an under achiever, but that's the way it is heading.

[Eric the Viking]

I'd just like to make two points about Ottke:

1) Of all the protected German beltholders of recent years (e.g. DM, Beyer, etc.) Ottke is probably the one with the fewest truly dodgy decisions on his record. His defensive, cautious style will never make him legions of fans around the world and tends to lead to a lot of decisions (hence, a fair number of close decisions, too), but he executes it extremely well and has used it to frustrate more than one banger of Calzaghe's caliber. Whether he could still regularly do so against top guys at his age is becoming less likely, but during his heyday he regularly faced and beat quite a few more highly-ranked guys than JC has on his re'sume'.

2) Calzaghe isn't even fighting the better amongst Ottke's castoffs.

Look, Calzaghe is saying he has no more challenges at 168. Well, he hasn't ever fought (and this is only a partial list of top-20 kind of guys):

Ottke
Larsen
Lucas
Mundine
Vanderpool
Echols
Beyer

That's a rather long list of non-challenges right there.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I have to agree, whilst I think Calzaghe could probably have beaten most of those guys impressively, as he never did it, it's an irrelevance.

[Loftgroov]

Calzaghe was never as good as Eubank once was.

I think Calzaghe would go down against a top US fighter, and should stay well away from Antonio Tarver.

[jamesmcdonnell]

It's hard to say how good calzaghe is, his stoppage of Mitchell was impressive, but i think Calzaghe's skills have declined due to inactivity and poor competition, I reckon he was probably better when he fought Eubank than now.

Weight drained or not, his win over Eubank was very impressive considering how inexperienced Calzaghe was and how dangerous Eubank had been. The first round against Eubank, he came out like a man possessed.

[Goz]

It's hard to say how good calzaghe is, his stoppage of Mitchell was impressive, but i think Calzaghe's skills have declined due to inactivity and poor competition, I reckon he was probably better when he fought Eubank than now.

Weight drained or not, his win over Eubank was very impressive considering how inexperienced Calzaghe was and how dangerous Eubank had been. The first round against Eubank, he came out like a man possessed.

I'm not so sure he's declined. I think Joe has some longevity mainly because of a nto overly stressing career to date. Two fights a year (and mostly not exactly wars) hasn't taken a lot out of him and I thought the performances against Brwer and Mitchell were as good as anything he has produced in his career, don't forget Eubank was dead at the weight that night, he had been preparing for a Light-Heavyweight fight.