BoxRec

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/6175236.stm

Joe's gunna kick his ass.

Absolutely f**cking disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hear when he's done with Peter he's going after Dale Winton. Dale should push him to the limit!!!

this fight would of been a good fight to take for his American debut.

REAL_DEAL wrote:this fight would of been a good fight to take for his American debut.

Exactly.......... its a joke of a fight anyway, but what the fcuk is the point of having this fight in Wales!!! I know Calzaghe likes his home advantage but this just takes the piss. He's an absolute disgrace to British boxing and i'll be 'rooting' for the upset!

Just think, if Manfredo did pull it off, Calzaghe could never redeem that........ mmm, come on Manfredo, whipe this joke from the history books!

I don't think that this is such a bad step for Calzaghe, although I can't see why the fight's taking place in Wales, and not across the pond. I know mine's going to be a minority view though. Unfortunately Calzaghe has very few options open to him at the moment, if his goal is now to go across to America.

Manfredo is much more of a recognisable name than Woods to the more casual fans. There'd be little won against Johnson, Tarver, or Jones, and with Hopkins gone, Kessler injured, Taylor and Wright both already having fights sewn up, there really is nowhere else to go that wouldn't be considered a backward step for Joe.

The big criticism for me is the fact that he didn't strike while the iron was hot after hammering Lacy. There were no excuses for not finding someone better than Bika then. If he'd have kicked on from the Lacy fight, we wouldn't now have this poor effort, which looks, on paper, to be a virtual mis-match.

ALI wrote:

REAL_DEAL wrote:this fight would of been a good fight to take for his American debut.

Exactly.......... its a joke of a fight anyway, but what the fcuk is the point of having this fight in Wales!!! I know Calzaghe likes his home advantage but this just takes the piss. He's an absolute disgrace to British boxing and i'll be 'rooting' for the upset!

Just think, if Manfredo did pull it off, Calzaghe could never redeem that........ mmm, come on Manfredo, whipe this joke from the history books!

Bit harsh.

He hasn't fought at home since beating Lacy, nothing wrong with fighting at the stadium in front of his home fans, he is the champion you know.

Seriously there are only a few fights out there right now that would be better, it's all good saying Manfredo is shite if all you've seen of him was his fights in the contender.

I don't think Manfredo deserves a title shot yet, but same could be said for afew other top 10 SMWs

lvlarc_uk wrote:Bit harsh.

He hasn't fought at home since beating Lacy, nothing wrong with fighting at the stadium in front of his home fans, he is the champion you know.

1) Boo-fcuking-hoo........... since beating Lacy he has only had 1 fight, you make it sound like he's a sailor returning from a 10 year voyage!

2) He's not the champion, fighting Manfredo will see him stripped of the IBF title........ but i guess you were reffering to his beloved WBO belt!

Well the fighters define the belts, all the organizations are as corrupt as each other. If the IBF strip him, so fvcking what. Manfredo is better than IBF's mandatory Stieglitz.

If Manfredo thinks he deserves a title shot then he should travel to the champs hometown.

I'm guessing HBO accepted this fight as Calzaghe didn;t shine against Bika. Hopefully he fights Taylor next, then Kessler once he's healed and fights mandatory.

Come on guys this is disgraceful, the Bika fight was accepted as they were promising a megafight next then they serve up this shit with the promise of a big fight after that? I bet he doesn't go to the US next year at all and after Manfredo will come another no hoper. Calzaghe is a waste of space.

What suprises me most is that people still find Joe's choice of opponents shocking.
He has been doing the same shit all his career so why all of a sudden would he stop now?

I never doubt Joe's talent,but it is a real shame Lacy did'nt have the tools to beat him.
He would have done the belts more justice.

I mean,just how many more tune up/showcase fights does Calzaghe need?
Not like he is some wet behind the ears prospect is he?
34 years old,pro for 13 years and 42 fights.
Just be honest Joe and stop leading your fans on a merry dance by always insisting that the next fight will be the big one,the showdown etc...

Another MASSIVE fight for ITV's lucky,lucky fans

Whilst I can understand that this fight may be good to build his profile in the states, it's still a very poor fight, and is hard to forgive considering that in 13 years as a pro his two biggest fights have been against Eubank and Lacy, at opposite ends of his title reign.

I'd be more excited if he was fighting Manfred Mann.

Come on people you should know the game by now.....Warren's fighters have a toughish fight then fight bums again.

I wouldve thought Manfredo's people aiming a fight with Jeff Lacy..?

Dear oh dear oh dear ...

Massive fight fight promised for Calzaghe & the fans ... we get Manfredo!!!

Has anyone got a recording of Calzaghe's last fight?? ... in particular I am interested what Mr W*rren stated on national TV after the fight!!!

Spud wrote:Dear oh dear oh dear ...

Massive fight fight promised for Calzaghe & the fans ... we get Manfredo!!!

Has anyone got a recording of Calzaghe's last fight?? ... in particular I am interested what Mr W*rren stated on national TV after the fight!!!

yes i have actually.

Dreadful fight - it's such a shame because Calzaghe is a good fighter. All we'll now know him for is his padded record.

Great fight to make business wise.

Manfredo is a name in his homeland because of that wank reality TV series. More people watched him in that than Mayweather or the rest have ever had.

Brilliant exposure for Joe, bundle of money and a win.

Why do you assume Joe will be making a bundle of money?
Is this fight PPV?(yeah,right) Is Manfredo that big a name really? Can't imagine the casual contender fans(was it really a ratings smash?)will tune into nothing but boxing.The average contender fan watched it as much for the soppy life story crap as they did for the actual fights.

People need to remember,Manfredo actually lost 2 fights on that poxy show.He got reinstated due to other reasons.

Calzaghe won't make that much more than he usually does IMO.

Fact is, this is the fight HBO want in Feb. They're in the business of selling fights to the general public, wherever possible, and is there a more recognisable name @ SM in the USA when it comes to Joe Public? Probably not..He's more well known than Joe over there.

So when/if Joe wacks him back into oblivion, Calzaghe gets the recognition in the US & A that leads to a summer superfight with Taylor, stepping up to restore American pride.

I think the fighters are chosen for Joe - Pretty certain he doesnt duck anyone - Lacy was a huge gamble for Joe but he proved to be by far the better man - Shame we cant all be proud of him, instead of finding fault and calling him names - He is a true champion and deserves more respect.

wildwaylon wrote:I think the fighters are chosen for Joe - Pretty certain he doesnt duck anyone - Lacy was a huge gamble for Joe but he proved to be by far the better man - Shame we cant all be proud of him, instead of finding fault and calling him names - He is a true champion and deserves more respect.

Hmmmm... Calzaghe's problem is he wont get his arse out of the UK and allegedly seems to hang on a little too hard to the purse strings to bring over any decent opposition. Technically, I think both of SN's 2 recent-ish 'super-ish' fights (Lacy and Tszyu) have been financed by US TV money. Seriously, I doubt Bika or Manfredo, did or will, get north of 100k.

wildwaylon wrote:I think the fighters are chosen for Joe - Pretty certain he doesnt duck anyone - Lacy was a huge gamble for Joe but he proved to be by far the better man - Shame we cant all be proud of him, instead of finding fault and calling him names - He is a true champion and deserves more respect.

Joe's a big enough boy to dictate who he wants, at the very least he should be having a strong say in the matches. That's why people don't show him much respect, he's much too eager to settle for the average opponent when there are better and more challenging fights out there for someone with his obvious level of ability. He could have had a really impressive career but far too often it's the soft option.

But, as I've said earlier, this is not such a bad step. It's the no-gain fights against the likes of Bika and Salem that I have a problem with.

Boy, talk about not getting respect, what about poor Manfredo. I mean, Joe is apparently a piece of crap, and as best I can tell, he'll still kick Manfredo's ass, and handily.

Well, here's the news; I'm pretty sure Manfredo won't get the joke, and he'll come to fight. True, we have no evidence that he can handle a lefty, or even anyone with above average skill, but still, he's more than just a warm body. Forget about super or mega fights, we're talking about Joe C. here. But I think this one might be entertaining, I can see Manfredo putting a scare in at some point, especially if Joe doesn't take him serious and does his goofy showboating stuff.

I can comment here because my grandmothers parents were from England.

yiddo14 wrote:Why do you assume Joe will be making a bundle of money?
Is this fight PPV?(yeah,right) Is Manfredo that big a name really? Can't imagine the casual contender fans(was it really a ratings smash?)will tune into nothing but boxing.The average contender fan watched it as much for the soppy life story crap as they did for the actual fights.

People need to remember,Manfredo actually lost 2 fights on that poxy show.He got reinstated due to other reasons.

Calzaghe won't make that much more than he usually does IMO.

Joe pockets around 600k for 75-25 fight. I say that is good money for little risk.

Fair point about Contender and the life story nonsense, but Manfredo is a name through that show and HBO know he'll bring ratings even if the audience don't know a left hook from a fish hook.