Joe Calzaghe To Meet Glen Johnson?
By Michael Woods May 30th, 2006Looks like Calzaghe vs. Johnson is in the cards
Joe Calzaghe’s exhaustive search for an opponent for his July 8 show looks to be over.
It appears Glen Johnson will get first crack at the legit pound-for-pound player, the BBC reports.
Johnson, age 37, is expected to sign to fight Calzaghe, despite concerns over the agreed upon weight and money.
Johnson wants guarantees that Calzaghe won’t pull out down the wire; that wish stems from the Welshman’s late withdrawal from a planned bout in 2004.
It’s unlikely that the 34-year-old Welshman’s IBF and WBO 168-pound titles will be on the line.
A catchweight between the two divisions is likely to be hashed out.
(Email news tips to Michael Woods at Fightwrite@gmail.com)
May 30th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
IT’S ABOUT TIME!!!
This fight should have happenned years ago, and although my advice ain’t worth two cents to the fighters, here it is:
(1) For Joe to win, he must fight better than his last fight against Jeff Lacy. The reason is, in his fight against Lacy, Lacy couldn’t get out of the way of the jab and had plenty of trouble trying to cut the ring off for a prancing Joe, who fought in spurts. Also, he must avoid fighting on the inside at all costs. He must fight from the outside and bust up Glenn to win, at least, by decision. Somehow, I can’t see Joe winning by KO - Glenn has a solid chin. The only way the Welshman can win by KO is by accumulated damage, much like in the Shane/Vargas fight, which is not out of the question.
(2) For Glenn to win, he must fight the way he fought Jones Jr. and Tarver I. He must cut the ring off to Joe and take advantage of the fact that he can outwork his opponnent, much the way he outworked Tarver in their first fight. His attack must be to the body of Joe in order to have Joe slow down and lose steam in his speed, which at first may be difficult for Glenn to handle. He must lure Joe to fight on the inside, where Joe is vulnerable.
A knockdown may occur, most likely Joe rather than Glenn, but I will trust my better judgement and say that this fight will go the distance.
Who will win, on the other hand, depends on who is hungrier - especially in light of the fact that they will fight at a catch weight.
May 30th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Credit where it is due, son, you nicked that story didn’t you?
May 30th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
what i want to know is if its a catchweight bout eg no titles on the line will the referee be the only judge like in most non title fights in the uk if thats the case then johnson has no chance
May 31st, 2006 at 8:10 am
SWEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!
May 31st, 2006 at 9:33 am
I hope this comes off! This is exactly the type of fighter that Joe needed to fight to gain MORE cred in the boxing world. Hats off to you Joe. Glenn is an animal.
I give the slight edge to Joe but Glenn is a monster, we’ll see how moving down in weight effects him.
I think Calzaghe wins a decision and I’m hoping Taylor beats Winky, then moves to super to set up Taylor vs Calzage………. Maybe in the winter.
I’m crossing my fingers!
May 31st, 2006 at 7:12 pm
calzaghe wins ud or late stoppage , theres no way glen is going to win this, he got to lose weight , hes older , calzaghe’s fitter, faster and hits as hard if not harder(ask lacy) .yes glen beat a old roy jones and a typical overhyped american boxer in tarver, well now age isnt exactly on his side and im afraid he s gonna end up like the rest. (42-0) easy , easy ,easy!!
June 1st, 2006 at 9:38 am
Joe’s injured-Fights off, back to the old Joe.