Hopkins calls fight with Calzaghe a “backward step�
Joe Calzaghe is riding high these days, and for good reason. The undefeated super middleweight sensation from Wales, armed with an HBO contract guaranteeing him maximum American exposure in the immediate future, is following the wise words of his compatriot Lennox Lewis (“The States is the Mecca of boxing and the money is on a different level. Joe could earn himself a small fortune over there”) and has decided it’s high time to wave goodbye to the provincialism of fighting overseas to try his hand at the provincialism of fighting in the U.S.
Even before his victory over Sakio Bika last week, names of potential Calzaghe foes have been tossed around: Clinton Woods. Mikkel Kessler. Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver. The list seemed never-ending. But the name that created the most buzz as Calzaghe’s next possible in line was that of middleweight legend Bernard “The Executioner� Hopkins, now sort of retired, but apparently itching to climb back into the ring.
Hopkins has had his eye on Oleg Maskaev ever since he won the WBC heavyweight crown by crashing Hasim Rahman’s (and the USA’s) party with his patience, will and fists, and has said as much on many occasions. Still, as though Calzaghe was hard of hearing or something, Ex was the main man in his sights, the guy Calzaghe wanted next.
The original plan cooked up by Team Calzaghe was for Joe and Bernard to meet next March for a “£10million showdown,� according to the Sunday Mirror, but the never-at-a-loss-for-words Hopkins put a kibosh on those plans, not temporarily, but once and for all.
“Calzaghe is a good fighter but right now it would be a backward step for me,” Hopkins said. “It is not a big enough fight right now and I need a big fight to get motivated. A fight against Maskaev would be exactly the type of fight I need.”
Maskaev, originally from Kazakhstan but now living in California, defends his belt in Moscow in December against an unknown from Uganda named Peter Okhello. Should Big O get by the big Ugandan, maybe Hopkins and Maskaev will get it on, and maybe B-Hop wins and moves on to greater glory.
“We have had some early talks with Hopkins and things look good at the moment,” Maskaev’s manager, Dennis Rappaport, said. “When the Okhello fight is over I’m sure that we will talk some more with Hopkins and his people.”
Calzaghe has heard the news and isn’t taking it lying down.
“Hopkins, to be honest, is just one of the names on a long list,” he said. “[But] it’s funny how the so-called big names in American boxing always have a handy reason not to fight me.”
Good excuses from Hopkins ….he knows the calibre of Calzaghe and the easier fight is Maskaev at a weight easier for him to make, thats not taking away anything from Hopkins who was a good champ and would be a difficult test for Joe. Put simply every dog has its day and Bhops had his,,now time to cash in on the easy money fights.
Everyone should remember its Bhop ducking the fight,,at least Joe tried.
Expect to see Hopkins beat Maskaev on points with his speed,,pretty similar to the ruiz /rjj.
Everybody should remember that X is an old man now too. There’s no reason for him to take that fight. Calzaghe’s a great boxer, but an unknown to America at-large. There’s not enough juice there for X, but there is plenty for Calzaghe.
i dont know if u can call it ducking. those are all very reasonable ‘excuses’. hopkins just dosent want to be another roy jones story…. losing to fighters he could beat and losing because of weight ect…..
There’s just no reason for B-Hop to fight Calzaghe. For him it’s either move up in weight, or stay retired.
B-hop ducking Joe Calzaghe just because he doesn’t take the fight? Following your logic, then Joe is ducking Kessler because Kessler has called him out. More importantly, B-hop is retired and is 41. He in fact has nothing to gain. Joe does have something to gain by fighting Kessler—unifying the title and being the only Super Middleweight champ. Don’t BS yourself. Joe should worry less about trying to draw famous fighters out of retirement and concentrate on the abundant talent at super middle, middle and light heavy he could fight to earn some better rep and scratch. He’ll need it after that awful fight against Silka.
I think Joe should begin negotiating with Kessler. That would be a big fight in the states and an even larger fight in Denmark or the U.K
Razor,,,Bhop cant be retired if hes gonna fight Maskaev and if you look at new of the worlds website at F.Warrens articles you see Calzaghe isnt ducking Kessler,,in fact since Bhop has turned down Joe then headway has been made to fight Kessler however ,,now Kesslers team are starting to move their goal posts to fight Calzaghe and requesting different terms to what was initially agreed,,,so now Kesslers team are putting up excuses,,,these scenarios have always been the case in Joes career with big name fighters ducking him because he is a real danger man,,,however im sure Warren will get some arrangement with Kesslers team. I hope when Kessler is beaten that Winky will fight Joe,,Winky is a class act and it will be good to see a severe test to Calzaghe although Kessler will be no walk over. The time has come to see who will put up or shut up,,,like i said before ,,all Joe can do is keep trying.
Joe C is seriously dreaming.
B-HOP WILL NOT FIGHT YOU, JOE!!!!!!
GIVE IT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!
FIGHT KESSLER INSTEAD!!!!!!!!
Fighters always say that someone is ducking them when that someone has better things to do, when if fact there is other talent for the first fighter to go after. If Hopkins were to fight him just to fight him with no motivation on Hopkins part that just doesn’t make sense, at least for Hopkins. I think Joe better go down that long list.
Stop messing around Joe, fight Kessler, I believe you can beat him, he didn’t look that good against Mundine who has improved since then. That’s why Kessler wanted Danny Green to beat Anthony Mundine, he didn’t want to face Mundine again.
B-dog…he’s not going to fight Olev because no one is going to pay him 20 million, which he has stated over and over again he won’t take a penny less to unretire. And I doubt that Calzaghe/Warren will give him that sort of money. Essentially B-hop is in the catbird seat…either 20 million or stayed retired. I mean, who wouldn’t unretire for that kind of money. C’mon Bulldog, I know you love you some Joe but do you really believe B-hop would duck ANY fight? Regardless the best fight, hands down, is with Kessler. That’s the fight everyone wants to see. I so hope that Kessler and Joe get to go. What a fight. I only hope Joe’s habit of pulling out doesn’t soil those plans.
And when I say “pulling out” I mean that his hands hold up from injury, not that he’s scared. I know he loves to scrap but has a history of being injury-prone.
Hopkins will fight Maskaev before he fights a Calzaghe type. There is more money fighting Maskaev than there is Calzaghe. The caliber of Calzaghe has nothing to do with the choice of who Hopkins fights. It’s quite simple do the math. It’s the old axiom in Boxing. The Bigger they are the more money they bring.
Anybody that says Hopkins is “ducking” is out of his mind.Your acting like B-Hop is in his prime, and still hungry for fame and fortune.If its a fight calsucky is looking for than let him fight someone who is still looking for the big time American fights he is.
B-Hop would defeat any Joe or Olev easily…he showed that against Tarver and he knows he cant get off to a slow start…if he unretires he will beat who ever he faces…YES, He’s that GOOD! think about it, who has he really lost to since his UD loss to Roy Jones….no matter what the record states he beat Taylor up(although Jermain got the decision) Hopkins would kill Calzaghe…no doubt
Cant blame Joe for trying to get Hopkins in a fight. I doubt it will happen but if it does I think it would be close and it should be at light heavy.Why would X want to go down to supermiddle when he looked that good at LH.
Hopkins is now the new DLH, the cash cow.
Calzaghe needs to stop calling out retired 41 year old career middleweights. There are plenty of other fights out there for him starting with Kessler. Besides Kessler who is the obvious choice, there’s also Adamek or Briggs at light heavy. They put on a heck of show on the undercard of Valuev, and either of them would give Joe a good fight.
Nearly everyone has stated that joe would need to come to the states to prove himself, and now that time has come americans would rather him fight Mikkel kessler. Hopkins is on another level when compared to Kessler and his fight record is much like Joe’s, all the reason joe wants this fight. After Hopkins performance against Tarver it seems he would be a great fight for Calzaghe. Maybe Joe should offer to fight him at lightheavy.
Before Calzaghe says that BHop is ducking him he should know this; Hopkins has done DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING, and he’s done next to nothing. Beating Jeff Lacy, while impressive, pales in comparison to the Excecutioner’s track record. As the top light-heavy in the world, the only thing to keep him around is a crack at a heavyweight championship! He’d only be doing Calzaghe a favor by coming down in weight to face him! Calzaghe needs to thoroughlly clean out his own division and then, provided Hopkins is still interested, beg Bernard for a match. If he wants to pull somebody’s card so bad, why not try Jermain Taylor, since they’re closer in weight. If he can beat HIM, then maybe he can make a case for his claims that Hopkins is ducking him. Until then, he looks like he’s trying to cash in off of Lacy, because his track record does not justify calling ANYONE, much less Hopkins, a coward.
Phillip, like you said, it would be a great fight for Calzaghe. But it takes two to tango. Hopkins is not interested. It is not an American thing.
AMERICAN’S MAKE ME LAUGH!!!!
If you asked Bernard Hopkins who he had more chance of beating…Joe Calzaghe (42-0) or Oleg Maskaev (33-5) we all know damn well what he would say..or def what he’s thinking.
I agree that fighting Joe Calzaghe is a backward step for him because firstly he would lose on points and secondly its the same weight division.
Its obvious Hopkins wants to fight Oleg because he’s a weak heavyweight champion and would make Bernard look like a God in the fact that gullible americans would exclaim “Oh my God…he’s the heavyweight champion now aswell!!!! theres nothing he can’t do!” HAHA yes there is…beat Wladimir Klitschko…a true heavyweight, i mean come on…Oleg has been knocked out cold by Lance Whitaker, Corey Sanders and Kirk Johnson, and David Tua…he’s hardly an elite heavyweight.
Another thing that gets my gripe, is that fact Jermaine Taylor is listed as the no.4 best pound4pound boxer in the world, utter b*llocks…yeah he beat Bernard Hopkins on pts who is now 41 years old and at the end of his career…what other legends has he beat???? aswell as the fact he only had 25 fights.
Joe Calzaghe has had 42 Fights 42 Wins….has beat Chris Eubank, Robin Reid, Byron Mitchell, Charles Brewer, Omar Sheikah (When he was undefeated) and the next american hype…Jeff “the new tyson” Lacey…has any boxer going into a word title fight as an underdog ever won every single round of the fight..other than JOE>>>>Answers here please
…But yet Calzaghe is only rated no.10 in the best pound4pound..i mean to get to no.4 like Jermaine..what has he got to do?? beat Jermaine, B-Hop, Roy Jones, Tarver and Lacey???? its ridiculous and proves how dissillusioned america is about their boxers…
I mean Lennox Lewis had to beat Holyfield (TWICE), Tua, Klitshcko..knock out Tyson, Briggs, and grant before he got any credit.
Anyway just start accepting that Calzaghe is a worthy champion, just because he hasnt fought in precious America, does not make him less of a fighter…anyone who has been put in front of him he has beaten CLEARLY.
Can’t wait till Hatton fights Mayweather, if it ever does happen…if Floyd does win he certainly won’t be called “Pretty” anymore.
Hatton is a true, modest, down to earth Warrior.
If Calzaghe fights Kessler and wins convincingly, he’ll definitely move up the pound-for-pound list. Not by fighting retired legends or lower weight classes with some name value. It’s really as simple as that.
And I’d love to see Pretty Boy in a small ring with Hatton.
Johnny(England), you’re off your British rocker if you think Calzaghe is even remotely to be considered a match for the great Hopkins. Bernard would destroy this guy at light-heavy, that’s why the fight was proposed at super-middle!! Calzaghe has obviously got you fooled with that win over Lacy, because you really think beating Jeff makes Joe the man. We’ll see what happens when he runs into that young, fast, strong buzzsaw known as Jermain Taylor. If Joey C wins THAT fight, we can talk about Hopkins. Hope he looks better than he did in his LAST match!!!!!
Oh, yeah, Ricky Hatton has no business at 147 and he’ll get the business end of a good American ass-whuppin’ if he ever faces Mayweather.
johnny england, what legends has cal fought? none. jeff lacy is not a legend. Jt will give your boy joe a savage beating. thats why cal is taking on the tarver plan, try and fight legends older than yourself, instead of building a resume the hard way.
why would an american take a fight with calzaghe, when it will get cancelled if the man gets a hang nail? how many times has his hand been “hurt?” no kidding your hand hurts, its boxing, everyones hand hurts, you punch stuff for a living.
if cal had balls hed come over here like hatton did. but he doesnt and he hasnt yet.
Ra Ra Ra….The only credit i can give to hopkins is the fact he defended his belt for so long and the fact he beat felix trinidad at the time felix was undefeated, other than that he lost twice to JT,
Lost to Roy Jones and Clinton Mitchell??? and drew with mercado even though he got put on his arse TWICE.
Diggy: before you say yeh but he beat Oscar, Oscar should not of even fought at that weight and he was over the hill then anyway..he had just lost to mosely and we all know he lost to felix sturm, but yet again american judges fixed the fight so millions could be made arranging the hopkins-oscar fight.
Mendoza jew: Is Chris Eubank not a legend? he knocked out any american that got in his way in the 90’s, check his record.
…and does hopkins fighting over the hill champions make him a legend then? other than jermaine taylor who bhop lost to TWICE…the last time Bhop fought anyone under 30 years old was Trinidad nearly 6 years ago!!!!!!!!!
You know what i dont even want Calzaghe to fight hopkins..cuz if JC did beat him it would then be “yeh but hopkins had retired..he was 41..ra ra ra” Hopkins is confused, it is a backward step for Joe not him.
1) I will explain why Joe deserves to fight big names and so called legends…he has a record of 42-0 with no BS decisions…anyone who has taken him to points has lost unanimously, with the exception of robin reid.
2) He has been world champion for 9 years
3) He is about to equal Hopkins record for defence’s and will hopefully go on to overtake joe louis’s of 26
4) He is in the top 10 best pound4pound fighters in the world
5) He is one of two fighters in boxing history to win Amateur ABA titles consecutively at 3 different weight classes
6) AS ABOVE: Has any boxer gone into a world title fight as an underdog and won every round on a scorecard? other than Joe
7) Joe had over 70 Amateur fights before he turned pro, losing only 2 on points and in 1 fight he lost the referee was the father of his opponent.
Think iv’e proved my point why Joe doesn’t need to beg anyone.
Calzaghe will fight Kessler win on points, then go to USA and beat J Taylor…watch this space and get back to me.
Regards.
ABOUT THE HAND
For the last 4 years Joe Calzaghe has had hand troubles..including breaking it twice, why would he lie? if he has an xray and a qualified doctor tells him its broken…then its broken..if you then carry on boxing where your job is to use your fist to punch someone skull as hard as you can, then surely there will be re-occurances of your injury?????
Im sure it didn’t help his cause by bouncing a 1000 punches off Lacey’s head.
As for the Bika fight, it wasnt the prettiest..but joe showed he can adapt when your fighting one of the dirtiest fighters around.
Bika headbutted him at least 4 times causing a cut needing 6 stitch’s the first cut in joe’s career and reigning in numerous low blows aswell as swinging in a haymaker after the bell had sounded.
A win is a win is a win. Joe admitted he tried to slug the fight out, which was wrong to do, but he still emerged victorious.
and yes he has had a few stinkers in his time including a fight against Evans Ashira…oh yeah the guy he beat with one hand…as he had broken the other one in the 4th round..but im sure he was lying, joe really just wanted to duck a fight with Lacey. hahaha
ducking a fight where he then went on to hammer Lacy during…
you cant be serious. eubank is a legend? on what planet? very good fighter not a legend.
if cal had bawlz hed do what hatton has done. or hed even not backout of fights like he did with johnson cause he hurt his pinky. his backing out of fights above all else makes him less respectable, no excuse will change that
I see that quite a few of you Brits are on these boards flapping your yaps. I’ll admit you are pretty engaging and quite sincere in backing up your opinions with other opinions. I like fellows with some spunk. But your boys are going to fall and fall hard when they step up and meet the best competition out there whether they be American, Latin American or whatever. And I’m taking all your names down and sticking them to my bullentin board and I am going to call you all out so I can gloat and I’m starting with you Johnny England. Yeah, it is not so funny now is it?
I can not debate boxing with a man who called eubank a legend. johhny england is a silly goose
Well Eubank is a legendary boxer in Britain just like our man Winston Churchill was as a politician, not that you would have a clue who that is, without doing a search on wikipedia.
Anyway i will close my mouth, i have no right to cast my opinion and discuss my views with intellectuals like yourselves.
I mean what boxing fact have you spoke about? other joe is crap, joe hasnt got the balls????
Anyway the leader of your country is George Bush, CASE CLOSED