Should be a better fight than the bika one. As long as his hands hold out, Joe should win by KO late on. Looking forward to it - if he wins he really needs to fight some big Americans Bernard Hopkins or Taylor to cement his greatness. However i dont see why he should have to fight in America. He is the champ, so they should come over here to fight. Although if he did beat them over there he would get more exposure i guess.
Yeah the Bika fight was... meh. I think the reason he would have to fight in the US is the far greater amount of media exposure he'd get by doing so. That sort of exposure would inevitabley translate into far more money for the fighter and his camp. I've always wished there was more bouts between the UK and US fighters. Sure would be great for boxing fans.
I agree he'll get more exposure, but the same rules don't apply to Americans. How many times has Hopkins fought abroad? One? Roy Jones refused to fight anywhere else. It is rare for an American Champ to chance it and go to the challengers Country. Why really should Calzaghe be expected to do it when the Americans aren't? They can still see his fights on TV/internet if they want to. I think Calzaghe will wipe Manfredo out pretty quickly if he is on form. 2-3 rounds I say, if that.
Of course the same rules don't apply. The media empire of the UK is... err... not nearly as big as that of America.. it certainly wouldn't garner the same numbers and so by extension it wouldn't garner the same amount of money for anyone involved. At the end of the day... it's a profession... so money is key. Again... it's about money. It's about venue. It's about broadcasting rights. If someone wants a belt that Hopkins holds and the organization sanctioning that belt are in the US... then why shouldn't they go to the US to fight? Again... if Calzaghe wants the mass media dollars, the attention and the fame that pretty much means that he's gotta fight it in the US. I don't think he'll get anywhere near the same level of promotion and numbers of viewers in the UK. I think this has more to do with big media dollars and mega TV/cable networks than anything else. The US is undeniably the capitol of mass media. So if a fighter wants those kind of rewards he has to play the game. I'm not saying it's neccessarily right... but that's the way it is.
Slip the jab mentions: I think this has more to do with big media dollars and mega TV/cable networks than anything else. The US is undeniably the capitol of mass media. So if a fighter wants those kind of rewards he has to play the game. I'm not saying it's neccessarily right... but that's the way it is. __________________ I'll say; Very true, if you want the big bucks, the pond has to be crossed and you need to go to the U S of A. Sort of what the Vikings had to do Travel for rich's. As long as the fighter is able to have good people in his corner and he can take the politics, it will be better for him financially. Joe wants some more dough but he is very smart, and if things are not right, I believe he would rather retire, undefeated. I think he will win the next one. I'd like to see him fight Mikkel. He has a great life, what more can you ask for? Security and belief in one's self is very comforting. To change your whole being is not the best advise IMHO... Gary
But in America Calzaghe will not be able to attract the crowds he does in Wales or England. I think I read there will be 35,000 in attendance for this fight. The last time I saw a fight in Vegas was the Roy Jones/ Ruiz fight at the Thomas and Mack. It was sold out but only held arong 15,000 I think.
I dunno... obviously some of it depends on the venue. But the fight money isn't dependant on venue alone. Many viewers will be doing it PPV... so that's something to consider. As well, if Calzaghe did take on a fighter like Mayweather or someone with enough draw... you can be sure their will be a crowd. If they did it in Philly... they'd probably make it a national holiday! Frankly I wish we did see more UK fighters over in the US. It'd liven things up a whole lot more. I always try to pay attention to what's going on in the UK boxing scene. As I'm in a former colony we have a select core of UK boxing fans so that's not too hard to keep up with.
Calzaghe is going to murder him, Manfredo just isn't in the same class. Who is?!? If Calzaghe went for the whole fame and flamboyant thing he would be as famous as any other boxer in recent history.
I believe he looks at things like days of old and men who have gone before him in the area he calls home. http://www.johnnyowen.com/jim_driscoll.html Cool website. Regards, Gary
I dunno... it hardly counts as much of a title defense I suppose. He need a challenger who is actually in the same league. There was no way Manfredo was ever going to get the upper hand let alone seriously threaten the title. It was stopped a bit early... but that's good for both fighters... Good that Manfredo didn't take any further beating - which was inevitable. But also good for Calzaghe so that it didn't highlight the fact that is was a rather lacklustre defense. Manfredo? Come on. Surely they can come up with more believable opponents than that.
How many of you think we're ever going to see Calzaghe against any of the other greats in his weight division? He completely dismantled Jeff Lacey. What about these Americans? Winky Wright? Jermain Taylor? Bernard Hopkins? Given that Wales is pretty much the land of Rugby players... not boxers... can anyone think of the last Welshman that was this quality of boxer?
Lol, the problem, as Barry McGuigan pointed out after the fight, is that for some unknown reason the Americans dont think Calzaghe can fight, they were convinced Lacy was gonna beat him up and they believed Manfredo deserved to be in the same ring as Joe. Apparently, according to Warren there is hope of a big fight in July, maybe with Hopkins.
Yep. He was just starting to get a boxing lesson, and would have lost (based on the evidence). But he wasn't hurt at all. So I think the ref stepped in too soon. Anyway, no harm done.
Maybe he stepped in a little early but he was going to take a beating. Cal needs to fight the Americans out there, it would be a damn shame if he dosent, it will stain his career. He will beat them all im sure but he needs to do it soon which i think he will. It would jusy be nice for him to just shut up all the critics who claim he only deals with bums.
You can see the referees point though, if you stand there and dont make any attempt to fight back when you are being pummelled you could be hurt. If the referee had let that continue and then Manfredo had died or been brain damaged we would all be leaping on him saying he should have stopped the fight earlier. Fact is, Manfredo was never going to win that fight and he knew he wasn't going to win that fight. Even if Calzaghe had broken his hand in the third round, I still would have bet on Calzaghe to beat him.
