In the latest boxing news, undefeated super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe has recently stated that he doesn’t think it’s possible to set up a bout with American Bernard Hopkins in the near future, saying that he’s gone nowhere in negotiations with the 42 year-old fighter, whom has appeared reluctant to get in the ring with the Welshman. Hopkins made an offer to Calzaghe but apparently it was well below the asking price that Calzaghe would expect to get for a clash of this magnitude.
For this reason, Calzaghe is looking elsewhere for another opponent, possibly International Boxing Federation light heavyweight Clinton Woods, who Calzaghe has been in negotiations with for a bout in early next year. The fight would be less important to Americans, however, since Woods is from England, yet the fight would still be quite popular in that neck of the woods and would bring Calzaghe, 35, another good payday while he waits for Hopkins to come to his senses.
Calzaghe obviously would prefer to fight Hopkins, but for lack of serious interest from him, it leaves Calzaghe very little options, aside from taking less money that he expected, and waiting until July 4th, the far away date that Hopkins has selected as when he would like to get in the ring with Calzaghe.
Calzaghe had this to say about Hopkins, “I’m prepared to fight Hopkins in the US. We’ve told him that already,” he said. “He can even pick the referee; I don’t care, I just want the fight. I’m not intimidated by Hopkins – why should I be? He’s a 42-year-old who throws eight punches a round. He doesn’t scare me in the slightest.”
Calzaghe doesn’t want to wait until July 4th, feeling that it’s too much time between his last fight with Mikkel Kessler. Hopkins, however, is perfectly comfortable with taking long stretches of time off between bouts and it seems not to effect him very much. Though, Hopkins has beaten far less offensively skilled fighters – Winky Wright and Antonio Tarver – than Calzaghe, so it will be interesting to see how he’ll do against Calzaghe, if they do finally get in the ring with one another.