In a recent article by Andrew Wake of eastsideboxing.com, an exasperated Joe Calzaghe said in an interview “Mikkel Kessler is a better fighter than Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins is just a name that would look good on my resume.” This is in regards to Calaghe’s frutration of trying to line up a fight with the elusive 42 year-old Hopkins, whom has of late been hinting that he’d prefer to fight the winner of the Felix Trinidad vs. Roy Jones jr. bout instead of Calzaghe. This, of course, could be a case of Hopkins being Hopkins, trying to get Calaghe even more desparate to fight him so that he can jack up the price for the fight. However, Calzaghe has a point: Kessler, 28, is probably better than Hopkins, a lot better, it seems to me.
Joe Calzaghe
Will Hopkins Fight Jones Instead Of Calzaghe?
Bernard Hopkins’ trainer Nazim Richardson feels that Hopkins should choose to fight Roy Jones Jr. rather than Joe Calzaghe, the current undisputed super middleweight champion, according to AP. Richardson believes that Calzaghe isn’t in Hopkins’ class, and that he would be better off fighting Jones because Hopkins still has a “score to settle” with Jones over a narrow uanimous decision loss in 1993. Over the years, both Jones and Hopkins have spoken about a rematch but they were never able to come to an agreement due to differences of opinion over who should be paid more for the bout.
Calzaghe: “Does Hopkins really want to get an ass-kicking from me?”
Undisputed super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe is reportedly tiring of Bernard Hopkins, and wants him to step up to the table and sign for the fight. Hopkins, 43, however has yet to to agree to the fight, instead throwing barbs at Calzaghe, saying that he’ll beat the English fighter. The two came close to fighting in 2002, but Hopkins wanted more money for the fight, thus an agreement couldn’t be made. This is what has Calzaghe and his promoter Frank Warren worried now – that Hopkins will make a ridiculous offer, something that will be next to impossible for the Calzaghe camp to me.
Hopkins Calzaghe: Not Many Fans Interested In This Fight
Having now beaten Mikkel Kessler in the unification bout, super middleweight Joe Calzaghe has set his sights on Bernard Hopkins as his choice for the next defense of his super middleweight title. However, there are few fans or sportswriters that have been impressed with the choice, seeing the 43 year-old Hopkins as well past his prime and not a particular fighter that Calzaghe will get much notiriety for beating. Indeed, beating a fighter as old as Hopkins is almost a no-win situation for Calzaghe, as if he does beat him handily, he won’t get much credit because of Hopkins advanced age.
Kessler Hand Injured Prior To Calzaghe Bout?
According to the latest boxing news, former World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (39-1, 29 KOs) injured his right hand three weeks before his title match with WBO champion Joe Calzaghe last Saturday night, causing Kessler to miss out on several weeks of hard sparring. If true, this would help explain the lack of power in Kessler’s right hand during the bout, as he seemed to be throwing it with much less power than he had in prior bouts during his career. Though some of the lack of power can be explained away by the fact that Kessler was missing a lot of his punches, due to the head movement from Calzaghe, hence Kessler would likely want to take off some of the steam from his punches so he could make contact.
Is Hopkins The Best Option For Calzaghe? Why Not Roy Jones Jr?
Now that WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KOs) has defeated Mikkel Kessler in the WBC/WBA unification match, most of the latest boxing news has indicated that Calzaghe will be choosing the grizzled veteran Bernard Hopkins as his next opponent rather than a younger more crowd pleasing opponent such as Kelly Pavlik. Unfortunately, Pavlik is tied up with a rematch with Jermain Taylor, so he’s out of the equation temporarily. However, the 38-year old Roy Jones Jr. should be freed up in the next 4-5 months, and would make the perfect opponent for Calzaghe to shine against.
Kessler Calzaghe: Does Anyone Care About This Fight?
As I’ve perused the many various boxing websites on the net, I’ve noticed that many of them are strangely silent about the super middleweight unification bout between undefeated World Boxing Organization champion Joe Calzaghe (43-0, 32 KOs) and World Boxing Association/World Boxing Council Super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KOs) which takes place this Saturday night. While it does appear that the fight is hugely popular in England and Denmark, many of the American boxing sites seem to have little to say about the fight aside from an article or two. Even the major cable networks, Showtime, for example, have had very commercials advertising the fight.
Sure, they’ll be showing it live, yet they’ve done a poor job of selling the fight compared to other boxing fights, such as Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., a bout which had little suspense leading up to the fight due to the match-up of an old, washed up Dela Hoya and a prime Mayweather. Still, the bout broke records and was advertised everywhere, European or American boxing sites. Part of the problem, unfortunately, is that most American sports fans have had little exposure to Calzahge, whom has held the super middleweight championship belt of the past ten years, defending the title 20 times over the course of that period.
Calzaghe Kessler: Does Joe Have a Plan B?
As World Boxing Organization super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (43-0, 32 KOs) approaches this Saturday’s bout with World Boxing Council/World Boxing Association super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KOs) at the Millennium Stadium, in Cardiff, Wales, a big questions is whether the 35-year old Calzaghe has a plan B should his slap happy style of fighting prove in effective against Kessler. Unlike Calzaghe’s mostly marginal other challengers, Kessler has an airtight defense, and excellent jab and a powerful right hand to go along with it. In Calzaghe’s previous 20 title defenses, he’s had much softer opposition, allowing him to get away with his slapping style and his wide open defense.
Perhaps Calzaghe’s best opponent to date, Sakio Bika, had him plenty worried, as the African roughed up Calzaghe in the first half of the fight and him worried and confused, asking his father, Enzo, for advice at one stage in the fight. Now, Bika’s a good fighters but he’s not in anyway in the same class as Kessler, who is clearly several runs ahead of him in talent and ring smarts. If Calzaghe goes in against Kessler with his usual slapping style, he’ll likely have much more problems than the ones that Bika presented for him.
Calzaghe Kessler: Does Joe Have Enough Power To Keep Mikkel Honest?
With little more than two weeks to go before the Super middleweight showdown between undefeated World Boxing Organization super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (43-0, 32 KOs) and World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KOs) the big question that comes to mind for many is whether Calzaghe will have the power to keep the younger, stronger Kessler on the outside where he’s much less effective. The bout, which takes place at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in Wales, will be a factor in the 35-year old Calzaghe’s favor, however, it’s not clear how much the crowd can assist Calzaghe in the way of his lack of power. Calzaghe, a fighter mainly noted for being an excellent slapper, has never had the kind of knockout power that Kessler possesses, and has been lucky up to this point in his career, only having to face mostly weaker, mediocre fighters.
Much has been made of the fact that Calzaghe has held onto the WBO super middleweight title for the past 10 years, but unknown to many fans is that the wins have come against weak opposition, much weaker than the top super middleweights that have recently risen to the top of the division. For Calzaghe, with his marginal punching power, a fight against Kessler couldn’t have come at the worst time for him in his career, because he’s clearly on the downward slope and doesn’t have more than a few good fights in him before he starts taking beatings – and suffering loses, if he continues to face tough opposition after he faces Kessler.
Kessler v Calzaghe
While boxing’s current longest-reigning world champion JOE CALZAGHE was feted today marking 10 years of superstardom and 20 consecutive successful title defenses, his opponent MIKKEL KESSLER tried to rain on Joe’s parade and issued a few choice word to The Sun’s Gavin Glicksman.
“Joe is a great champion but I’m going to beat him,” said Kessler. “I’m going to be 200 per cent better than my last fight and he’s going to get a big surprise. I’ve seen some of his fights and he’s never fought a guy like me before, that’s why he’s going to be in trouble. I hit straight, I hit hard, I hit directly. I’m going to show everyone I’m a bigger champion than he is.”