So what's with the Calzaghe hate?

[Magooglie]

I like Calzaghe.

 

[Cracky]

I dunno.. the most memorable punches of the fight were thrown by Hop. Cal doesnt do anything memorable.
Had Cal tried to beat Hop to the punch everytime he set up to throw that sloppy right cross, he might have dominated... but he was too afraid to try and lead Hop. He wanted hop to lead so he could block it and then flurry before hop tied up. He knew the game hop was playing and he played right along. He's just as guilty for the fight being boring.

 

[Czechvarmander]

I dunno.. the most memorable punches of the fight were thrown by Hop. Cal doesnt do anything memorable.
Had Cal tried to beat Hop to the punch everytime he set up to throw that sloppy right cross, he might have dominated... but he was too afraid to try and lead Hop. He wanted hop to lead so he could block it and then flurry before hop tied up. He knew the game hop was playing and he played right along. He's just as guilty for the fight being boring.

Zag put his arms in the air and air-humped the back of BHop after the first low blow.

I thought that was pretty memorable, and judging by your sig you should totally be into stuff like that, eh?

 

[krazylarry]

Calzaghe is the man.

 

[joemalorx]

I think the hate for Calzaghe comes from the fact that he's not american and people are reluctant to admit a foreigner is any good. People act like he gets props for something he "doesn't deserve because he hasn't beaten anyone". Even further, when he does beat someone (Lacy, Kessler, BHop) people find some fault with the opponent rather than give credit to Joe Cool. Lacy was overrated, Kessler was unproven and Hopkins was done. It isn't the first time it has happened with a foreigner fighter and it wont be the last.

 

[Cold_Sun]

I dunno.. the most memorable punches of the fight were thrown by Hop. Cal doesnt do anything memorable.
Had Cal tried to beat Hop to the punch everytime he set up to throw that sloppy right cross, he might have dominated... but he was too afraid to try and lead Hop. He wanted hop to lead so he could block it and then flurry before hop tied up. He knew the game hop was playing and he played right along. He's just as guilty for the fight being boring.

It's hard for anyone to look good against Hopkins.

 

[Czechvarmander]

I think the hate for Calzaghe comes from the fact that he's not american and people are reluctant to admit a foreigner is any good. People act like he gets props for something he "doesn't deserve because he hasn't beaten anyone". Even further, when he does beat someone (Lacy, Kessler, BHop) people find some fault with the opponent rather than give credit to Joe Cool. Lacy was overrated, Kessler was unproven and Hopkins was done. It isn't the first time it has happened with a foreigner fighter and it wont be the last.

C'mon, Mayweather is American and people hate on him hardcore, ODLH is given flack for the fact he is American. Pac and Cotto have huge fan bases here and abroad.

Most people would rank Calzaghe as a top P4P fighter, he's earned it, that doesn't mean he's above reproach and that he doesn't still slap like crazy.

You yourself called Hop "done" in the other thread, so aren't you bringing down Cal?

Trying to grasp at an American bias in one of the most global, foreign heavy sports around is wildly ignorant.

 

[axion]

C'mon, Mayweather is American and people hate on him hardcore, ODLH is given flack for the fact he is American. Pac and Cotto have huge fan bases here and abroad.

Most people would rank Calzaghe as a top P4P fighter, he's earned it, that doesn't mean he's above reproach and that he doesn't still slap like crazy.

You yourself called Hop "done" in the other thread, so aren't you bringing down Cal?

Trying to grasp at an American bias in one of the most global, foreign heavy sports around is wildly ignorant.

I would say if I had any bias it would be toward "the rest of the world" and against "the USA" (there, I said it), but I found myself in favour of Hopkins and had him ahead on the scorecard. It may have had something to do with the horribly biased British commentary I was listening to, basically accusing the American judges of partisanship halfway through the fight when one of them ended up scoring 116-111 for Calzaghe!

Just a quick browse in this forum and I've seen much more Hopkins hate, dirty fighter, faking damage from low blows, no class etc. He may not have fought the prettiest fight, but he he was in there to win.

 

[mt006]

Just a quick browse in this forum and I've seen much more Hopkins hate, dirty fighter, faking damage from low blows, no class etc. He may not have fought the prettiest fight, but he he was in there to win.

Apart from the dirty fighting, and Joe "Firm but fair" Cortez running the fight for Hopkins benefit (like he did for Mayweather) the main lack of class is Hopkins mouth

Joe after the fight could have brought up that "I aint gonna lose to a white man" comment but he didnt.

He said that the fight was ahrd, Hopkins a good fighter etc etc

Hopkins "The fans know who won the fight" Didnt like the scorecard and seemed to refuse to respond to the point that Joe landed more punches than any other fighter he fought.

Classless

 

[nickbackstreet]

The people that hate on Calzaghe will never stop. They get proven wrong every fight but come back with a new arguement each time, whilst disregarding each of his opponents only after they lose to him:

Before the Lacy fight it was all about how "baby Tyson" would completley expose him and KO him. Instead Joe schooled him so badly that Lacy has never been the same fighter since. The same people bigging Lacy up then decalared him 'green' and 'overhyped'.

Similar arguements were put forward about how Kessler was too youthful and to strong for Joe, yet after another Calzaghe masterclass, he was labelled as a 'one-dimensional' eurobum.

In the next few weeks i'm sure we'll hear more and more about how Joe was 'lucky' to beat an old, past-it Hopkins.

Truth is, even if Joe dominated a prime RJJ people would still find a reason to disregard his victory.

 

[axion]

Apart from the dirty fighting, and Joe "Firm but fair" Cortez running the fight for Hopkins benefit (like he did for Mayweather) the main lack of class is Hopkins mouth

Joe after the fight could have brought up that "I aint gonna lose to a white man" comment but he didnt.

He said that the fight was ahrd, Hopkins a good fighter etc etc

Hopkins "The fans know who won the fight" Didnt like the scorecard and seemed to refuse to respond to the point that Joe landed more punches than any other fighter he fought.

Classless

See I guess thats where being somewhat ignorant is an advantage. I don't follow boxing that much except for just watching the big fights or fights that hold interest for me. I didn't follow the build up to this fight and didn't see the post fight interviews. I consider myself pretty impartial for those reasons. I can't help but think that most of the people with strong opinions on the outcome of this fight were swayed by their emotions. Anything pre-fight, post-fight, even the supposed overreaction from the low blows has to be disregarded if you're going to judge the fight fairly.

 

[Czechvarmander]

I would say if I had any bias it would be toward "the rest of the world" and against "the USA" (there, I said it), but I found myself in favour of Hopkins and had him ahead on the scorecard. It may have had something to do with the horribly biased British commentary I was listening to, basically accusing the American judges of partisanship halfway through the fight when one of them ended up scoring 116-111 for Calzaghe!

Just a quick browse in this forum and I've seen much more Hopkins hate, dirty fighter, faking damage from low blows, no class etc. He may not have fought the prettiest fight, but he he was in there to win.

The same thing generally happens to me as well when I listen to biased commentary.

I have nothing against Filipino fighters but when I watch a Filipino feed of a boxing event the same three announcers crop up and they are all pulling so hard for the hometown guy that I tend to cheer the other way. I've also found the same thing with British announcers to some degree.

This might even come off as homerism from me, but I think an announcer who does a great job of being unbiased is Canadian analyst Russ Anber. It seems he almost makes a point of it to give close rounds to the foreign fighter. He was very good on the french feed of the Diaconu - Henry fight from this weekend.

 

[MUAYTHAI]

It's hard for anyone to look good against Hopkins.

That is a good point!! Remember how bad taylor and Winky looked against b-hop! I mean b- hop makes fights ugly!!! That doesnt mean he is not a great boxer, just not an exciting one!

 

[enjoyincubus]

lets be fair though, were all british and i support Calzaghe , Hatton and Bisping 100% against any yank anyday.

posts like these are the reason why brit boxing isnt taken seriously. really..americans dont give a flying rats ass where you are from. rarely do you hear someone say they dont like pacquio because hes a filipino. we dont like calzaghe because he slaps, he calls out has beens(for the record bernard was old in his last fight) and his fans are absolutely annoying.

 

[Biggoof]

I like Joe a lot, and he's impressed me with his high intensity style. He beat Mikkel plan and simple. But I still question his chin, fighting Pavlik and winning will definitely put those question to rest.

 

[a jessup]

I like Joe a lot, and he's impressed me with his high intensity style. He beat Mikkel plan and simple. But I still question his chin, fighting Pavlik and winning will definitely put those question to rest.

Eh? Lacy and Kessler had power.

I'm a big-time Pavlik fan, but why is he the definitive test?

Kelly's great, but he's still learning on the job. I could see a wiley vet exploiting Pavlik's inexperience.

 

[Ahee. GX]

Theres no reason to hate on him.
He has clearly beaten most the fighters so he is obviously better then most the boxers out there.
But I dont agree with the fight on saturday and Im from UK.
There is no way, you can give this fight to Joe and not give Oscar De la Hoya his fight against Mayweather.
Hopkins hurt Joe much more then Joe hurt him. He knocked him down. He landed the more effectve punches. and fought on the inside alot more the Mayweather did to De La Hoya. Look at there faces at the end also. I think Joe maybe hurt him twice throughout the whole fight. and threw his little rabbit punches that didnt do much.

Unfortunetly my opinion doesnt count, but Hopkins at 43 came in and fought and I think Joe should give him a rematch. Undefeated or not Joe, if you like him or not, he wont be regarded as one of the greatest ever, because he just has too much hate, hasnt beaten too many american opponents on that side of the pond. and this last win (against a 43 year old Hopkins) wont do him any favours. He'll always be loved in britain though. Even though the welsh hate the english, the English will hang on to any glory they can, lol.

I dont know how Roy Jones Jr fights now, but I dont think he'll do a better job then Hopkins. He just has more knock out power, but dont know if he has aged as well as Jones.

 

[axion]

The same thing generally happens to me as well when I listen to biased commentary.

I have nothing against Filipino fighters but when I watch a Filipino feed of a boxing event the same three announcers crop up and they are all pulling so hard for the hometown guy that I tend to cheer the other way. I've also found the same thing with British announcers to some degree.

This might even come off as homerism from me, but I think an announcer who does a great job of being unbiased is Canadian analyst Russ Anber. It seems he almost makes a point of it to give close rounds to the foreign fighter. He was very good on the french feed of the Diaconu - Henry fight from this weekend.

The Japanese are the same, they're basically cheering on the Japanese fighter. Its the same in boxing, K-1 and MMA. I can't really understand all of it but I get the gist. The Americans are generally pretty good, can't say I've heard any Canadian commentary.

 

[lugubriousduck]

Joe Cal has a pretty good chin. He took a few decent rights from Kessler and he didn't go down. (Let's be honest. Joe Cal essentially clinched to avoid Lacy's left hook - didn't taste his power). However, his pressure style, his aggression leaves him open to sneaky shots. I remember he got caught coming in against Byron Mitchell and he was caught last Saturday in the first round against Hopkins.

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

Yup, Hops suprised Joe with that right hand. It was a textbook flash knockdown.

Notions that Calzaghe was hurt/brain scrambled and Hopkins should have jumped on him are non-sense.