Peter Manfredo Jnr vs Joe Calzaghe

[Troll Virus]

calzaghe could have done him in the first... manfredo was shit, scared and out of his league. joe is one of the best of all time let alone one of the best pound for pound just now! even sugar ray said it after the fight. pisses me off why he doesnt get the recognition... talyor just bottled it from fighting him and kessler wont either. currently joint with record title defenses, will break the record with his next fight no doubt and probably retire undefeated!

I hope Calzaghe goes on to get the recognition he deserves.
He's not only a technical boxer, but his heart is enormous too.
America better have much better boxers 'in class' than Manfredo, if they want to see him off.
Joe is getting on a bit now (in terms of age).
I'd like to see him offered the platform we in the know (in the UK at least), know he's due.

[wado_kai]

calzaghe could have done him in the first... manfredo was shit, scared and out of his league. joe is one of the best of all time let alone one of the best pound for pound just now! even sugar ray said it after the fight. pisses me off why he doesnt get the recognition... talyor just bottled it from fighting him and kessler wont either. currently joint with record title defenses, will break the record with his next fight no doubt and probably retire undefeated!

[Uke]

Hey Mike Brewer, did you catch the Diego Corrales/Joshua Clottey fight? I only caught it from round 9. I'll catch it the next time its aired, but from what I saw it was a better fight that the Calzaghe/Manfredo fight. Check it out if you haven't already.

[Uke]

Great assessment, and kudos for pointing out a very tough-to-see silver lining.

I just feel bad for Manfredo (who I really suspected was trying to run Calzaghe out of gas a little by laying on the ropes) for having to take a knockout loss on a bullshit call.

Thanks.

But I'll say this:

If Manfredo let's this loss dictate the reast of his career, he was never a true "contender" from the start. He's a kid with a future ahead of him if his handlers bring him up correctly. We both know that Manfredo wasn't ready for Calzaghe at this stage in his career. This was sort of a sideshow, and being that I know that you know boxing, I'm confident that you know that too. Manfredo's real selling point was the fact that he had exposure on "The Contender" reality show. He got exposure that other boxers at his level would DIE FOR. So, they brought him over to let him face Calzaghe, and hoped that it would generate enough interest to make Calzaghe look like he did something big so that American fans who didn't see the Lacy fight could place his face with a fight.

Manfredo, if he's smart, works hard and is game, will have other opportunities.

[Uke]

I just saw the replay. Biggest B.S. stoppage of all time.

I know Calzaghe would have likely won, barring a very lucky shot by Manfredo. But this was a classic example of wrong, nearly criminal example of a hometown decision. Unfair to Peter, no matter how likely the same outcome may have been.

I agree with you 100% Mike. But I like to think that its the ref's incompetence and not a fix for the hometown hero. If you look at it that way it leaves less of a bad taste in your mouth. The ref seemed like he thought the fighter was taking too many unanswered punches, which from our perspective we saw wasn't true. But all in all it still showed that Calzaghe was in no danger from Manfredo's offense. That's for sure.

But look at it this way. Bad stoppage or not, it gets Calzaghe on American cable where fans can see him and want him to fight big names here. Its not such a loss if you see it that way. It was a horrible stoppage, but at least Calzaghe will have more opportunity to show his stuff stateside.

[Uke]

Not at all.
I've followed Joe's career for about ten years now, ever since he beat a favourite of min in Chris Eubanks.

Joe has notorious trouble with his hands, having broken them several times.
He's not going to overcommit on someone so plainly 'easy to hit' as Manfredo, and jeapordise his further career..

Ahhh ... see it was the communication that was in question. I thought you meant that Calzaghe was taking it easy on Manfredo, which would be false. But it turns out that you were saying that he has bad hands that force him to pitty pat hit, which means that Manfredo wasn't in any real trouble.

The stoppage was premature, but the ref saw it as too much contact and no reply. It wasn't about danger to the fighter.

That won't happen against an upper level fight of Hopkins, Wright or Taylor's caliber.

That's not a knock on Calzaghe, just my way of saying that Lacey is no Wright, Hopkins or Taylor.

[Troll Virus]

If you believe that Calzaghe was holding back to avoid hurting Manfredy, then you've been misled, my good man.

Not at all.
I've followed Joe's career for about ten years now, ever since he beat a favourite of min in Chris Eubanks.

Joe has notorious trouble with his hands, having broken them several times.
He's not going to overcommit on someone so plainly 'easy to hit' as Manfredo, and jeapordise his further career..

[Uke]

They were landing on Manfredo's arms and gloves because he was covering up for dear life, throwing nothing back.
If the ref hadn't stopped it, Calzaghe would have been left with no alternative but to hurt him.
He gave him a couple of slaps for turning his back in the previous round.

If you believe that Calzaghe was holding back to avoid hurting Manfredy, then you've been misled, my good man.

Well now he finally get's the shot he's deserved for a long long time hopefully.

Yes, he should get a couple of shots.

*Ahem.[cough]Silver Medallist in the Olympic games/[.cough]
I doubt there's anyone more aware of what he still has to do than Amir Khan.

A silver medal doesn't always reflect how well a boxer will do. I've got one name for you: Ricardo Williams. Check that out when you get a chance.

Ahmed always had ego issues.

This is true, but his ego wasn't unfounded.

I can see why you draw the comparison.
Nothing to do with them both being Asian/Muslim.
They're (were) both very sharp and explosive, using great angles and timing.

Truth will out when Khan takes a good shot to the chin.
That'll mark the man for what he could be.
Just need to find someone fast enough to clock him one.
Wonder who it will be.

Hamed showed a lot more promise than Khan from the start. He was to be the next big thing and could have been had he been able to swallow his pride and do what a experienced trainer told him to do. Another big mistake Hamed made was hiring Stewart as his trainer. Stewart can only train big, long armed tall fighters like Lewis and the Klitschko's. When other fights go under Stewart's tutelage like Hamed and Vivian Harris you'll see them lose against good competition.

[Troll Virus]

The theme of this fight was speed beats courage.

You didn't get a chance to see if Manfredy had anything that he could have done because he was overwhelmed with a barrage of punches. However, it was clear that the punches weren't hurting the Manfredy. It was a premature stoppage.

If you watch the replay, most of Calzaghe's punches were landing on Manfredy's arms and gloves. But, Manfredy wasn't returning fire at all. In boxing that's enough sometimes depending on how keen the ref's eye is to stop the fight. Tonight was one of those nights.

They were landing on Manfredo's arms and gloves because he was covering up for dear life, throwing nothing back.
If the ref hadn't stopped it, Calzaghe would have been left with no alternative but to hurt him.
He gave him a couple of slaps for turning his back in the previous round.

All in all, I have to say that Calzaghe is a rare commodity in boxing. He didn't surprise me by beating Lacey though, as everyone had questions about how Lacey was struggling for wins as it was. But the way he took apart Lacey was pretty much no different than the ease in which he did it tonight.

I have to give Calzaghe credit, and hope that he does what's necessary to pursue bigger fights in the states.

Well now he finally get's the shot he's deserved for a long long time hopefully.

As far as Amir Khan goes Troll Virus, don't write his ticket just yet. He's got a long way to go before anyone can say that he's proved something.

*Ahem.[cough]Silver Medallist in the Olympic games/[.cough]
I doubt there's anyone more aware of what he still has to do than Amir Khan.

Don't forget about Prince Naseem Hamed. He was about as talked about as it gets and we see where he ended up. Talent and a good performances against euro-journeymen does not always equal championship success.

Ahmed always had ego issues.

Hamed is the blueprint that proves that. Personally, I don't see Khan as powerful or as talented as Hamed, but maybe he has the mental toughness to hold it together in places where Hamed couldn't.

I can see why you draw the comparison.
Nothing to do with them both being Asian/Muslim.
They're (were) both very sharp and explosive, using great angles and timing.

Truth will out when Khan takes a good shot to the chin.
That'll mark the man for what he could be.
Just need to find someone fast enough to clock him one.
Wonder who it will be.

[Uke]

The theme of this fight was speed beats courage.

You didn't get a chance to see if Manfredy had anything that he could have done because he was overwhelmed with a barrage of punches. However, it was clear that the punches weren't hurting the Manfredy. It was a premature stoppage.

If you watch the replay, most of Calzaghe's punches were landing on Manfredy's arms and gloves. But, Manfredy wasn't returning fire at all. In boxing that's enough sometimes depending on how keen the ref's eye is to stop the fight. Tonight was one of those nights.

All in all, I have to say that Calzaghe is a rare commodity in boxing. He didn't surprise me by beating Lacey though, as everyone had questions about how Lacey was struggling for wins as it was. But the way he took apart Lacey was pretty much no different than the ease in which he did it tonight.

I have to give Calzaghe credit, and hope that he does what's necessary to pursue bigger fights in the states.

As far as Amir Khan goes Troll Virus, don't write his ticket just yet. He's got a long way to go before anyone can say that he's proved something. Don't forget about Prince Naseem Hamed. He was about as talked about as it gets and we see where he ended up. Talent and a good performances against euro-journeymen does not always equal championship success.

Hamed is the blueprint that proves that. Personally, I don't see Khan as powerful or as talented as Hamed, but maybe he has the mental toughness to hold it together in places where Hamed couldn't.

[Troll Virus]

Blink and you missed it.

Stoppage 1:29 in round three.

Calzaghe took Manfredo apart.
A real boxing lesson.

I'd like to apologise to Americans watching this, for the unsportsmanlike booing during the National Anthem.

Manfredo and Calzaghe conducted themselves as gentlemen and are a credit to the sport.

I hope Manfredo learns a lot from this, and continues.

[Troll Virus]

Kicking off soon.
US vs UK.

American coverage on HBO.
UK coverage on ITV1.

I have a lot of respect for Manfredo.

Calzaghe too, has enormous heart.

Calzaghe for me has too much experience for Manfredo.
Should be a good match.

If you get a chance to watch the full bill.
Look out ofr another rising UK star in Amir Khan.
Former Olympic silver medallist, Amir has tremendous speed, accuracy and focus.