By John Hively

Photo ©Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages.com

 

Joe Calzaghe decisively defeated Mikkel Kessler on November 3 in Cardiff, and established himself as one of the greatest fighters of our generation. Now is the time to enhance his legacy by moving up in weight and fighting Bernard Hopkins for the world light heavyweight title. That’s the fight we should all want to see.

 

Such a match would pit a crafty counter puncher against an aggressive, swarming, high-octane, speed demon with lots of ring savvy. Both have good punching power. They’d likely meet at ring center and throw leather all twelve rounds. Neither would fight off the ropes or clinch a whole lot.   

 

It’s true these fighters have little to prove at this stage of their careers; except, well, maybe just a teeny little bit more.

 

Hopkins had physical advantages over the best opponents he defeated. He waited for Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Winky Wright to come up in weight to fight him, while Antonio Tarver had to shed forty pounds to defend his light heavyweight title against Bernard.

Most of the other guys Hopkins defeated during his career were pretty ordinary. In fact the rest of his twenty middleweight title defenses were against unexceptional boxers. Some were legitimate contenders, while some were less than that; and none of them are rocketing toward the Hall of Fame. Added to this is the fact that Bernard lost to Roy Jones and Jermain Taylor, the two best middleweights he ever faced.

 

When it comes to his legacy, Calzaghe has the same problem as Hopkins. Some of his twenty plus super middleweight title victories have come against legitimate contenders, but most of his opponents have been less than ordinary. Kessler, Jeff Lacy and Chris Eubank are the best pugilists he has fought.

All three were highly rated fighters when Joe whipped them. Kessler was rated by Ring magazine as the fourteenth best pound-for-pound boxer in the world when Calzaghe smoked him last Saturday. Lacy was also highly rated, but he took such a severe beating from Joe that he may never be the same again. If this is the case, then at the end of Lacy's career, people may examine his record and conclude that he was just an over-hyped dud when Calzaghe overwhelmed him. Eubank was highly rated, but in reality he was a rapidly fading pug when Joe trounced him. 

 

At this time the careers of Hopkins and Calzaghe will never be compared to the likes of Harry Greb, Henry Armstrong, Mickey Walker or Sugar Ray Robinson. Greb was a middleweight who typically weighed less than 172 pounds when he defeated Hall of Fame light heavyweights and formidable heavyweights.

Likewise, Walker was the welterweight champion when he gave up nearly thirty pounds and still defeated the then light heavyweight champion Mike McTigue. The Toy Bulldog gave away significant pounds in beating numerous heavyweights during his illustrious career. Henry Armstrong was only a featherweight when he won the welterweight title, and Robinson was barely out of the lightweight class when he defeated Hall of Fame middleweight Jake LaMotta four of five times.

 

Neither Calzaghe nor Hopkins will be able to approach the lofty status enjoyed by Greb, Walker, Armstrong or Sugar Ray, or any number of such luminaries residing in fistiana’s Valhalla. But if the two duke it out, the winner will inch that much higher in esteem in the minds of boxing fans and historians. 

 

If the past is any sound indicator, the odds are Joe and Bernard will talk a good fight, but when it comes to putting up or shutting up, they’ll take the latter route and we won’t be able to see what should be a great match.

 

Bernard’s excuse will be that he doesn’t trust British officials and he’s not going to cross the Atlantic like Robinson and Walker and hundreds of other American fighters have done. No sir! He’s not going to take that chance even if he can earn more money over there than he ever could over here.

 

Calzaghe may also talk big, but he also has appeared to be hesitant to travel to this side of the big pond to take on Bernard even if such a battle would bring him his greatest payday. No sir! He won’t emulate Ricky Hatton, Marcel Cerdan, Nino Benvenuti, Ted Kid Lewis, Georges Carpentier and numerous other great European fighters.

 

So there we have it; a fight most fans on both sides of the big pond are anxious to see. So c’mon Bernard and Joe! Bring it on! Give the fans what they want and simultaneously enhance your wallets and legacies. Don't let yourself and your fans down!