1MikE
05-21-2007, 05:18 PM
by David P. Greisman
It’s called prizefighting.
The title belts are gaudy and, considering the sanctioning fees, exorbitantly expensive. The highest-paid boxers sign contracts that include a minimum of seven digits. That money, in turn, pays for managers, trainers and luxurious lifestyles.
It’s the pride that should be worth the most.
As the champions of their respective divisions, Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe are superstars who carry a reputation of having faced high-profile opponents and having earned high paydays for their efforts. And with only eight pounds separating them, there has been much speculation concerning a megafight that would be worth megabucks.
But before Taylor and Calzaghe meet in a pay-per-view collision, there’s a little matter of some unfinished business – namely, cleaning out their divisions.
Calzaghe, since defeating Peter Manfredo last month via the epitome of an early stoppage, has seemed to steered clear of eighty-sixing his biggest threat at 168, Mikkel Kessler. With Kessler coming off of an impressive drubbing over Librado Andrade, Calzaghe’s team has reportedly resorted to the usual maddening negotiation tactics – arguments over when, where and for how much.
“People think I am avoiding fighters, but that’s not true,” Calzaghe said last month in a promotional press release. “I’ll fight Kessler anywhere. At the end of the day, a ring is a ring, and I’ll beat him anyplace.”
Calzaghe, though, has also set his sights on the current middleweight champion.
“I want to fight Jermain Taylor,” Calzaghe said during an interview segment on last week’s episode of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. “Number one, at the end of the day, he’s the middleweight champion. He’s the number one. He’s beaten Hopkins. He’s beaten Winky Wright. He’s The Ring champion. He’s undefeated. I’m undefeated, super middleweight champion of the world, Ring champion also. So I think it’d be a tremendous fight. It’s a natural fight to put together.”
Never mind that Taylor took two disputed decisions over Hopkins and fought Wright to a draw. It’s more that, with one breath, Calzaghe said, “It’s not just about making money for me. It’s creating a legacy in boxing. All I’m interested in now is fighting elite fighters and proving myself and giving fans the fights they want.” With another, he will list Taylor, Hopkins and Wright before he mentions his most logical next opponent.
“That’s a fight, I think, that we need to build up a little bit more,” he said of a bout with Kessler. In other words, don’t bet on it.
As for Taylor, the spot held by his number one challenger was left open when Wright chose to rise to light heavyweight and challenge Hopkins this summer. As such, it was on the undercard of this past weekend’s bout between Taylor and Cory Spinks that two young guns met for the chance to become Taylor’s true mandatory.
That shootout between Kelly Pavlik and Edison Miranda ended with Pavlik winning impressively, a fight that Taylor watched from his dressing room. Taylor would follow by taking a dreadful split decision win over Spinks, and in his post-fight interview he sounded rather unwilling to face Pavlik.
“If Kelly Pavlik is the best fighter out there for the most money, we’re going for Kelly Pavlik,” he told HBO’s Larry Merchant. [B]Merchant then pointed out that Taylor had given himself an out, and the champion confirmed that his next fight would come against whoever brought him more money. In other words, probably not Pavlik, not when Taylor’s recent middleweight run has been defined by a mixture of unimpressive performances and undersized opponents. Now, he looks to step up in weight without having truly stepped up in his ability.
It’s the pride that should be worth the most – the attention to one’s craft, the domination of one’s challengers, the compilation of one’s legacy. But Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe have instead steered themselves toward the lining of one’s wallets, big business that comes at the expense of unfinished business.
It’s called prizefighting.
The title belts are gaudy and, considering the sanctioning fees, exorbitantly expensive. The highest-paid boxers sign contracts that include a minimum of seven digits. That money, in turn, pays for managers, trainers and luxurious lifestyles.
It’s the pride that should be worth the most.
As the champions of their respective divisions, Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe are superstars who carry a reputation of having faced high-profile opponents and having earned high paydays for their efforts. And with only eight pounds separating them, there has been much speculation concerning a megafight that would be worth megabucks.
But before Taylor and Calzaghe meet in a pay-per-view collision, there’s a little matter of some unfinished business – namely, cleaning out their divisions.
Calzaghe, since defeating Peter Manfredo last month via the epitome of an early stoppage, has seemed to steered clear of eighty-sixing his biggest threat at 168, Mikkel Kessler. With Kessler coming off of an impressive drubbing over Librado Andrade, Calzaghe’s team has reportedly resorted to the usual maddening negotiation tactics – arguments over when, where and for how much.
“People think I am avoiding fighters, but that’s not true,” Calzaghe said last month in a promotional press release. “I’ll fight Kessler anywhere. At the end of the day, a ring is a ring, and I’ll beat him anyplace.”
Calzaghe, though, has also set his sights on the current middleweight champion.
“I want to fight Jermain Taylor,” Calzaghe said during an interview segment on last week’s episode of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. “Number one, at the end of the day, he’s the middleweight champion. He’s the number one. He’s beaten Hopkins. He’s beaten Winky Wright. He’s The Ring champion. He’s undefeated. I’m undefeated, super middleweight champion of the world, Ring champion also. So I think it’d be a tremendous fight. It’s a natural fight to put together.”
Never mind that Taylor took two disputed decisions over Hopkins and fought Wright to a draw. It’s more that, with one breath, Calzaghe said, “It’s not just about making money for me. It’s creating a legacy in boxing. All I’m interested in now is fighting elite fighters and proving myself and giving fans the fights they want.” With another, he will list Taylor, Hopkins and Wright before he mentions his most logical next opponent.
“That’s a fight, I think, that we need to build up a little bit more,” he said of a bout with Kessler. In other words, don’t bet on it.
As for Taylor, the spot held by his number one challenger was left open when Wright chose to rise to light heavyweight and challenge Hopkins this summer. As such, it was on the undercard of this past weekend’s bout between Taylor and Cory Spinks that two young guns met for the chance to become Taylor’s true mandatory.
That shootout between Kelly Pavlik and Edison Miranda ended with Pavlik winning impressively, a fight that Taylor watched from his dressing room. Taylor would follow by taking a dreadful split decision win over Spinks, and in his post-fight interview he sounded rather unwilling to face Pavlik.
“If Kelly Pavlik is the best fighter out there for the most money, we’re going for Kelly Pavlik,” he told HBO’s Larry Merchant. [B]Merchant then pointed out that Taylor had given himself an out, and the champion confirmed that his next fight would come against whoever brought him more money. In other words, probably not Pavlik, not when Taylor’s recent middleweight run has been defined by a mixture of unimpressive performances and undersized opponents. Now, he looks to step up in weight without having truly stepped up in his ability.
It’s the pride that should be worth the most – the attention to one’s craft, the domination of one’s challengers, the compilation of one’s legacy. But Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe have instead steered themselves toward the lining of one’s wallets, big business that comes at the expense of unfinished business.