Calzaghe Vs. Hopkins, A Boxing Match Worth Watching

Boxing doesn't seem nearly as exciting today as it did in the past. Maybe the fighters aren't flamboyant enough, or maybe the lack of quality fights in what's supposed to be the premier weight class, the heavyweight division, has cast a shadow over the rest of the sport. All that aside, this Saturday night's fight between Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins should be a good one.

I watched Calzaghe's last fight, against Mikkel Kessler, and when it was announced later in the year that he would be fighting Hopkins in Vegas on April 19 I made a mental note to make sure to watch it. Hopkins is a dangerous fighter for sure, but the reason I really want to see this fight is because of Calzaghe. He's an active fighter that keeps the tempo up. For the most part, there isn't a lot of leaning or grabbing. His fights are usually very entertaining, and can hold your interest over the course of every round. It also helps that he hasn't backed down from Hopkins in the war of words.

I’ve seen it all. I’ve been there,” Calzaghe said. “We’ve got to listen to three hours of Hopkins going on about (toughness). At the end of the day, Hopkins had to go to prison to make him hard, so he was weak. I was born hard. That’s the difference. I don’t need to go to prison to be hard. I was a hard guy from the start. You’ll see it Saturday. I’m going to make a grown man cry.”

Awesome. It's always fun when Hopkins, a notorious shit talker, gets a little something back. Hopefully this fight lives up to the hype, and Calzaghe can put Hopkins on the canvas numerous times.

"Pretty Boy" Floyd Makes It Rain

The newest installment of Cribs heads to Dallas to check out how Floyd Mayweather lives. He lets us know that Ramen Noodles are his favorite food, and that it doesn't matter how crazy your shower is as long as you "wash u ass". He also makes it rain. At least it's not in a strip club!

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere - Saturday Afternoon Boxing Edition

Since it's Friday, and the end of the workweek for most people, we think that you should be provided with a post that takes the edge off so to speak. Because it's going to be random and hopefully humorous, that means that it won't always be sports related. It will also pop up at any time on Friday.

Real world events pushed back the "5 O'Clock" post to today. Never fear, though it's made its way through the Intertubes, and onto your computer. This week's edition showcases the big fight that is "Hatton vs Mayweather". Some may think that boxing is dead, but it's fights like these that still give hope to those of us interested in the sport.



Happy Weekend!

Felix Trinidad Leaving His Retirement Castle To Face Recently Unretired Roy Jones, Jr.

Yesterday, everyone's favorite boxing promoter with the finger-in-the-power-socket inspired hairdo(curiously absent in the following clip) announced that Felix Trinidad was coming out of retirement to face Roy Jones Jr.



Remember when Jones was at the top of the boxing world? The point where he had amassed over 40 wins, and his lone "loss" was a DQ against Montell Griffin. And remember when Trinidad had an umblemished record, going an impressive 39-0?

Well, that was back in 2000. The year when this fight was first talked about. At the end of 2000, Jones held the light heavyweight title, and Trinidad was the reigning junior middleweight/super welterweight title holder. However, a deal could never be made, perhaps because of the 15 pound weight difference between classes, and it remained something that people just talked about wanting to see.

The talk of a Jones vs Trinidad match continued into 2001, but went quiet when Trinidad was beaten by Bernard Hopkins. Since then, Jones has compiled a 6-3 record, but one of his greatest accomplishments, taking the WBA heavyweight title from John Ruiz, has been overshadowed by a TKO in the second round by Antonio Tarver and follow-up losses to Glencoffe Johnson and again Tarver. Trinidad has fought three times since that loss to Hopkins, going 2-1. His last fight was a loss to Winky Wright in 2005.

So now we're here in 2007, with the Trinidad vs Jones match tentatively scheduled for January 2008. Trinidad says that he's not planning on any type of "tune up" match before his fight, and while there had been some talk of Jones fighting in November, that's probably not going to happen now.

The old adage "better late than never" may prove to be true with this fight, and I truly hope that this turns out to be a great match. However, I think it shows exactly where boxing has gone over the past few years. Instead of getting excited about new talent, we're eagerly anticipating a match between two fighters that, seven years ago probably would have been incredible, but now has us hoping that it won't be a letdown with someone getting seriously injured. Oh well, I'll probably buy it on PPV because right now it's about the best that mainstream boxing is providing.

James Toney and Danny Batchelder, Bringing Twice The Amount Of 'Roids Into The Ring

Back on May 24, James Toney beat Danny Batchelder by split decision in a heavyweight match. Today it was revealed that Toney tested positive for boldenone and stanazolol. Now, you might feel like calling Toney a cheater until you hear that Batchelder also tested positive for steroids(stanazolol and oxandolone).

Armando Garcia, executive officer of the California Athletic Commission, said that both fighters face a one year suspension and a $2,500 fine, and that both have the right to an appeal. He also said that the results of the match would count. Which I guess is appropriate since both fighters were juiced when they stepped into the ring.

However, it does bring up an interesting question regarding sports and steroids. If it were discovered in a sport like baseball that two individuals, say a pitcher and a hitter, were using steroids, should all of their records except the ones from when they went head-to-head be thrown out? In other words, the stats they racked up against clean individuals that didn't have the steroid "advantage" get tossed, but the ones they compiled against other steroid users stay. Or should everything get tossed out because they cheated in the first place?

If You Ever Needed A Reason To Watch The Oxygen Network This Is It

Sure, you've snuck in a few episodes of Sue Johanson's "Talk Sex"(it's like a female cryptkeeper talking about orgasms *shudder*), but you've never really watched anything on the Oxygen Network. Well, that's about to change. On June 15, 2007 Oxygen is giving us another round of "Fight Girls". It "chronicles 10 tough female fighters who are out for the fight of their lives and attempt the impossible - to beat the best female fighters in the world in a battle for the World Muay Thai Championship".

Really, it's like a fantasy for many guys minus the Victoria's Secret lingerie, pillows and giggling. However, we still get to see some ladies(hopefully semi-attractive ones) duke it out, and looking at the current state of men's heavyweight boxing it can't be much worse. Oh yeah, it's being produced by the same guys that brought us "Pros vs Joes" so you know that it's got to be entertaining. If we're lucky, maybe Petros Papadakis will even get knocked out.