Britain's great light-heavys - Woods out, Calzaghe in? by Matthew Sanderson Apr 17th 2008

In the build up to Clinton Woods' IBF light-heavyweight title defence against Antonio Tarver, renowned trainer Brendan Ingle claimed that if Woods were to be successful, he would rival even John Conteh as Britain's best ever 175-pounder. Five days later, after a miserable performance in Tampa, Florida saw Woods dethroned, few are interested in the debate any longer and we can appreciate that Brendan was being a little bit biased to his fellow Sheffield native. Woods seemed to believe Tarver's hype, to believe that he only ever became a world champion because Tarver and Glen Johnson vacated their belts to fight one another in the most meaningful light-heavyweight contest of 2004. The improved technique and hunger evident since Clinton hammered Rico Hoye in Rotherham for the IBF belt three years ago were absent. He didn't cut the ring off and he didn't let his hands go when he had the lanky southpaw trapped. Tarver has folded three times before under pressure, so no one needs me to say that Clinton must be kicking himself now. He has good reason to be. He didn't give himself a chance to win and looked pleased just to exist in the same ring with Tarver, as was the case when Roy Jones outclassed him back in 2002. He became fodder for his pot-shotting challenger, who was allowed to tee off at leisure. It was another American nightmare. Maybe Clinton soaked up too much punishment in title fights with hard men Glen Johnson and Julio Gonzalez. Maybe, at 35, he can't get out of the way of shots like he used to. Maybe he needed more experience against a slick operator or a lefthander. Things might have been different if the IBF had thrown a mandatory at him like portsider Reggie Johnson. If slippery Montell Griffin had managed to win one of the two IBF eliminators he failed in (once on an injury to Gonzalez, once controversially to Hoye), Woods might know more about closing the distance. There are a lot of maybes. But the desire and the belief didn't seem to be there. And Clinton had an awful lot to lose. How about a version of a world title he'd fought four times to capture? Or a belt he'd defended four times in decent company? Not forgetting, one of those all-British superfights – between fellow world champions – against Joe Calzaghe that are so popular at the moment. All gone. Clinton will never be compared to our real light-heavyweight greats, Bob Fitzsimmons and Freddie Mills. Perhaps Conteh is a fitting name to bring up, if we turn the comparison into a contrast. It helps up appreciate perhaps how little Conteh made of his massive talents, and how much Clinton made of his more moderate ones (this is intended as a compliment). However, the light heavyweight debate is not yet over. That is, if you replace the name Clinton Woods with Joe Calzaghe. Provided Joe does exceedingly well against Ring Magazine light-heavyweight boss Bernard Hopkins in the next UK vs USA fight, in Vegas on Saturday. (And provided he beats a good name or two afterward.) It will be a double debut for the Welshman, who fights in America for the first time, and finally steps up to the 175-pound class following a ten-year super middleweight reign waged mostly in the UK (Joe holds WBO, WBC and WBA titles alongside recognition by Ring Magazine as the division's true champion). Hopkins dominated middleweight between 1995 and 2005 until a pair of losses to Jermain Taylor persuaded him to move up in weight. It was a perfect move that allowed Bernard to “Execute” an Antonio Tarver depleted from dropping almost four stone after playing a heavyweight in Stallone's soppy 'Rocky Balboa' film. Following a catchweight (170-pound) win over Winky Wright (W12) last year, Hopkins makes the first defence of his light-heavyweight crown against Calzaghe. With Tarver and Wright both being southpaws, Hopkins has had a nice pair of trial runs for what could be his most dangerous fight of all. Had Hopkins and Calzaghe campaigned 30 years ago, it would be Hopkins moving up to face Calzaghe. Back then there was no super middleweight class and Joe would've always campaigned at 175-pounds, a division he has often cited as his natural weight class.  Calzaghe, then, is the natural light-heavyweight to Hopkins' middleweight. He's bigger, stronger, faster and younger and there are no excuses not to win. Not if he wants the old school historians – the ones who pine for the days when there were only eight weight classes with one champ per weight – to be impressed. Calzaghe had a chance to fight for light-heavyweight glory before, when “Road Warrior” Glen Johnson accepted the Calzaghe challenge. Having won the IBF strap in a rematch against Woods, Johnson was handed the dreaded sick note and then insulted as a journeyman by Calzaghe for his troubles. It was one of those PR disasters for Calzaghe, as Johnson went on a brilliant run to sweep up just about everyone's Fighter of the Year awards in 2004, while Calzaghe continued his inglorious reign of WBO title defences vs men lucky to be in any magazine's – let alone sanctioning body organisation's – world top ten. But Calzaghe may have been right to delay in the long run – which his career has always been geared towards. Johnson was a paper champ – Antonio Tarver had vacated the belt to fight Roy Jones – until he knocked out Jones and outworked Tarver in that marvellous career peak. So too was Joe, until he beat rival super-middleweight belt-holders Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler in famous 2006 and 2007 victories. Beating Hopkins on Saturday will gain him recognition as the number one at light heavyweight. The matchmaking yet again favours the Welshman – seven years Hopkins junior at 36 – who may even feel like the home fighter if a few thousand Brits have really made the trip. But he has to fight smart. While Joe put on masterclasses vs Lacy and Kessler, he made mistakes. Against Lacy, he flurried with his chin unprotected. Against Kessler, he overreached with his left cross so badly that it either landed Joe in an orthodox stance or left him lurching forward with his chin exposed. Lacy just wasn't fast enough. Kessler landed numerous big shots, until Joe worked him midway and baffled him with speed and variety. But the Hopkins – a veteran of 25 world title fights – will rely on holes in the Calzaghe armoury. Though economical in his output, Hopkins won't hesitate if his challenger's chin is for the taking. In short, Calzaghe can't be the Chad Dawson to Hopkins' Glen Johnson, harking back to that superb battle last weekend for the WBC title. In his eagerness to land flashy southpaw combos on the Woods-Tarver undercard, Dawson, 25, left himself wide open to counters. And counter the 39-year-old Johnson did, with right hand bombs that were good enough to nearly put Dawson away and sufficient – in the eyes of many experts, but not the judges – to earn the verdict. Johnson would make a worthy first defence for Calzaghe, if all goes well for a man quickly becoming one of Britain's best ever. Dawson and Tarver will unify the WBC and IBF belts over on Showtime, but Johnson is as good as both men (Glen stands at one win, one loss vs Tarver) and will be free to face Calzaghe for the Ring title, on rival American network HBO. Johnson seems to tick all the boxes, to cement Joe as the number one 175-pounder. He's slow enough to make Joe look good, and is experienced and dogged enough to make a fight of it. (And he hits a lot harder than Joe.) But then, some might remark that Joe's biggest names were a 43-year-old and a 40-year-old. Let's hope Joe Calzaghe will fuel the light-heavyweight debate on “Judgement Day” at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas.

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