[bitofatit]

See BBC link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_a...ar/7078586.stm

It would appear that Lewis Hamilton is almost odds on to win this!! I can't believe this and think Joe Calzaghe would be a much better contender.

Don't get me wrong - Lewis is a tremendous prospect, such a well spoken boy (and tax exile now), and TBH I have watched his races and thrilled to his world title challange this year but lets be honest - he didn't actually win the world championship - maybe he may get my vote next year if he does win.
Now In respect of Callzaghe - he has been a world champ for 10 years and after last weekend is the ubdisputed super middleweight champ of the world holding 3 world title belts. In fact he is intelligent, articulate and a man of the prople who lives and trains here. Never really got the media attention he deserves. As his career may be at its zenith now (at nearly 36) he may only have one or two fights left in him. In a straight comparrison between these two great sportsmen surely there can only be one you'd vote for this time around - am I right?

[bitofatit]

In case you need some more evidence the BBC is showing JC's last fight on BBC Sat - great fight from two world champs.

"World Championship Boxing
Sat 10 Nov, 1:10 pm - 2:10 pm 60mins

Coverage of the super middleweight bout between Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. [S] "

[thfccambs]

It's a complete joke,Ricky Hatton fights 24 hours before the shows live showing,if he beats motor mouth he should walk away with it but it won't be possible.

[Scholes18]

Originally Posted by bitofatit

See BBC link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_a...ar/7078586.stm

It would appear that Lewis Hamilton is almost odds on to win this!! I can't believe this and think Joe Calzaghe would be a much better contender.

Don't get me wrong - Lewis is a tremendous prospect, such a well spoken boy (and tax exile now), and TBH I have watched his races and thrilled to his world title challange this year but lets be honest - he didn't actually win the world championship - maybe he may get my vote next year if he does win.
Now In respect of Callzaghe - he has been a world champ for 10 years and after last weekend is the ubdisputed super middleweight champ of the world holding 3 world title belts. In fact he is intelligent, articulate and a man of the prople who lives and trains here. Never really got the media attention he deserves. As his career may be at its zenith now (at nearly 36) he may only have one or two fights left in him. In a straight comparrison between these two great sportsmen surely there can only be one you'd vote for this time around - am I right?

Its a good point you make. Another example is a double world and european champion...andy priaulx.

He may well get the hat-trick of world titles but wont have a cat in hells chance of getting a mention , let alone in the top 3. Im sure i read last year that he didnt even turn up last time due to the shoddy treatment the bbc game him in 2005.


Theres bound to be many more like these two

[DrWise]

yeah i would want it to be joe calzaghe for what hes done and achieved
but than you also have amir khan, ricky hatton all potential winners
but to be honest i think lewis will get it

[geomuss]

Originally Posted by wiser1

yeah i would want it to be joe calzaghe for what hes done and achieved
but than you also have amir khan, ricky hatton all potential winners
but to be honest i think lewis will get it

tradegy if the silver spooned, snot bucket gets it.

Lets face it if he was driving for red bull, would he be anyway near wining a race never mind the championship. he has a top notch car, mechanics etc etc.

Joe is a true sportsman, if you put a different set of gloves on joe, would he lose because they were not the right make or model, i dont think.

even if he does not win, every sports follower will know who the real winner is!

[DrWise]

exactly you could have put jenson button in a mclaren he would have done the same :P

i would love it if its JOE calzaghe

[bitofatit]

Originally Posted by Scholes18

Its a good point you make. Another example is a double world and european champion...andy priaulx.

He may well get the hat-trick of world titles but wont have a cat in hells chance of getting a mention , let alone in the top 3. Im sure i read last year that he didnt even turn up last time due to the shoddy treatment the bbc game him in 2005.


Theres bound to be many more like these two

Good point Scholes18 - at least Andy won a world title, unlike Lewis who missed out. In a sense, even tough Lewis was in the right car, at the right time, he still did really well for a rookie but when it comes down to it Joe C, Andy P, ricky H have done the Biz. Joe in particular has consistently delivered over the last 10 years and gets better and better. aS WELL AS DELIVERING FOR THE FANS HE (OPPS) he remains a really decent bloke and seems respectful to all even though he has dynamite in both hands.

Check out this U-tube video of Bernard Hopkins who is in the next weight class up. There is nothing Classy about BH's way of handling himself (although he is a great fighter). What a contrast with the way Joe does it. I do hope this fight gets made and that Joe turns him over!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1OvTOBUpswY I think BH is the one in the black and white

[PAH]

Glad to see Paula Radcliffe's in the running after her amazing victory in the New York Marathon at the weekend, just 10 months after having a baby!

As it's a public vote on the night of the show I think Lewis Hamilton is bound to win, unless there happens to be a lot of boxing fans watching, and willing to spend a few quid voting.

[DrWise]

Originally Posted by bitofatit

Good point Scholes18 - at least Andy won a world title, unlike Lewis who missed out. In a sense, even tough Lewis was in the right car, at the right time, he still did really well for a rookie but when it comes down to it Joe C, Andy P, ricky H have done the Biz. Joe in particular has consistently delivered over the last 10 years and gets better and better. aS WELL AS DELIVERING FOR THE FANS HE (OPPS) he remains a really decent bloke and seems respectful to all even though he has dynamite in both hands.

Check out this U-tube video of Bernard Hopkins who is in the next weight class up. There is nothing Classy about BH's way of handling himself (although he is a great fighter). What a contrast with the way Joe does it. I do hope this fight gets made and that Joe turns him over!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1OvTOBUpswY I think BH is the one in the black and white

Haha i think calzaghe should fight Hopkins than move onto kelly pavlik

As for sports personality i cant see it going any other way than too Lewis Hamilton

[bitofatit]

Now don't get me wrong - Lewis Hamilton is a fine motor racing driver and he did very well to come SECOND this year in his rookie year. A great future prospect for Sports P of the year when he actually wins something! I would add to this that he has now come clean and admitted he's offski to Swizerland for tax reasons - see BBC link:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/b...ts/7088652.stm

No doubt he will fly back in to pick up his award as sports personality of the year next month - well he will if "us" the great British public vote for him.

Joe Calzaghe on the other hand lives in Wales and has remained in the UK all through his reign as a world championship boxer at his weight. Come on guys (and girls) let's do the right thing and vote for a true world champ - what do ya say?

Not sure what the rules are for the BBC sports personality of the year, but regardless of what you say about JC and Lewis I think Hamilton has brought more attention to his sport, he didn't win but came oh so close. He beat the reigning champion in the same car in his first season and lost by one point in the end.

He also brought thousands of new fans to the sport and raised it's profile.

Also JC has fought once or twice this year, does he ever knock anyone out or just points wins?

Final comment on JC and boxing in this era, he wouldn't have lasted three rounds against Hagler, Leonard, Duran, Hearns, Benn, Collins or Eubank (forgive if I got the weights wrong). Unlike the magic SKY have worked on football, they have completely ruined boxing and this has spread across all the other tv companies. We have fighters over here who no one stateside has even heard of let alone fought against.

[Spligsey]

Originally Posted by Bluehorse

He wouldn't have lasted three rounds against Eubank .

Calzaghe beat Eubank over 12 rounds back in 1997.
Joe has suffered hand problems throughout his career & not many of his 40+ fights have been memorable if i'm being honest. Somehow he's never managed to force himself into the hearts of most of the general public - unlike Ricky Hatton who seems to have done just that. Put it this way, when a new Calzaghe bout is announced, i generally don't get that excited. But, you cannot argue with what he has achieved. His record speaks for itself - and with a bit more good fortune, the victims on his defeated list could've contained more 'bigger' names.........

[bitofatit]

Originally Posted by Bluehorse

Not sure what the rules are for the BBC sports personality of the year, but regardless of what you say about JC and Lewis I think Hamilton has brought more attention to his sport, he didn't win but came oh so close. He beat the reigning champion in the same car in his first season and lost by one point in the end.

He also brought thousands of new fans to the sport and raised it's profile.

Also JC has fought once or twice this year, does he ever knock anyone out or just points wins?

Final comment on JC and boxing in this era, he wouldn't have lasted three rounds against Hagler, Leonard, Duran, Hearns, Benn, Collins or Eubank (forgive if I got the weights wrong). Unlike the magic SKY have worked on football, they have completely ruined boxing and this has spread across all the other tv companies. We have fighters over here who no one stateside has even heard of let alone fought against.

Yes you are right Hamilton has brought more interest in the sport generally as he has a) had coverage on normal TV and B) had some sucess in a sudden burst ....but he still didn't win the championship. He has made more money in his first season I suspect than Joe Calzaghe has in his 10 years as world champ. Good luck to Lewis even if he has naffed off so he doesn't pay tax like the rest of us. But come on now - JC can only really fight guys at his weight. as Spligsy says he did take the title off Eubank ( who only held it for 5 years, JC has held it for TEN years!! - thats gotta count surely!) and yes I forgive you duran and hearns were in a differnet weight class - I guess a similar difference between a Mcclaren and a Red Bull??.

Take a look at the people who have held the titles at JCs weight - including Sugar Ray Leonard;Thomas Hearns - et al but these guys only held the title for a few years and not 10 and they were at their peak when JC was essentaily just starting out. Calzaghe can't force other fighters to take him on and its part of a process to build you profile. Joe has done this and now holds 3 of the 4 world belts (the other belt he had and vacated in Novemeber last year).

I think TBH this, as you hint at, is about TV and media coverage. If the fights were shown on BBC or ITV, JC would be a national hero but as he has been limited to fights not given wide TV coverage he is not which I feel is very unfair. Here is someone to shout about and acknowledge long / sustained sucess....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...xing_champions

[bitofatit]

WoW - extract from the BBC web site - as you know joe gets my vote - see why below:
"Profile: Joe Calzaghe

BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2007 contender Joe Calzaghe enjoyed 12 months that are a landmark in even his memorable career.
In April he made the 20th defence of his WBO super-middleweight crown against Peter Manfredo Jr in front of a then-record European indoor crowd of 35,000 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Reality soon bit for former "Contender" TV star Manfredo, who was dominated and stopped in the third round.

In October, Calzaghe celebrated the 10-year anniversary of claiming the WBO belt, the Newbridge man extending his reign as the longest-reigning world champion in boxing today.

He joined an elite club of decade-long champions including Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Julio Cesar Chavez, Azumah Nelson, Ricardo Lopez and Bernard Hopkins.

606: DEBATE
Give your thoughts on the show and who should win

Sean_D

But perhaps the defining moment of Calzaghe's distinguished career was still to come as he prepared to meet undefeated WBA and WBC super-middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler at the Millennium Stadium.

The highly rated Dane was bigger, stronger, seven years younger, and carried the hammer of Thor in either glove.

Kessler made a strong start to worry the huge 50,000 Cardiff crowd, but 35-year-old Calzaghe rallied, found the tactical shifts to unlock the Dane, and produced a boxing masterclass to claim a convincing points victory.

It was the 44th straight win from the Welshman, but it was this performance that shot him towards the top of every credible world pound-for-pound rankings.

A step up to light-heavyweight now looms for the 2001 and 2006 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

A shot at IBF light-heavyweight champion Clinton Woods is a possibility, while the long-sought super-fight against Hopkins in the USA looks closer to reality than ever."

[gibbsy]

Lewis Hamilton, as good as he is and as much as I admire him, is not a world champion. Joe Calzaghie on the other hand is. He is without doubt the greatest British boxer ever. He is a real winner for Britain and deserves to be the BBC Sports Personality. Lewis will have his time but this moment belongs to Joe.

[thfccambs]

Originally Posted by gibbsy

Joe Calzaghie on the other hand is. He is without doubt the greatest British boxer ever. He is a real winner for Britain and deserves to be the BBC Sports Personality. Lewis will have his time but this moment belongs to Joe.

What above Lennox Lewis and Ricky Hatton? Not for me.

When you go to the US and beat them in there back garden you become a true world champion in my book.

I do believe JC got as far as germany once?

[Raoul_Duke]

Originally Posted by geomuss

tradegy if the silver spooned, snot bucket gets it.

Lets face it if he was driving for red bull, would he be anyway near wining a race never mind the championship. he has a top notch car, mechanics etc etc.

Now come on, let's be fair to this guy. He certainly never had no silver spoon in his mouth growing up. His dad had to scrape for every penny to keep him karting and the guy had to put up with quite a lot of racist BS as a kid in a sport with no black competitors. He is where he is through complete skill.

Let's not forget this guy is a rookie F1 driver who almost walked away with the Championship amid complete turmoil at McLaren. No rookie driver has ever had such a great 1st year and many seasoned drivers (e.g. Barrichello, JP Montoya, Coulthard even) who had their chance in a top car never drove as well as Lewis did. Nerves and inexperience got him in the end, let's face it but he was still exceptional.

Anyways, having said all that, I still would have JC pip him to the post, his schooling of Lacy followed up with a great victory over Kessler, easily the no2 in the Middle Weight division seals his place as an ATG for me. Bernard Hopkins was a great fighter but he's past his prime, JC should take these fights on though for a decent payday (he deserves it) and seal his place as an ATG in the American markets eyes too.

[bitofatit]

OK my vote would be for a true and Great CHAMPION. Joe Calzaghe - I'm biased, who isn't, but lets look for some objectivity? This is what the Ring Magazine pound for pound rankings (the self-proclaimed "Bible of Boxing"), which some boxing experts and fans regard as the authoritative source for ranking the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.[1]


Top 10 Rankings
Rank Fighter Record Weight class Titles held
1 Floyd Mayweather Jr. 38-0 (24 KOs) Welterweight WBC Welterweight Champion, Emeritus Champion
The Ring Welterweight Champion
2 Manny Pacquiao 45-3-2 (35 KOs) Super featherweight WBC Emeritus Champion
3 Juan Manuel Márquez 48-3-1 (35 KOs) Super featherweight WBC Super Featherweight Champion
4 Bernard Hopkins 48-4-1-1 (32 KOs) Light heavyweight WBC Emeritus Champion
The Ring Light Heavyweight Champion
5 Joe Calzaghe 44-0 (32 KOs) Super middleweight WBA, WBC and WBO Super Middleweight Champion
The Ring Super Middleweight Champion
6 Israel Vazquez 42-4 (31 KOs) Super bantamweight WBC Super Bantamweight Champion
7 Miguel Angel Cotto 31-0 (25 KOs) Welterweight WBA Welterweight Champion
8 Ricky Hatton 43-0 (31 KOs) Light Welterweight IBO Junior Welterweight Champion
The Ring Junior Welterweight Champion
9 Ronald Wright 51-4-1 (25 KOs) Middleweight
10 Rafael Márquez 37-4 (33 KOs) Super bantamweight

Ricky may move up after his fight on 8/12 but I think as Joe C is probably at the end of his career he shouls get the vote this time around.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Ma...ound_for_pound

[bitofatit]

There is a raging debate on the BBC about who shold get the SPOTY. This was one commetn that tickled me there are lots of others "Oh yes, and it is a phone in vote on the BBC so with Blue Peter and Children in Need-esque integrity you just know that the whole thing is rigged in Hamilton's favour.

Hamilton WILL win and the award will yet again be given to an undeserving nominee - I could just about swallow him being YOUNG SPOTY

Calzaghe SHOULD win

Christine Ohurogu will miss her interview slot on three occasions and appeal for another chance " Classic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/F889443...kip=20&show=20

[booyaka]

that was a bit of a shocker!

Quiet right that he should win it but i thought and so did the bookies that Hamilton was a shoe in for the title

[zAndy1]

Originally Posted by bitofatit

There is a raging debate on the BBC about who shold get the SPOTY. This was one commetn that tickled me there are lots of others "Oh yes, and it is a phone in vote on the BBC so with Blue Peter and Children in Need-esque integrity you just know that the whole thing is rigged in Hamilton's favour.

Hamilton WILL win and the award will yet again be given to an undeserving nominee - I could just about swallow him being YOUNG SPOTY

Calzaghe SHOULD win

Christine Ohurogu will miss her interview slot on three occasions and appeal for another chance " Classic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/F889443...kip=20&show=20

The words humble and pie spring to mind

[Graham27]

Fantastic. Fair result.

Lewis will no doubt get one soon, but let's hope he develops enough of a personality to be worthy of the title.

[bitofatit]

Cost me 30p but I voted twice! Once on the mobile and once from the landline - hope this does't break the *rigging rules"!

I really could not stand the thought of someone winning who had actually won nowt!
The furious debate on the BBC site seems to be with the Hamiton supporters who are taking it really badly. Some of them are calling the 'phone vote bizzare and bad mouthing Joe. Feel like sending the boyos round and making them an offer to withdraw such remarks unresevedly!

[evolved77]

Originally Posted by bitofatit

Cost me 30p but I voted twice! Once on the mobile and once from the landline - hope this does't break the *rigging rules"!

I really could not stand the thought of someone winning who had actually won nowt!
The furious debate on the BBC site seems to be with the Hamiton supporters who are taking it really badly. Some of them are calling the 'phone vote bizzare and bad mouthing Joe. Feel like sending the boyos round and making them an offer to withdraw such remarks unresevedly!

I agree, Hamilton didn't win so for him to have won SPotY would have been a joke. I think second is fair enough, although Hatton perhaps should've got 2nd.

I vote for Joe about 6 times on my mobile! For me, he is simply a true legend and hero. Complete master of his craft and always seems a very decent man when he speaks. A very deserved winner.

And also was great to see his dad, Enzo, receive coach of the year!!

[MrFurious]

great result and well deserved, it was nice to see him win and a shame he wasnt there really

[mjb-av]

It was a great result to see both Joe win and this father named Coach of the Year.

And, I don't mind admiting to being quite touched to see the reception Bobby Robson got as the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

[Sicknote10]

I wanted Lewis to win... but I don't mind Joe winning, he seems a nice guy, and the 30/1 odds I got on him yesterday weren't bad

[mason]

Good to see Joe get and well deserved- a true champion, great personality and down too earth as well

[PAH]

I laughed when Hamilton was announced in second place. You could tell he didn't want to go up, he seemed to take ages talking to his brother and hesitating, probably hoping they'd opened the wrong envelope or something!

I bet his brother was saying "you're always second these days".

No doubt (if he get's a decent car and doesn't end up like Button) he'll win F1 and SPOTY in the next year or two.