Calzaghe: ESPN relishes the victory

After Joe Calzaghe survived certain death (with the help of a low blow that seemed to sap the energy of Hopkins), the judges reported a split decision.

Calzaghe's hand was raised in victory. And boxing lost more respect.

Interestingly enough, on the same night that boxing was busy falling deeper into WWE territory, MMA's UFC put on a card that drew a record crowd and further opened the gap between the directions of the sports.

Perhaps most troubling about the aftermath of the boxing debacle was ESPN's reporting of the incident.

ESPN.com boxing guru, Dan Rafael, seemed to take a journalistically dangerously inappropriate joy in Calzaghe's gift of victory.

"And in taking the title, Calzaghe stuffed Hopkins' own racist words down his throat. "

Rafael, in an effort to distract white boxing fans from the horrendous judging, chose to flat out slam the race card on the table.

We've already established that it was Calzaghe's greed and dubious negotiation tactics that forced the racial elements introduced into the fight build up. Yet, Rafael felt compelled to delight in, and to further the controversy of Hopkins benign statements.

Rafael went further. Openly mocking Hopkins in his reporting, the column read as if it were some sort of white supremest literature.

Hopkins loudly declared in front of the media that he would "never let a white boy beat me. Never." Well, the white boy from Wales did exactly that, letting his fists do the talking. Calzaghe never answered Hopkins' nasty taunts throughout the promotion, instead laughing them off and calling Hopkins a buffoon.

Rafael never makes mention of the difficult position that Hopkins was put in in trying to make the fight. Additionally, he condones Calzaghe's open disdain and avoidance of Hopkins comments. And even condones Calzaghe's use of the word 'buffoon' to describe Hopkins. We wonder if 'buffoon' was the actual word used. We believe that Calzaghe's Welsh brogue possibly could have masked his usage of the word 'baboon'. No matter, Rafael certainly would have had no problem with such a racially derogatory characterization of Hopkins.

"A low blow in the 10th sent Hopkins down to the canvas, where he grimaced in pain, even if it appeared he may have been doing a bit of acting. "

Rafael's effort to mitigate the effects of a blow to Hopkins' Original Man Parts only supports the growing contentions that we are exposing in this post.

"Calzaghe didn't seem to care. He raised his arms to the crowd, which responded with ear-shattering cheers. "

Seems Calzaghe and the crowd took as much pleasure in the illegal punch as Rafael did. Their disdain for Original privates was virtually terrifying.

It's a shame that ESPN and Rafael, instead of exposing the poor judging and criticising the direction boxing has been going, chose to make this fight a white versus Negro affair.

Clearly, as long as Negro fighters lace up their gloves and don boxing trunks, every time they enter the ring they will be fighting two opponents:

The boxer they signed to fight.

And the racism that is embedded in this society.

We salute Bernard Hopkins.

Though he may have been denied a boxing victory; his stand for civil rights in the face of racism proves he is the true champion.

Hopkins v. Calzaghe: The Brit Fighter Makes It Racial

Coming out of retirement for one more payday, Bernard Hopkins faces the undefeated Joe Calzaghe this weekend in what looks to be a pretty good match-up.

Hopkins, at one time considered the best fighter on the planet, will take on not only his opponent; but Father Time, as well.

Calzaghe, a fighter who has made his 'name' in the UK, brings an undefeated record wit his only win worth mentioning a shocking upset of an under-trained Jeff Lacy.

Certainly, we are used to fight build ups that include outlandish comments and actions. That is nothing new. But, when the fight build up causes one fighter to start to make racially questionable and possibly divisive statements, we wonder what the world of boxing has degenerated into.

Joe Calzaghe seemingly is relishing some of the words that came out of Bernard Hopkins mouth. Words that stirred controversy. Words that resulted from the sneaky tactics of the manipulative Calzaghe.

Calzaghe took a very cavalier attitude towards the situation:

"You call each other out, there's a bit of controversy," he said. "He done his little bit of controversy with his little white guy [comment], which I'm glad he said to be honest, because it created a lot publicity from that."

The comment to which Calzaghe refers?

"I would never let a white boy beat me. Never."

Certainly, the white slanted media will take every opportunity to spin this into Hopkins making uncouth racial remarks. It will paint Calzaghe as simply being a polite Briton, who just happened (through no action of his own) to be the recipient of a socially unacceptable sentiment. (Regardless of the truth in it)

But, for the keener eye. For the mind that understands exactly how the white media uses race and truth against the Original fighter. For that mind, the reality is clear.

Calzaghe wanted more money. Calzaghe, who is a virtual no name in the US, wanted to pick the pocket of one of the greatest champions of all time.

Hopkins wanted to fight. Hopkins didn't want Calzaghe to have an out.

Even with a 50-50 purse split, Hopkins could tell by Calzaghe's actions and words that the fight might still not be made.

"It came together for him because I pressured him and I said the things I said where he couldn't back out of the fight," Hopkins said of his racial comments. "He had to sign the contract after that. They tried to weasel out of everything so I gave them 50-50. I didn't have to do that. I had the leverage. If Roy Jones was in my position, he would have never gave him 50-50. The fight would have never happened."

Hopkins was forced into a position to throw down the gauntlet.

Don't let yourself be fooled into thinking that there was any racist sentiment behind the remark.

Don't allow the manipulative Calzaghe to distract you from his attempts to hi-jack the proceeds from the fight.

Don't fall victim to the mainstream media's attempts to play the race card and turn you against Hopkins.

Do watch the fight.

Hopkins later added, "You can print that. I would never lose to a white person."

And that ain't racist.

It's righteous.