luds
12-03-2009, 05:00 PM
SMH 4/12/2009
DANNY GREEN has been accused of running scared by the most dangerous man on his radar, Chad Dawson, after blowing off the suggestion he should fight the American because he is not a big enough name.
Having scored the most remarkable stoppage victory of the year - bar Manny Pacqiuao's second-round annihilation of Ricky Hatton - Green's victory over Roy Jones jnr has catapulted him into the global stratosphere. But there are surprisingly few big names to chase.
Bernard Hopkins is one but the Philadelphia fighter is hardly interested, preferring to spruik a rematch with Jones despite his pale showing at Acer Arena on Wednesday night.
Asked about future opponents yesterday, Green dodged and weaved better than Jones jnr in his heyday. ''Not Chad Dawson, I would like to fry bigger fish than him, definitely,'' Green said.
Asked who was a big name if not Dawson, the IBO cruiserweight champion finally gave an indication: ''Hopkins has a pretty good name, he's already disrespected Australia enough.''
But Dawson's camp bristled at the comments. ''What that tells me is that Danny Green is afraid of Chad Dawson. He thinks he is bigger than he is - he beat a washed up 40-year-old guy that was over his weight class,'' said Dawson's manager, Gary Shaw.
''What bigger name could he think of? Maybe he should fight [super-flyweight] Vic Darchinyan, he is a big name. Chad has defeated Antonio Tarver twice, he has beaten Glen Johnson twice, he has beaten Tomasz Adamek … I can't see Danny Green beating Glen Johnson.''
Dawson, undefeated in 29 fights, had campaigned furiously for a fight with Joe Calzaghe, but the Welshman retired after defeating Jones and Hopkins. Jones and Hopkins have also resisted Dawson, who, at 27, is nine years younger than Green.
Dawson holds the IBO light-heavyweight title but, through his management, contacted Green's camp early yesterday to say he'd be willing to move up to cruiserweight. Dawson was even willing to travel to Australia but upon hearing Green's comments, Shaw pulled that offer.
''I won't come down to Australia now. Let Mr Danny Green wait for that big name, we can't wait to see who that is,'' Shaw said. ''Hopkins is not fighting Danny Green, no way.
''I'm not saying he is not a household name in Australia, but Danny is not an advanced fighter. If his claim to fame is that he beat an old man, and he can go to sleep happy with that, then good on him, let him do that. The trouble with a lot of these fighters is that when they win, instead of being humble, they talk out of their ass. He should take the fight for what it is, a great financial success for him. If he is good as what he thinks he is, he should fight the premier guy at 175 pounds, not hide behind that old excuse of waiting for a bigger name.''
Hopkins, who defeated Enrique Ornelas on points yesterday - as part of the double-header that was promoting the Hopkins-Jones rematch for March 13 - maintained the bout would still hold appeal. This is for two reasons he did not share: a second fight with Jones, 16 years in the making, would still command high television buys; and now Jones looks shot, Hopkins would command the greater share of the purse- the primary reason they had not been able to agree terms before.
The 44-year-old overlooked the fact Jones had hinted at retirement after Wednesday's debacle, and instead did his best to pump credibility into Jones - fully aware he needs momentum in a public relations campaign to sell the fight - by questioning the referee's decision to stop the bout after 122 seconds.
''From what I saw, [Green] was pounding away and got some shots in there, but I don't think the referee should have stopped the fight,'' Hopkins said. ''When you have someone like Roy Jones jnr, he deserves the benefit of the doubt
I DIDNT WRITE THIS EITHER......JUST PREDICTED IT.
DANNY GREEN has been accused of running scared by the most dangerous man on his radar, Chad Dawson, after blowing off the suggestion he should fight the American because he is not a big enough name.
Having scored the most remarkable stoppage victory of the year - bar Manny Pacqiuao's second-round annihilation of Ricky Hatton - Green's victory over Roy Jones jnr has catapulted him into the global stratosphere. But there are surprisingly few big names to chase.
Bernard Hopkins is one but the Philadelphia fighter is hardly interested, preferring to spruik a rematch with Jones despite his pale showing at Acer Arena on Wednesday night.
Asked about future opponents yesterday, Green dodged and weaved better than Jones jnr in his heyday. ''Not Chad Dawson, I would like to fry bigger fish than him, definitely,'' Green said.
Asked who was a big name if not Dawson, the IBO cruiserweight champion finally gave an indication: ''Hopkins has a pretty good name, he's already disrespected Australia enough.''
But Dawson's camp bristled at the comments. ''What that tells me is that Danny Green is afraid of Chad Dawson. He thinks he is bigger than he is - he beat a washed up 40-year-old guy that was over his weight class,'' said Dawson's manager, Gary Shaw.
''What bigger name could he think of? Maybe he should fight [super-flyweight] Vic Darchinyan, he is a big name. Chad has defeated Antonio Tarver twice, he has beaten Glen Johnson twice, he has beaten Tomasz Adamek … I can't see Danny Green beating Glen Johnson.''
Dawson, undefeated in 29 fights, had campaigned furiously for a fight with Joe Calzaghe, but the Welshman retired after defeating Jones and Hopkins. Jones and Hopkins have also resisted Dawson, who, at 27, is nine years younger than Green.
Dawson holds the IBO light-heavyweight title but, through his management, contacted Green's camp early yesterday to say he'd be willing to move up to cruiserweight. Dawson was even willing to travel to Australia but upon hearing Green's comments, Shaw pulled that offer.
''I won't come down to Australia now. Let Mr Danny Green wait for that big name, we can't wait to see who that is,'' Shaw said. ''Hopkins is not fighting Danny Green, no way.
''I'm not saying he is not a household name in Australia, but Danny is not an advanced fighter. If his claim to fame is that he beat an old man, and he can go to sleep happy with that, then good on him, let him do that. The trouble with a lot of these fighters is that when they win, instead of being humble, they talk out of their ass. He should take the fight for what it is, a great financial success for him. If he is good as what he thinks he is, he should fight the premier guy at 175 pounds, not hide behind that old excuse of waiting for a bigger name.''
Hopkins, who defeated Enrique Ornelas on points yesterday - as part of the double-header that was promoting the Hopkins-Jones rematch for March 13 - maintained the bout would still hold appeal. This is for two reasons he did not share: a second fight with Jones, 16 years in the making, would still command high television buys; and now Jones looks shot, Hopkins would command the greater share of the purse- the primary reason they had not been able to agree terms before.
The 44-year-old overlooked the fact Jones had hinted at retirement after Wednesday's debacle, and instead did his best to pump credibility into Jones - fully aware he needs momentum in a public relations campaign to sell the fight - by questioning the referee's decision to stop the bout after 122 seconds.
''From what I saw, [Green] was pounding away and got some shots in there, but I don't think the referee should have stopped the fight,'' Hopkins said. ''When you have someone like Roy Jones jnr, he deserves the benefit of the doubt
I DIDNT WRITE THIS EITHER......JUST PREDICTED IT.