How would Calzaghe do against these fighters?

How many Calzaghe fights have you been to? And which ones?

 

I was there at the Empire Gym in Bristol when Calzaghe was going life and death with Johnson Tshuma in sparring for his first defense of Eubank's title. Tshuma was also sparring with Dean Francis and Calzaghe and Francis were made sure to be kept apart, with a potential big fight down the road. Francis was smashing Tshuma.

Francis would've beaten Calzaghe, no question for me.

 

Not many. A few amateur fights in Newport I recall, two of his last three fights before he fought Eubank himself, David Starie, and Manfredo Jr.

 

That is awesome!

How many times have you seen Chris Eubank?

 

Greg George, Logan, Melfah (all three on good undercards)... Couldn't get a ticket for Benn, Stretch or Watson I but tried! & Lindell Holmes and Amaral.

 

Wow! I am jealous.

How did you get to see Joe in sparring?

 

The Benn, Stretch and Watson I fights were practically impossible to get tickets for - HUGE fights that were on billboards everywhere in London (and Birmingham), back AND front page news on the national papers; Eubank was super-hot at that time in the early 90s early in his reign, said to be the most sought-after PERSON on the celebrity chatshow circuit (over here).

 

Yeah they were good fights, especially the first three against George, Logan and Melfah - Eubank is knocked down against cruiserweight-looking George then gets up to stop him, boo'd to the rafters between rounds and post-fight because of his aloft posing/swaggering, never heard anything like it before; he was completely unknown before that....Logan fight is very exciting as Eubank throws an incredible ammount of flurries, and Andy Ayling who worked for Barry Hearn as a publicist was calling for an ambulance for Johnny Melfah after Eubank shattered his jaw with a flattening short right, "He's asking where he is, he doesn't know where he is," Ayling was saying down the phone while stood on the steps in the arena, one finger in the other ear, quite surreal; Don King walked past me as well just before the KO!

I know Francis personally, who sparred at Empire Gym in Bristol, and Joe used the African guy they had sparring there for prep for his fight with Sobot(sp?).

 

I can only imagine..

I have never got to go to a Roy Jones fight, but if you grew up in my family, you would have been a fan. Ever since the Olympic fiasco, my dad pretty much forced it on me, and from then on, my whole family got together and watched his fights. I couldn't help to become a huge fan.

My best friend is from Pensacola, went to fights and got to meet Roy personally twice.. We are competitive friends, and that one always got me.

Had I got to go to even one Roy Jones fight, i would have been a happy person.

 

Also went to Benn-Lou 'The English Rocky' Gent. Unbelievably exciting fight, every bit as exciting as ANY Benn fight when you watch it without actually being there in the sixth row!

Gent only got the shot on the strength of his draw with #1 contender Wharton. I'm sure some strings must've been pulled because Gent was a cruiserweight, really.

 

Your knowledge of boxing is impressive, and it seems you have had a lot of experiences where you were actually there.

 

That was meant to say Lou 'The English Rocky' Gent.

 

Also in these George, Logan and Melfah fights, I was there and I saw Eubank clearly hurt (staggered, even) in all of them and vulnerable to being stopped at certain points in all three of those fights, believe it or not. When George gets him over, when Logan cracks in a left hook in one of the early rounds (that sounded like a bullet going off) and Melfah cracks in a right hand that forced Eubank to stay out of range for a bit (if Melfah followed up, he may have taken him).

Eubank at this time wore these plain white trunks and came in to 'Eye of the Tiger'!

 

I think he improved a lot defensively after the Melfah scare, by bringing in Herbie Hide and Errol Christie (two of the fastest pairs of hands you'll ever see, lb4lb) as his two main sparring partners for six weeks straight at the Matchroom Gym in Romford just asking them to unload on him as he worked on slipping, catching, blocking, twisting & turning, bobbing & weaving and stepping or ducking when throwing a jab. He came back a defensive master.

 

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w59zw7tImLk[/url]