joe calzaghe vs steve collins or nigel benn in 1997?

Super Joe schools them both. Too fast, too much endurance and too smart. Wouldn’t be surprised at a late stoppage either.

 

There's no blueprint for Slappy Joe.

 

I'm fairly certain eubank said that calzaghe hit him harder than anyone else. Calzaghe could dig before his hand problems forced him to change his punching style. As for benn and collins i think joe ud's both

 

Nigel Benn himself said " Joe would've beat all of us, he is by far the best super middle in the world "..Fair play nige, saying it as it is ! The hardest fight imo for Joe would've always been Eubank out of that lot(Benn, Collins, Eubank).

 

Calzaghe beats them all..............

 

he didnt, but he did say he got hit hard, in that fight when he was emergency weight drained as a late stand-in.

generally the consensus is joe throws fast with volume rather than accuracy, and that in itself dictates that he doesnt hit hard.

in the fights, prime joe would be even to outpoint collins, though it might well go the other way too. Benn was really out of it by 97 and it seems unfair to pick him, after all we are not matching post prime joe who gets floored by 40somethings with prime benn or benn would knock his head clean off. Prime Benn would probably stop joe late if you could get joe to enter a ring with him.

 

because mikkel Kessler was his best prime opponent after 46 fights....
check out how many Kessler+ opponents Floyd has on his resume and you'll see the difference between a HOF SMW who never fought the best of his era when it mattered, and a fighter who beat a who's who over half a dozen weight classes and will be compared to the greatest boxers of any era

 

Prime Benn would off been a bad match up for Calzaghe. Calzaghe was open to right hooks as seen in the Robin Reid fight. Just imagine Benn landing like that on Calzaghe.

Collins was a solid boxer. He impressed me with his performance against Eubank so I think this fight is a 50/50 scenario

 

I've got no problem with anyone taking a prime benn to stop calzaghe but I think calzaghe beats Collins quite handily to be honest. Agree with what you said about calzaghe's volume punching but I think he fought that way because of bad hands and naturally hits quite hard. Either way, you make some good points

 

its a fair cop, robo.

 

Collins was one of the most underrated fighters of the 90s.... Smart fighter who could adapt in fights - think he would have been a very tough test for a young Calzaghe.

 

this is true but we are talking prime calzaghe who beat injured kessler, and lacy, and bika. joes best run there.

 

Collins pulled out of the calzaghe fight after getting KOed in sparing with Howard Eastman.I think joe would beat them both in tough fights

 

Not sure about Joe TBH