Who was greater...Lennox Lewis or Joe Calzaghe?

Who was the greatest of the UK fighters?

 

Neither of them are top 3

But Lewis > Calzhage by a very long way

 

Sorry for the typo guys...

 

Of those two Lewis

 

Can i see your top 5?

 

I've not made a top 5 but the top 3 of the top of my head are
Jimmy Wilde, Bob Fitzsimmons and Ted Kid Lewis, then Lennox Lewis
And probably Owen Moran and Jack Berg and some other guys before Calzhage

 

Knight them both and be done with it!

 

Lewis for me. I don't think Joe would have been undefeated if he had fought Jones or Hopkins at their best. Very hard to beat, though, in fairness.

 

I agree with your top 3. I think they are clearly the head of the pack, while Lewis, Berg, and Calzaghe are in the sort of second tier. 'Peerless' Jim and Freddie Welsh are also in the second bunch imo. Tough to compare across eras though.

 

I don't think hes undefeated against Old Hopkins tbh

 

Neither do I.

 

Finqlly a question that is easy to answer: Lewis by a country mile. And, I am not much of a Lewis fan.

 

Calzaghe is the best you Limeys have produced. And you had to borrow him from Sardegna to do it. Be thankful for your gifts and carry on.

 

This is kind of close.

Lewis has a legitimate argument for being a top 3 heavy ever.

Calzaghe could be the #1 SMW in history.

On the other hand Lewis can point to his resume which is stacked with "name fighters". Calzaghe has these too, but the common criticism is that he fought guys like RJJ and Hopkins when he was old. However, the very same point can be made about Old Tyson and Old Holyfield.

Calzaghe is unbeaten. Lewis has avenged all his defeats.

Zaggers beat a very good version of Kessler when he himself was old .... but then Lewis has the Vitali win. He also dodged the rematch though.

I'd nudge towards Calzaghe being the better man, because when he was on song he looked next level and untouchable.

On the other hand I totally get the argument for Lewis.

 

Competion- Lewis.

Ability- Probably Lewis but very close

Watchableness- Lewis by a mile even though he was in some average fights, Calzaghe was in some absolute stinkers and was one of the worst "great" fighters I've seen from an aesthetic standpoint

Legacy- Lewis. At worst a top 10 in a great division. Joe was one of the better 168 pounders without beating a great fighter in a historically pretty shallow division (through no fault of his own Jones, Toney, Benn etc weren't viable opponents during his or their prime).

Therefore I pick Lennox.