Canelo vs Calzaghe at 168

Maybe "Stiff" is a little harsh but compared to Canelo that's the way I'd describe his stance and his movement. He doesn't possess an ability to really slip punches and I see him getting caught with counters, situations where he will be unable to avoid punches. His punch volume will win him rounds but he could seriously get knocked out. Canelo can punch, look what he did to Kovalev. Calzaghe struggled with Hopkins, a guy with good defense who could slip punches. But Hopkins didn't have the punching power to really dissuade him from throwing so many punches. Canelo on the other hand does. He was knocked down by RJJ because he walked into a forearm. Calzaghe was a great fighter in his prime, but his style is not suited to go tit for tat with a high level operator like Canelo.

 

With fair judges, Calzaghe would take a good UD win.

Like others have said, he has great ring IQ, he was unorthodox and difficult to pin down or walk down, he was southpaw and it was his weight class.

Canelo's best wins are against very basic fighters stylistically. Good fighters, but basic in their style.

 

He probably never saw JC fight

 

you mean like mikkel kessler?

 

You don't think Canelo would figure out his herky jerky movement? It might take him a couple of rounds but Canelo has the power to slow down Calzaghe's workrate and keep the fight at close range. He'll make Calzaghe uncomfortable, Calzaghe will tire himself out trying to do his usual offense, Canelo will be blocking and slipping everything then will pick his moments to explode with bursts inside.

You know those wide looping hooks that Canelo occassionally throws? He'll catch Calzaghe with one of those, Joe will be too focused on his slapping at Canelo he'll never see the hook coming. And body work, come on, Joe would get brutalized to the body. Joe will be throwing his slaps bouncing around then boom he'll eat a hook to the ribs or he'll get tagged with a looping hook to the chin. Calzaghe does not have the punching power or technique to hurt Canelo. Calzaghe is not good at blocking because he's always punching. That's a recipe for disaster against a guy like Canelo. He might outland Canelo, but he will be out power punched guaranteed and marked up by the middle rounds.

 

He's not that easy to hit. In fact he's quite slick. Only ever seen him get caught big early and once he warms into a fight he takes over. He bounces around but it isn't random, it's called creating angles with footwork. He destroyed many fighters using that skill and that is one of the things Canelo struggles with badly. Plus Joe had great handspeed and combos which are the exact tools to defeat Canelo offensively and take away his defence.

 

Canelo had trouble with southpaws Lara and Trout at 154..

Yes he's a lot better now, but Joe is a lot bigger than both and also better than both.

 

Joe is not too proud to clinch Canelo... He will be leaning and clinching Canelo all the time on the inside.

 

Slick? Calzaghe?

Take a look at this topic :

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/is-calzaghe-a-slick-fighter.353122/

Most posts in this topic mock the idea that he's slick. You seem to be equating "creating angles with footwork" as being slick or being defensively skilled. As many said in that topic, Calzaghe was quick, but not slick. There's a big difference between the two.

 

ofcourse he was slick.. Think for yourself and use your own eyes.

This content is protected

WHat is this? if not slick? So Calzaghe doesn't just circle the outside of the ring and throw 1 massive lead left and try and clinch with a headbutt.. Would that make him more slick? he's an offensively minded fighter.

 

He's too herky jerky to be slick. He slaps, moves away, slaps some more, pushes Lacy off, slaps again. And sorry, ducking one of Lacy's looping shots doesn't make him slick. And even if you want to argue that Calzaghe is like "kinda" slick, we can all agree that Canelo is much, much slicker than Calzaghe.

 

LOL. So how many slick fighters has Canelo actually beat then? I want to see your definition of 'slick'.

 

Calzaghe all day

 

His definition of slick means that Joe Calzaghe wasn't a slick fighter

 

Hopkins couldn't figure him out completely yet you expect Canelo to do so? As for Canelo's power slowing him down, that's ridiculous, Calzaghe's been in the ring with far harder punchers than Canelo and if Canelo can't cut off the ring well on Trout and Lara how the hell is he doing that to Calzaghe? Calzaghe isn't just going to plonk himself in front of Canelo like Smith who is basically the latest version of Nathan Cleverly, tall, solid fundamentals but little real boxing skill.

The fact you say Calzaghe will tire out loses you all credibility, Calzaghe's gas tank was near limitless even though he usually was drained at the weight. He used to do 10 mile hill runs most pro's would be puking after miles of hills, Canelo would need oxygen before he even got to 3 miles. You can question a lot of things about Calzaghe his stamina isn't one of them.

You seem to have a very misguided view on what type of fighter Calzaghe was. He wasn't just some face first swarmer who out worked guys he was a very skilled and clever boxer. Yeah he could sometimes take too many shots to land his own but the thing is he'd take those one or two shots and land several of his own in response but when he wanted to be defensively responsible he wasn't easy to hit. He showed vs Kessler he could adapt and switch tactics and could box on the back foot. He showed vs Hopkins he could take the fight on the inside and swarm if he was being out boxed, Calzaghe was a very versatile fighter much like Canelo.

Canelo maybe a steal a close decision if Calzaghe simply boxes him and limits his own work rate, Canelo is better defensively and more accurate but if Calzaghe uses his movement, his jab and his work rate Canelo is simply going to struggle. He won't have a stationary target, he won't have a guy like a faded Kova who's stamina will get sapped by body shots, he'll be out worked in every round, be forced to chase, even when he does have success, he'll be met with a flurry of shots in response and eventually it will be Canelo who gasses as he's simply unable to match Calzaghe's intensity.

Calzaghe wins a competitive decision because he has the 2 things Canelo can't deal with, movement and insane work rate.