Which was a better masterclass. Calzaghe vs Lacy or Toney vs Barkley

Both, two great performances by two great champions. If I had to choose one I'd choose Toney's because I love counterpunchers.

 

I was a 23 year old, not long out of Uni, working in Sales for a kitchen manufacturer at the time. There was a couple of older blokes in our warehouse who followed boxing and both thought Lacy would destroy Calzaghe. I picked Calzaghe and I think they dismissed me as a white collar kid who couldn't possibly know much about boxing. They gave me my dues the Monday morning after the fight.

 

Well isn't hindsight magical?

 

It doesn't require hindsight to see Lacy going life and death over 12 rounds against an opponent who was considered a stepping stone at that point in his career.

It also doesn't require hindsight to see all the defensive flaws Lacy had in numerous other fights prior to Calzaghe.

If anyone had seen Calzaghes previous world title fights and was clued up on him.

I don't see how anyone could favour Lacy over Calzaghe based on his performances vs Vanderpool, Sheika.

Lacy never looked upper echelon in any of his fights its only because he was American and looked the part physically that he got overhyped.

 

Apparently it did require hindsight, because most of the sporting press didn't see it at the time.

There was a small but significant group on here who argued that Calzaghe was much better than his record suggests, but they were regarded as eccentrics.

It turned out that they were right.

 

Yes and I've said that's because Calzaghe wasn't that well known globally because he spent alot of his career defending the belt in Wales.

So people assumed because Lacy was American and he had the look that he would win based on that.

In reality Lacy had struggled in numerous fights and showed plenty of flaws prior to the Calzaghe fight.

If people had actually followed Calzaghes career they would've seen Calzaghes skill level was clearly above Lacy.

People bought into the hype of Lacy simply because he was American and had the look not because of his amazing performances inside the ring.

 

Hmm? I'd really forgot but you're right. Iran was past it when Toney got to him.. To me , His reflexes had slowed ...
Oh, right on Lacy too.

 

The Lacy fight for me. I reckoned Joe the best SMW but didnt expect to see such a one-sided fight. Lacy had a horrific 12 rounds, a real beatdown and kudos to him for taking it. Joe doesnt over-praise his opponents but i heard him say respect to Lacy for going the distance. Barkley had lost a few by 93 and Toney was already a highly respected operator so not a surprise to see him easily deal with Barkley.

 

BY FAR Calzaghe-Lacy because Lacy was the hot commodity and Calzaghe was expected to lose.

In Toney-Barkley, Barkley was long in the tooth and it went as expected.

 

Calzaghe schooling of Lacy is arguably the most beautiful, dominant display of boxing ever.

 

When I used AI to make guesses about people based on their usernames, they told me that your government name was likely Gregory Price and your date of birth was likely in 1999. ...When I ran @Bukkake 's name through...well, let's not talk about that. It's for another thread. Maybe in the lounge.