Is Joe Calzaghe a H.O.F fighter...and is Cal a legend, an ATG, or great fighter?

Cal is an ATG in my book. Here's why. Posters who have their heroes of today ranked above him are clouded by judgement. These critics attempt to belittle Calzaghe's comp as if it was terrible lol. Calzaghe fought prime opposition IN THEIR ABSOLUTE PRIME. At 168, who didn't he fight with so many defenses? They say that Calzaghe could've fought Roy at 168 or Hop at 168 in their primes. When? These fighters who mention this were not watching boxing during this time. In the beginning Cal had a chance to show us he was the real deal. Cal had a fight on a Tyson ppv undercard I believe, and he fought with an injured hand, and fans weren't sold on Calzaghe after that because he didn't look good. But then again, we were not sold on J.M.M after he lost to Norwood yet, we were not sold on Pac after his fight with Sanchez yet, and we were not sold on Hop after his fight with Segundo Mercado yet either. There are too many fighters/examples in boxing history to bring up who exemplify my point! It takes time for fighters to prove themselves, and Cal did that with me over time.

During that time Cal was at 168 and proving himself...we were watching Jones, Toney, the middleweights, and even before that, Benn and Eubank...Lindell Holmes and others. Cal has fought nothing but good, tough fighters, and unfortunately he had no peers at or around his weight that he could've been matched with like Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, and Duran. Those guys were lucky. The big guns never took hims serious because 168 was considered an unpopular division. You don't penalize fighters for who you think he could've faced, or who you think could've beaten him because Cal avoided no one. One poster tried to dis Cal's comp, and then proceeded to dis the comp of the fighters Cal fought!:dead Assinility at it's finest...assinility lol. Cal legitimized the WBO title with his number of defenses.

Anyway, I want to leave some things open to debate about Cal as I don't want to write a super long post, but Cal had the speed, the skill, the jab, the body punching, the heart, the will, and the desire to win. Even though Cal was down in fights, HE WAS NEVER KNOCKED OUT. The is the example of will. the Byron Mitchell fight exemplifies Cal's greatness. He got put down, got up and put Mitchell down who was one of the hardest punchers pfp at that time. Cal's record does not carry him over other greats before him or after, but he is definitely a H.O.F fighter and an all time great fighter in my book. As I said, and I'll say it again because I don't give a $#*&!@# what anyone says...Cal is the greatest Caucasian fighter I saw fight in my lifetime, and one of the greatest FIGHTERS ever imo!
1. Legend
2. Atg
3. Great

A legend is what Sugar Leonard is
A legend is what Duran is
I do not consider Hagler or Monzon legends, but all time greats.
Ali is a legend
Cal is not a legend.
Hop is not a legend... Nor are Jones, Toney, Shane, J.M.M, Pac, Barrera, or Morales. I could go on and on for days. Catch my drift? You mention a fighter to me, and I can list them in my 3 ranking system. The title of "legend" belongs to the absolute very best who took fights with guys that they weren't supposed to beat and won, or did something so special that you had no choice but to call them a legend. Those spots are reserved. This is not a knock to any fighter by "not" calling them a legend.

I rank fighters in the order of:
1. Legend-Ali
2. All time great-Chavez
3. Great-Hearns

My final say/ranking of Cal is that I list him as an all time great who had the potential to beat anyone around his weight.

 

He is definitely inide the 80 best fighters Ring mag has listed in the past. I'm going to give him time before I rank him. He might come back lol.

 

:good