After reading thread after thread on this forum 2 things become apparent: 1) Calzaghe is not respected by a large number of posters and is not considered to be a top fighter and would not even make it into the top 10 on many people's p4p lists (if he were still around). 2) A lot of these same posters seem to place Bernard Hopkins as there p4p number 1 on their lists. If Calzaghe beat Hopkins how does this work? please explain... p.s. for those who believe that joe didn't beat B Hop... it is undeniable that it was a very close fight and whatever is said Joe went 12 hard rounds with your p4p king and is generally considered to have come out on top... so 'Joe didn't beat him,' is not a valid answer.
He gets respected as a good fighter. However call a spade a spade, he avoided facing the best competition until the end of his career. The Jones Jr win means very little btw.
Calzaghe was 2 or 3 p4p before he retired. He was ranked higher than Bhop in this respect. Only a few weridos have Bhop over Pac. There's no reason for it other than just liking Hopkins.
I think also Hopkins fought Calzahge far past his prime. Not only that Hopkins has accomplished a lot more in my opinion taking on the best possible opponents throughout his career, whereas Joe really didnt. It wasnt until his last four or five fights that he started taking riskier challenges. He missed the boat fighting the better guys back in the day, instead taking on fringe contenders and has beens. Beating 40+ year old Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins wasnt the same as fighting them in their prime. Thats not to say that Joe is a dam good fighter, and I blame mostly Frank Warren for keeping him in Europe and protecting him to make big money. I think Joe would have been right in the mix with those guys, but I think prime Jones, Hopkins, Toney, and few other guys beat him easily.
I think and always thought that Joe was a hell of a fighter and i followed most of his career and im American......Do i think Warren held him back a little( yes) do i think he was to much risk with little reward for some to fight( yes) do i think he deserves to be called an all-time great( yes) Do i think him not fighting certain people at certain times hurts him a little( yes)..but like it or not the guy can fight and he gets my repspect,i always enjoyed watching him fight and always thought of him as a special fighter....i think the same today of a guy like Williams he has that something special about him and im enjoying following his career