Who had the more impressive wins Calzaghe or Hatton?

i think hatton has the better resume over the long run whereas with big names calzaghe takes it with lacy and kessler

hatton fought and beat a lot more b level fighters whereas calzaghe had a few good wins against a level fighters but too many against c level fighters, tough one to call but edging calzaghe

 

Calzaghe was unfortunate his division was like it was, quality wise as well as politics bull****. How you supposed to get Sven Ottke and Markus Beyer in the ring in a fair scenario? If he'd unified the division earlier, just the name Sven Ottke would have made his resume look a bit tighter.

I believe he should have fought Dawson as well to make his weight jumping legacy look that bit more solid. He obviously didn't have the hunger for that fight, against an impressive young fighter, though obviously not a very attractive one...

Still some way above Hatton though.

 

I think Calzaghe would be better thought of if, instead of Pudwell, Thornberry etc he'd just hadn't fought anyone on those dates and ended up with a 41-0 kind of record...

I just ignore those wins and look and decent guys he did fight and beat around that time rather than focus on some of the poorer opposition.

 

TFFP, pre-2005, what are your thoughts on the respective level of competition that both Hatton and Calzaghe fought?

 

It doesn't really make a difference, does it? It doesn't really add or subtract anything to fight those kinds of fighter.

By the way, the much maligned Pudwill was a replacement.

 

Yep, exactly what I was getting at. I know its only really a superficial issue really, but having that dross on your recent record really skews perceptions.

 

Thats what I'm saying (IMHO) Pudwell, Thornberry etc don't actually make Calzaghes record any worse but they are frequently brought up in this way. "Wasted fights" is probably the most accurate way to describe them when looking back at Calzaghes record.

Yep, I know Pudwell was a sub.:good

 

Exactly.:good

 

My thoughts...

I think Calzaghe had a better education at domestic level. Delaney, Eubank (he's better than 'domestic level' but he's a Brit), Reid and Woodhall. All before 2000. I think Calzaghe had done things well up to that point. Hatton fought Magee and Thaxton, but if I put it kindly 'avoided' Witter, which is kind of like Calzaghe ducking Reid as the naturally talented fighter.

Between 2001-2005 he really seemed to stagante with the Veit rematches, Pudwill, Jimenez, Mkrtcyhan (although he looked dangerous on paper at the time). Only really Brewer and Mitchell were passable opponents during this time frame. At which point Hatton is in the WBU era, and obviously his opponents are of varying quality. He fought Tackie, Vilches and Phillips who'd seen better years but were solid educational fights, mixed in with crap like Pedersen and Stephen Smith.

I think if you match the names up Calzaghe fought Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Mitchell, Brewer in this period and Hatton's best are the WBU fights I mention above. Calzaghe fought better fighters, but over a much longer time period having started in the early 90's to Hatton in the late 90's.

 

calzaghe obviously had the better wins. However if you look at their respective skills and what they had in their war chest, i think hatton although his best win coming against an inactive and old Kosta can be much more proud of his CV, Calzaghe maybe the best SWM of all time, able to do things only a few fighters can get away with and his resume doesn't match his skills, not entirely his fault of course

 

Calzaghe's career is very much a slow burner if you look at the dates involded, its quite startling. It started off brightly, very nearly burnt out in the middle, before Lacy came along and re-lit the candle. It was just about to explode towards the end...then he quit. I have some regrets about that because he was still fighting at a very high level. Physically he had it in the tank.

 

The truth mate.:good

Where Hatton excelled considering his limits, defensively especially.

 

Can it be said that Calzaghe underacheived?Or is that ignorant?

 

Thats a good point S&C, I think theres fewer "if onlys" in Hattons than Calzaghes.

At the end of their careers we know how good Hatton was from who he wasn't able to beat and who he was able to beat. I'm not sure we can say that about Calzaghe...

 

I was willing Calzaghe to fight on. I wanted to believe. Then he retired.

I'll never understand a lot of issues surrounding Calzaghe and his career, the mans mentality is a mystery to me.