Who's a better all round fighter, Pacquao or Calzaghe?

This is silly. Calzaghe had very good strengths in some areas, but to compare him to a man who has beaten Barrera, Morales, Marquez and more over so many different weight divisions just can't be justified. Calzaghe's strengths are mainly physical, ie stamina, workrate, chin, and the mental aspect of a strong will to win. Pacquiao is on another level as a fighter. Whereas Calzaghe was given hell by Robin Reid and had to bite down on his gumshield to win the second half of the fight against Kessler, and had a torrid night with a past-prime Hopkins, Pacquiao has blown through better opposition. He is far better offensively, is harder to hit nowadays than Calzaghe's stationary head ever was, has better speed, comparable endurance, comparable chin, and has basically proven through his career to be undoubtedly a superior fighter.

Pacquiao: Top level of his era along with Jones, Mayweather, Hopkins etc

Calzaghe: A level or two below along with Trinidad, Marquez, Tszyu, Winky etc
(I say "or two" as I think there is a level in between these two which houses guys like Barrera, Morales, Mosley and Oscar. All proved their qualities in testing battles in great careers, ie proved more than Joe C IMO).

 

maybe not as much as hopkins, but he sure can adapt.

 

I think the point that many of us are saying is that, contrary to what you believe, dispassionate assessment determines that they aren't on different levels as fighters BUT the strength of their supporting cast is significantly different.

Finally - BHop is way out of his zone above and he never will get that L to Calzaghe out his system.

 

Robin Reid took Calzaghe to hell after Calzaghe had been a world champion for 2 years. Calzaghe went the full 12 rounds with guys like Rick Thornberry, David Starie, Charles Brewer (who had been KO'd in 3 by Antwun Echols not long before he fought Joe), Miguel Angel Jiminez, Kabary Salem, and Evans Ashira.

Across Pacquiao's prime years, would he have boxed his way to UD's over this standard of garbage??

Joe looked good beating Lacy... like Jermain Taylor and the ghost of Roy Jones also did. And if you had actually seen Omar Sheika v Jeff Lacy before the Calzaghe v Lacy fight, you would have known Lacy was always just a hype job.

The strength of their supporting cast is different because Pacquiao was good enough to beat the best of his era across several weight classes, and beat them well (HOFs Morales, Barrera, Marquez, Hatton, Oscar, and more). Joe didn't fight the best of his era when they were prime, and those who he did beat, he didn't look anywhere near as devastating or impressive doing it.

You tell me, what were more impressive, points wins over a hypejob like Lacy (performances which were emulated by Taylor & Jones) and a good fighter like Kessler, or dominant executions of HOF locks Barrera and Morales, and the blow-out of Hatton 8 rounds faster than Mayweather managed, and in Hatton's prime weight?

Saying "they were as good as each other but Pacquiao's comp was better" makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. That's equivalent to saying "Valuev's record is brilliant, 50-1, so he must be up there with Ali and Holmes. It's just that he didn't face the same level of comp". Erm, you can only prove quality by beating quality convincingly. If you don't actually do it to the same extent, then you haven't proven it to the same extent!

 

I'm not wasting time on worthless speculations as to who was the better fighter P4P.

During the last 4 years, Pacqiao has faced the best in 3 different weight divisions. Calzaghe hasn't done that. So Paquiao ranks above Calzaghe in my book.

 

In Pacquiao's best performances, he has annihilated top, top opposition.

Calzaghe's best performances were against inferior opposition yet still were not anywhere near as devastating or impressive.

 

Calzaghe better allround, Pacquiao beats him P4p.

 

Better all around fighter . . . got to be Pacquiao . . . he's already fighting beyond his comfort zone and still winning. :deal

 

This ^^^

 

Calzaghe fights better inside, better boxer (can avoid being hit if he wants to), smarter combinations, better adaptibility. Pacquiao better at everything else.

 

Sorry, but no-one is saying anything to offset this:

It's a cop-out to say "Joe had better skills". In what fights and against what level of opponent did he show better skills than Pacquiao did in the second Morales fight or the Hatton fight?

Calzaghe never had good technical skills, he was effective because he was unorthodox, had freakish handspeed, stamina and a solid chin.

He was always easy to hit (obviously he didn't look it when he fought opponents who barely knew how to punch), never had good punch accuracy or power, never had good fundamentals.

When did Calzaghe ever come out with a clearly calculated plan like Pacquiao did against Hatton, and execute it perfectly? Pac and Roach knew Hatton dropped his hand at one specific split-second point in his attacks, and Pac lasered punches in at precisely the right time and with pinpoint precision to score a sensational KO of a man previously undefeated at that weight.

When did Calzaghe ever have the sheer skill to simultaneously slip one of his opponents' punches whilst landing a picture-perfect shot of his own, like Pacquiao did to knock Morales into the ropes, or twice against Hatton (first and third KD's of Ricky)?

When did Calzaghe ever face a prime HOF lock standard fighter like Barrera, and dominate every second of every round?

When did Calzaghe ever face a prime HOF lock standard fighter like Marquez, and floor him 4 times in 24 very close, high intensity, high quality rounds, and emerge with a win and a draw?

When did Calzaghe show the ability to change and develop as a fighter while never compromising his overall effectiveness (in fact, he is somehow improving as he fights bigger and bigger guys!) as he climbed up through many different weight divisions like very few else in history have ever done?


A vote for Calzaghe in this poll is a vote for an irrational attachment. It cannot be justified in any way. Pacquiao has proven in the ring to be the more effective and therefore better fighter. :good

 

How can you even compare Calzaghe with Pacquiao?

 

Calzaghe doesnt lose......

 

so you dont count JMM as a great tactitian?:huh

 

Correct.