Provocative point,however Spinks is generally considered a top 5 ATG lightheavyweight,a division where he never lost despite fighting some top quality talent.And I'm not sure,but pretty certain,that Mike was a decided betting fav in that fight.
I agree.Qawi was a monster at 175.Calzaghe was down,what,4 times at 168(I might be wrong on that one),but Dwight was downright powerful even at cruiser.Great timing,underrated boxer and granite chin at 175.Calzaghe was really an unknown at 175,beating shoooot Jones and past it Hopkins.
Qwai by 10-12 rounds. Too strong for Calzaghe. Even fight early rounds until Qawis pressure starts to tell after 4 or 5 then its goodnight Irene
Agree that people underestimate Joe Calzaghe's ''supreme ring generaliship and will power'' and also I agree that ''Joe didnt know how to lose, and always knew how to win''. Some very good points :good
I think a prime Qawi could get to him and drop him. Qawi's workrate was very good... he was all about in your face pressure. I think Qawi could stop him late.
Joe was very good but the reason for his 46-0 record has more to do with his level of his competition rather than his ability. He dominated a washed up Roy Jones Jr. worse than I thought he would but he was lucky to get the win over a well past prime Bernard Hopkins... he was dropped in the 1st round by both fighters. Calzaghe beat Chris Eubank in '97 (W12), by this time Eubank was having trouble making 175Lbs, let alone 168! Eubank had not fought at SMW in over 2 years... which was a loss (LSD12 Steve Collins)!! Eubank had not won a fight at SMW in almost 3 years!!! After the Calzaghe fight he fought two fight at CW then retired (L12 and LKOby10 Carl Thompson... great fights). The point is... the win over Eubank means very little to me. After Eubank (1997) Calzaghe fought a bunch of bums and washed up fighters for the most part until he faced Kessler... in 2007!!!!!
Eubank would never have beaten joe anyway,he had the wrong style to do so. Hopkins was well past his best? He beat tarver and mister pavlik in close proximity to the calzaghe fight. As hopkins got older his style was more conducive to giving joe problems. His earlier more energetic style would play into joes hands. Lets not forget,joe was also mid thirties when he fought kessler,hoppo and roymond,and had lost a lot of speed...
Maybe, maybe not? I think Joe was very good, maybe even great but he didn't really prove it vs. the best opponents very often... or at all for that matter. Despite his record and title fight victories I consider him an underachiever. Had he beat more notable "in prime" fighters I wouldn't be saying this. Maybe he could have beat prime versions of Eubank or even Hopkins and Jones but I'm not convinced based off of what actually happened H2H. I'm not even convinced that he could have beat a prime Brewer! Sure, wins over the likes of Reid (split-decision), Sheika, Woodhall, Mitchell, and even Lacy are decent... but they are not great IMO.
Dwight, I suspect, would be too much for him. Not a knock on Joe, because Joe just isn't a light heavyweight. The...arguable linear champion, but still not really a light heavyweight. Or at least, not a proven enough one to rumble with the mighty midget. Either a late, late tko or a decision. With Joe's proven chin, recuperative powers and stamina, he could certainly see the bell.