Is Michalczewski similar to Calzaghe?

I think the only difference is that Hopkins had wins over Trinidad and De La Hoya which are rated perhaps disproportionately high.

De La Hoya didn't really have any business being at 160lbs. Trinidad while well equipped to fight at 160lbs and should be considered a good win, is considered too high also in my view. You're talking guys who were fighting much lower than 160.

Take those two wins from Hopkins and Calzaghe's resume becomes easily better. So it just matters how highly you rate De La Hoya and Trinidad as middleweights in my view.

 

I too think Calzaghe would have beat DM soundly.... Joe does catch a bunch of ****, but also has some fans that totally overrate him... I feel I am fair with Joe, he was certainly a great fighter, that would have given prime Jones a hell of a fight at 168, though I would still pick Jones, but Prime Calzaghe was a truly great fighter.

 

Yes they are pretty similar.

DM in his prime was the better fighter, IMO. He was not as skilled as Joe but had a far better jab, more power, and was extremely tough and unrelenting. He could wear just about any man down over time.

 

In all honestly,please re-read what you've written."Did he look shot to bits?no.Was it a better Jones than the one in the Johnson and 3rd Tarver fights?yes".In all honesty,how can you say that?Jones' victim just before the Calzaghe fight was beyond shot former welter Felix Trinidad at 170 pounds.Jones,known for being a sharp puncher throughout his career,couldn't even take completely shot Trinidad out,whereas Hopkins,not ever known as the hardest puncher even at middleweight,blasted a close to prime Trinidad into oblivion.And who were Jones' other opponents around that time?Hanshaw and Ujama(I forget the spelling).As far Calzaghe,we all know that he was 37,but his greatest strength was his incredible stamina and workrate.In the leadup to the Hopkins fight,JC was on that HBO special demonstrating that his workrate was still nonpareil as he was throwing 1000 punches in one simulated round.So obviously he was much closer to prime as his fanatics would lead anyone else to believe.As far as Jones' being shot,the evidence is as clear as day.He couldn't even take out shot to pieces Trinidad.So deny it if that's what you want to do.It's your right to believe what you want to.But the truth is that Jones was completely shot,and Calzaghe knew it because he said so.And no,it wasn't a decent win for Calzaghe.Unless you count beating a shot to **** 39 year old that had been brutally ko'd twice years before and hadn't fought a real live body since he'd been ko'd.But again,it's your right to believe whatever you choose to do so.

 

Good points, honestly Oscar lost to Sturm in my opinion and probably should not have even been in the ring with Hopkins, I don't rate that win too highly.

Trinidad though I do give Hopkins a bit of credit for.. Most people had Hopkins the underdog, but Roy Jones himself said Hopkins was gonna beat Trinidad before it happened. I didn't believe it till i saw it. But it was a win over a prime fighter that was undefeated.

I do like Hopkins' win over Tarver quite a bit, and H2H at middle I would give H2H a good chance at anyone. I also liked his reign at MW...

When looking at Calzaghe's resume, I think he would be one of the greatest fighters ever to live had the biggest names on his resume been prime. Eubank, Hopkins, Jones.... Those are some great names, I do give him the most credit against Hopkins though, their resumes are arguable, I do give Hopkins the edge though.

 

Michalczewski was nothing like Kessler, aside from his excellent jab.

Kessler has a seeming lack of heart, and no one-punch power, both of which DM had an overabundance of.

Also Michalczewski was a pressure fighter who rarely took a step backwards, whereas Mikkel always fought off the backfoot.

Kessler's single DM impression (against Froch) was a rather poor showing if you ask me.

 

only read the first two pages but far more knowledgable posters have commented better than i can: just wanted to say that calzaghe did, and always will, suck balls. **** him

 

In which he beat an undefeated fighter, fighting one of the sloppiest fights in his night? I give him credit for that performance due to how bad he fought but still got the job done

 

PBF said that JC was the best british fighter . . . probably the best he has ever seen . . . who else is there besides Lennox? and Lennox was in active at that time. he only said that to put down ricky.

SRL favoured Joe over Bhop and RJJ late in their career.

Manny liked joe but he also criticized him for his slapping

RJJ spoke highly of joe . . . first to hype the fight and second because he got his decomposing ass whipped.

Eubanks and Benn another couple of regional fighters no big deal.

I have never been a Fan of joe but I must admit he is a very, very good fighter. He is overrated by his fans and underrated by his detractors. If I were to rate him against his contemporaries who are talked about in the ATG list I rank him close to, but behind them. Bhops resumes better, RJJ at his peak was untouchable and he never had the skill of toney who competed at a high level all the way to heavyweight (mainly because he liked to eat!) Yes, joe did dominate a division that was in its infancy. the SMW title has absolutely no legitimacy until Joe in fact ruled the coop. even then it was only a division that was the wasteland of the lesser fighters who could not compete at the historically credible MW and LHW divisions.

I give Joe credit for creating interest in the division that at one point was considered the poor mans cruiserweight division, But i clearly do not rank him as high as english fans who often blow their fighter's prowess out of proportion and for some god forsaken reason see themselves as a boxing "power"

 

Yet... Supposed "historically credible" divisions spawned fighters like Pavlik who received his first loss at SMW (170lbs) - or Arthur Abraham - or James Toney, etc.

168 has been credible since the 90s. Joe dominated the late 90s and 00s of the division. It now plays host to some of the best fighters from 154-190 and has the most competition.

175 is practically dead at the moment, 160 isn't much better. 168 has the Super Six series going on, a lot of publicity and a lot of known fighters. Much of that comes down to Calzaghe being a pathfinder in the division

 

Michalczewski had lots of power, Jone ran from him for years.

Calzaghe was fast, super fast, never quit punching.

 

I think it is clear too all who followed that saga that both were not very keen on travelling to the other's turf but that changed later when DM was desperate to get his hands on RJJ. Given the fight didn't happen, you know who didn't wanted piece of whom then.

 

Good point.

 

Kessler doesn't have big power.

It took him about three more rounds to get into the Hopkins fight, he was quite cautious early on. The Jones fight has zero validity, Jones has been destroyed by about three guys, which in my mind is a lot better than a lackluster 12 round decision. I think Calzaghe at supermiddle is very difficult head to head, very high workrate, fast hands, tough and akward, but he doesn't really carry weight well, the muscle quality isn't there. Against bigger, stronger guys, his style would be less effective. Darius would walk Calzaghe down and he has the power to stop him.