I'm tempted to say, all of them. Calzaghe went life and death with Robin Reid and went the distance with a host of 'c' class (at best) fighters like Thornberry, Ashifra, Salem and Jiminez. Hamed was frequently knocking down guys who didn't get knocked down, and stopping guys who didn't get stopped. His performance's against Robinson, Johnson and Bungu were absolutely sensational. It's not even a question of "coming close to"... more like being "consistently better than".
ive got to disagree with you mate,before calzaghr lacy was a excellent fighter,joe just took all the self beleif out of him imo
I dont think Lacy he was ever an excellent fighter, but he was the definition of overhyped before he fought Joe, he'd looked ropey against Sheika if my memory serves me correctly. He's had bad shoulder injuries since then, but I think he would have been found out regardless.
I think people are underestimating Lacy's ability somewhat. He took an absolute beating off Calzaghe and coupled with that shoulder injury its no wonder he's looked **** since. Of course he was no where near as good as the americans made him out to be however. I tend to think he was on a Pavlik sort of level. Worldclass but with fundamental flaws that would get badly exposed by an elite level fighter like Calzaghe. A good example of his true worth was against a solid guy like Vanderpool. An even fight for 7 or so rounds with Lacy struggling with Syd's handspeed and not looking too bright then he nearly takes Vanderpool's head off! I'm not saying that Lacy wasn't massively overated at the time its just that the reverse seems to be true now.
Sheika was ok and a solid defence but no more than that. That he gave Lacy problems should have served warning that Lacy was being over hyped at the time.
What annoys me about the Calzaghe basher's (usually American) is that as soon as he beat a guy he is over rated. When he fought Lacy, Americans were saying he is the next Tyson. He was a box office star. Yet when Joe schooled him, it didnt count as beating a good American. If Joe never give that guy the beating of his life, he might have become the next Tyson. The same wouldve happened if he beat Pavlik and Dawson.
he fought Lacy 4 years after he lost to Calzaghe. 2 years for Lacy. then he beat Glen Johnson 2 months before he fought Calzaghe, and at that time Sheika was the best American fighter at 168 or one of thee best.
The truth with Lacy was that he was somewhere inbetween. Not as good as they said he was but not as bad as they say he is now.
To me Calzaghes easy, ridiculous one sided dominant victory showed that any suggestion he could have become the next tyson was ****ing ludicrous in the first place.
before the Lacy fight, I use to post on the scene, and they (Yanks) honestly believed that Lacy was going to kill Calzaghe. Never have I seen such a performance from a British fighter with all the hype surrounding his opponent - as I said to a mate after it "it was the best one sided fight I have ever seen from a British fighter"
I haven't ever seen the Johnson/Sheika fight but Johnson claims he was robbed.(Dosen't he allways?) The Sheika I saw against Calzaghe looked like a decent fighter but nothing special. All of the original super 6 I'd expect to beat him imo.
the man had persistent hand problems. the fight against Reid was one of them and the fight against Ashira he finished with ONE hand.
Pacquiao was a relatively unkown Super Bantamweight belt holder right up until November 2003 when he stepped up and battered MAB. By this point Hamed had been retired for 18 Months, so the thought that Nas avoided him is bull****. Same with Marquez, at the time of Hamed's last fight in 2002, JMM had never held a world title and had been defeated by Freddie Norwood in his only title challenge. Absolutley no way Hamed ducked Marquez.