Instead of hating Calzaghe, since you have followed boxing for many years, try and dig out some of his older fights. Some of them are very interesting.
markbrooklyn in degrading non american boxer shock horror!!!!! seriously, you're the worst poster in general.
As usual his resume is very underrated. (and I bet you thought Lacy would smash him up also). Has it ever occured that maybe Joe was the one who ruined Lacy? Was Lacy considered a one-dimensional fighter before he got schooled that night? I also seem to remember Lacy being a big name over the USA before the fight and being labelled as the "New Mike Tyson". Guys like Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell, Sheika were very good fighters and certainly not nobodys so I suggest you research a bit before labelling them "nobodys".
imo, calzaghe's last yr or 2 could really change people's views about him, the guy is a great champ and will prove it to anyone who dare think otherwise, watch out b-hop!!!
You majorly underrate a number of very good fighter he has beaten. Just because the division is not closely followed in the USA, it doesnt make these guys bums. As pointed out already guys like Reid, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell, Sheika, Veit etc are all impressive wins. And as for the also-rans they have one thing in common - they were all (apart from Manaffraidtofightdo as far as I can remember) genuine supermiddleweights, not blown up welterwieghts and so on. ****, even one of his lowest rated opponents, David Starrie, was good enough to beat current LHW champ Clinton Woods. You also underestimate how sensible most boxers and their promoters are. They look at the champs in the division and think who do they want to fight? Do they want to fight Calzaghe and get murdered or Ottke, Lacy, Kessler, Beyer, Mundine etc and maybe win a belt? Still eventually the guys had to fight Joe as he had gone through everyone else and of course the best fighter in the division for the last 10 years ends up with all the belts. Who else could he have fought? Toney and Jones? He wouldnt have been a big enough payday for either to take the risk back then. Glen Johson is often touted but frankly thats just another easy win for Calzaghe. Joe beat Sheika coming of a win against him and his record as a supermiddleweight is frankly a bit crap. Ottke? Well thats the only one that would have been worthwhile but Joe would have to be mad to go to Germany for that one and Ottke certainly wasnt going elsewhere. Nice try at decent analysis but you let yourself down with a lack of objectivity over Joe's opponents. Kessler wasnt a "pretty good supermiddleweight who hasnt really fought the greatest competition" he was a dominant unified champion in his prime who had barely lost a round in his career. Lacey wasnt some one dimension nobody, he was a young champ widely favoured by those in the industry to trounce him and so on. Sorry to break this to you here but the days of US domination of boxing are well over. Boxers dont have to fight there anymore to be greats. There are many, many good boxers who have never set foot in the states. The only reason to go there is for the tv dollar, and frankly many can earn quite enough these days at home. Quite clearly the talent at supermiddleweight - other than 2 guys - has been this side of the pond for the last 10 years or so, so why not critsise american fighter for fighting in their own back yard when there were fights to be had over in Europe? 4/10 - Must try harder.
Calzaghe is a skillful boxer and a tremendous fighter. Basically, he outclassed, hurt and outlanded Eubank by a landslide and fought hard battles against Reid, Sheika, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell, Salem, Lacy and Kessler and that is more than enough... You don't need SRL or PBF or Manny Steward to say he is a tremendously accomplished and gifted fighting machine, you can easily see he combines ultra-fast hands with good combination punching and wise positioning/footwork in every single fight he had... Just that he pounded on Thornberry and Ashira with every punch in the book, double left hooks, left to the head and body, right uppercut, takes a step back, comes underneath and upstairs again but he hurts his hands by round 3 - and that could have happened again against Manfredo had Terry O'Connor not intervened... Then, he takes those right hands when his opponents come from his left side like against David Starie - so many right hands you wouldn't believe in numbers... But he is really the best boxer the British Islands have ever produced and one of the best fighters in the world at the present moment... I'm afraid this and the Hopkins analysis thread don't make much sense.
Great post - thanks! Although do you really think that Glen Johnson would've been an 'easy win' for Calzaghe? They were supposed to fight, but Calzaghe pulled out with an injury and Johnson went on to KO (an admittedly past his best) Roy Jones. Calzaghe's career was in somewhat of a crisis at that point, and I think he was lacking complete belief in himself. He almost pulled out of the Jeff Lacy fight remember, but luckily his Dad Enzo persuaded him to go through with it. That was Calzaghe's defining moment as a person and fighter, and we've seen the best of him since.
'Lacy amnesia' sums it up perfectly. And remember that Lacy had just destroyed Robin Reid who gave Calzaghe one of his hardest fights. So, mentally, this was a massive test for Calzaghe and he came through it with a little help from his Dad.
Let's not forget Reid was shot to bits, and it was confirmed when he got blown out in 4 rounds by Carl Froch without taking any huge punches When Joe fought Reid he was prime, and every bit as good as Lacy, probably better. Just shows how clueless most yanks are when it comes to Calzaghe's resume, recent victories aside
Lacy??? Who is Lacy??? I don't remember a Lacy..... Hey guys, have any of you heard of Lacy?? Not me....:yep
Has he took down that annoying Hatton avatar yet? I don't know because I use Adblock and Firefox to remove it.