Degales performance

Joe was the best in his division, Carl could never say that he was.

 

My point was that Froch & Degale fighting in Vegas [where Froch wants to perform ,] means nothing financially. Froch and Groves in the UK were big ££££

 

No , but he could say he fought the best out there whilst they were prime.Calzaghe would have his hands full with Ward.

 

Who did Joe fight that was worth a toss @ SMW bar Kessler?

Joe, like Floyd, will be remembered for the fights that he didn't take instead of his victories.

 

He unified belts and became #1 in the division. That's the aim of the game.

What fights worth a toss didn't he take @ SMW?

 

Here are the Ring's independent ratings from that period.
For whatever reason he did not fight.

Liles. Rated in top 10 for 8 of the 10 years of the 90's,including being no 1 to Joe's no 2 , no 2 to Joe's no 4 ,and no 7 to Joe's no 2.

Bute. Rated in top 10 for 2 years including being no 6 & no 3 whilst Joe was Champ.

Tate.Rated in top 10 for 2 yrs whilst Joe was no 2.

Mundine .Rated in top 10 for 7 yrs, including being no 9 to Joe's no2.no3 for 2 years to Joe's no1,and no 3 to Joe's no 1 ,and no2 for 2 years whilst Joe was champ.

Andrade.Rated in top10 for 3yrs whilst Joe was either champ ,or no 1.

Beyer .Rated in top 10 for 5yrs whilst Joe was either no 1 or champ.

Ottke.Rated in top 10 for 4 years, two as no1 whilst Joe was no2.Two as no2 whilst Joe was no1.

Echols.Rated in top 10 for 4 years. No 3 twice whilst Joe was no1.no 4 whilst Joe was no1,no 4 whilst Joe was no2.


Froch .Top 10 rated whilst Joe was champ.

That's 9 rated top ten opponents that Joe for one reason or another missed whilst he was ether champ or number one contender.


As champ he defended against .

Veitx2. He was unranked both times.
Manfredo was no 10 briefly, [a couple of months].
Salem. Never ranked.
MKrtchyan.Never ranked.
Pudwill.Never ranked.
Jimenez.Never ranked.
McIntyre.Never ranked.
Ashira.Never ranked.
Sabot .Never ranked.
Starie .Never ranked.
Thornberry .Never ranked.

Calzaghe made 21 defences of the WBO SM title. Eleven were against challengers not ever rated in the Ring magazine.
Were those eleven defences ,[ more than 50% of the total,] worth a toss?

His best opponents were
Eubanks for the vacant title.
Mikkel Kessler
Byron Mitchell
Sakio Bika
Jeff Lacy
Charles Brewer
Robin Reid.

There are a few others who were ranked at SM that he missed .
Larsen, Green,Lucas etc ,but I've focused on the more obvious matches that did not get made.
Summary some very good scalps, and a fair share of dross,similar to Eubanks WBO reign.

 

Was impressed with degale on saturday night thought gonzales without seeing him knowing he was a virgil hunter fighter would have gave him trouble. Wouldn't take the degale fight if i was froch think he would deal with james easier than groves...as people have mentioned degale gets lazy on the ropes in fights...it's a wet dream for froch. Also dont think he's as sharp a puncher as groves...speed wise.

Never was a big fan of degale's as a fighter until recently...always thought he was good but far far too amateur with the slapping shots etc to the point i struggled to watch him, ...and was actually surprised he gave groves the close fight that he did.

But sat down and watched him fight someone i think it was the channel 5 days quite recentlly and was well impressed, hadn't realised how good he was...and thought he was excellent on saturday, always hard to tell with the level of opponents tho. Not quite ready for froch...i dont see why the rush anyway...from going to fighting no real relevant names on the world scene to a world title shot...get him in with guys out there that are on the world scene, it's a bit like what they've done with brook, and what groves done to an extent but you just knew he would be dangerous anyway without the more learning fights. Even if he won the title against froch...i dont think he would, not saturday nights carl anyway...he still has to defend it...how long before he gets dethroned?? The smart move would be too push on from gonzales...who didn't start boxing till he was 20 i m sure afterall.

Very good performance from him.

Cant help but laugh at him and his trainer cant remember his name (danny williams old trainer), Jim?? i know him just cant get the name...

There's something that makes me cringe about the pair, in a likeable sort of way...even with their embarrasing antics of the groves fight...i'd like to see the pair of them do well...just not too well. You know they'd get too smug about it all...and keep banging on and on about it.

 

I don't think anybody is losing any sleep over him not fighting those guys. He fought the important one's, Lacy and Kessler.

 

More than half his defences were against unranked men ,that's the bottom line.You asked a question I answered it, and in doing so proved Solaris's point.

ps .Ever wondered why Veit got a rematch 4 yrs after being stopped in under 2 minutes first time around?
I'll tell you ,he was the mandatory challenger,45-1-0 and the only boxer of any note he had beat was Charles Brewer.
Maybe that illustrates what the WBO title was worth?

 

mcvey is owning fools!

 

You did indeed answer my question although I'm not sure how 'worth a toss' some of those fights really would have been. More 'worth a toss' than some of the fights he had for sure but I rarely see people actually caring much that those fights did not happen.

I don't think you really proved his point because he said Calzaghe 'will be remembered for the fights he didn't take' and I don't think anyone will remember that he didn't fight the guys you listed. I think he will be remembered for being the best SMW of his era and his fights with Lacy, Kessler and Hopkins.

 

Why the rush? Froch window is closeing, same reason people can't wait two or three fights for floyd if offered have to jump at chance. If both fighters were 27 instead of 37 then fair enough you can wait it out abit

 

in fairness to mcdonnell he did shake groves' hand after the fight, unlike degale

 

My apologies BB, it was your question I was answering, not Solaris's.

 

I don't want to accuse Calzaghe of ducking those guys.

I think his promotional ties had a lot to do with it ,he is on record as saying how frustrated he was that more meaningful matches could not be made.

However had he met all those rated men that he did not ,I doubt he would have remained undefeated.
Which ,along with those 21 defences,[less than half of which meant jack ****,] is a large part of his legend and mystique imo.

It's like Eubanks and his epic wars with Benn and Watson, they must be tempered with the risible defences against what were in effect journeymen.