http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/8041138.stm I never knew this. Is there any other fighter out their who doesnt spar? Enzo Calzaghe countered: "He did as much sparring as he has before. "Joe Calzaghe never sparred - and he was a world champion for 11 years.
I've heard conflicting reports about this, I've even heard Joe blame a performance on the fact that he didn't do as much sparring as usual. And, didn't they show him sparring with Enzo Maccarinelli for the jones jr 24/7?
I dont believe it. I remember Joe saying the Bika peformance was rough because he did no sparring due to his left hand having too many problems. And now Enzo is saying he never spars? That simply isnt possible. How would you ever prepare properly for a fight?
How can you not spar? I find this extremely suprising. What other fighters never sparred? I'm sure he said he was sparring with Enzo Macarinelli in one interview?
The Calzaghes had quite an unusual training method. Enzo who learned training from a book and watching videos, Joe who had all the natural abilities to learn any way daddy wanted to learn. But it worked. BTW, Enzo and Joe sparred together many times according to old interviews, and rumors say daddy kicked sonny's ass more than once. This content is protected Enzo is a great strategist, read his comments on Hopkins-Pavlik, PacMan-Hatton and other big fights. He's very good at this. But you could clearly see the limitations of his training methods in his son's fights. Joe Calzaghe's BEST weapon is adapting to the opponent and taking away their weapons. Roy used his speed vs. Bernard to fight his fight, but other than him, only Joe was able to take away Hopkins' offensive arsenal, especially the right hand that knocked southpaws silly before (Allen, Tarver, Winky in late rounds) and worked so well in the first 3 vs. Joe. In fact, Hopkins, who showed awesome stamina before and after Calzaghe, started to fade, got frustrated and did all kinds of bitching and holding - because THE strategist of the decade couldn't read his opponent anymore. That's where Calzaghe gets the least credit, people can't look farther than the 'slapping' and 'protected record'. The irony is that Joe was put on his ass vs. Mitchell, Hopkins and Jones very early, all that because of the same training methods, or lack of traning/sparring for the exact shots the opponents are good at, and early in the fights Joe simply went out using his physical gifts, starting to read opponents, but doing that going all out instead of hiding behild the shell. Guess what, he ran into stupid shots, but got up and adapted quickly. The Kessler fight is the most beautiful example of this, maybe of the decade. Mikkel changed rhythm, punch selection, plan A, B, C, D, E, and Joe had all the answers. But Joe was always vulnerable in the first 2-3 rounds, and had troubles vs. Kessler too. I guess that's what makes him so unique. He and Jones are the only ones in this generation of fighters to have very unusual training methods and still performing on the top. The difference is that Joe was vulnerable early but untouchable late, and Roy was untouchable all the time, but everything went away the moment his reflexes started to fade. Roy had the better natural abilities and gifts, while Joe could adapt better.
I know he wasnt really into it , and I cant actually remeber seeing him do any on film. Remeber Enzo had no boxing background ! I read an interview with Kessler where he said he only sparred about once a fortnight as he felt that hard sparring put too much wear and tear on his body. Mibbe they have a point. Sparring is all James Toney did and altough he had great skills he was in shocking shape I guess it depends on the quality of the work you do
He sparred little. Certainly not the hundreds of rounds most top fighters do. And then you have to consider he was sparring the likes of Kerry Hope, Bradley Pryce and Nathan Cleverly. They used to take it in turns sparring a round or two each because of Calzaghe's intensity.
Enzo's trying to flatter his legacy. He does spar, but not as much as typical fighters See BigBone's post for a quality answer