yea i agree so if calzaghe finished his career with these victorys Hopkins , roy jones jr, pavlik , dawson then retires how would you hold him in regards of opponents , calzaghes resume is lowerd with the lack of blockbuster talent but imagine , Eubank ,Lacy , Kessler, Roy jones Jr , pavlik, hopkins and dawson and there is a resume to be proud of so all is not lost for calzaghe if he decides to continue and go for these big fights its all in his hands to be honest or should i say his fists
Calz is a great champ, no doubt. But he hasn't taken over the world. FRKO, I usually agree with a lot you say, but this one is obvious to me. Hatton challenged the p4p best and saw where he stood. Calz could have taken some fights in america and got the world wide recognition he deserves and then took on the p4p king of the time in RJJ. This fight with Bhop is just putting a name on his record win or lose. We both know 43 yr old GBP bhop isn't the same bhop of the 90's early 2000's.
I think Calzaghe was the biggest waste of boxing talent. He waited until he was past his prime until he started taking big name fights. He is still one of the best in the world right now but WHAT A SHAME.
well it was some years ago - that's my point. eubank was past it. lacy was a legitimate challenge but was overhyped - not calzaghe's fault. a clinical display. kessler for me is calzaghe's best win. pavlik is the only one i see - taylor to actually because he's no mug - who could give calzaghe rep. but the truth is he allowed frank warren to mother him for the cash and so i really can't se how anyone can have half the respect for calzaghe - regardles of talent - that you can have for hatton, who had the sense and self-respect to change his own fate. jones and hopkins are impotent now in terms of 'legacy' and i really can't see how anyone can gain off that.
yes you're right. but it's fairer to say that warren decided to cash in on him once his expiry date approached. it might sound mercenary but that is all frank warren is. he's looking for a cash cow to milk and i can only hope that ricky hatton has a word in amir khan's ear at sometime. after saying that, joe's no orphan. he has to take reponsibility too for what happened (or didn't) with his career.
I know the point that is being discussed in here, but the fact is that I do give credit to Joe Calzaghe for staying unbeaten all these years and wanting to fight Hopkins in US. I mean, he beat Kessler whom I think is a great/difficult opponent for anyone. Still 21 title defenses is a lot, easier said than done. Hopkins is 44/43 years old, but he is still a current top P4P guy and has fought great opposition in his career. Besides JC can still fight against great opponents later this year. I am not a JC nuthugger but boxing is a hard sport and what he has and wants to accomplish in his career deserves some merit at least. Yes, we can argue about his opponents but every boxer's career has had some regular, good and bad names. Every boxer.
ahh so let me just think on this for a second so if calzaghe fights roy jones jr , and hopkins they wouldnt enhance his legacy if you look at antonio tarver he will be living of his roy jones win for the rest of his career, so imagine if calzaghe remains unbeaten while beaten pavlik , roy jones and hopkins then in 20 years he will be regarded as a great boxer even if when he was boxing there will be loads of speculation about his career and his prime but in 20 years it will all be forgotten and all will stand is a boxer who fought roy jones jr, hopkins , pavlik , eubank , kessler and was unbeaten for 10 years as a world champion and had a record title defense, it was the same for joe louis, remember something like the bum of the month club! but still held in high regard as a great boxer which will be the same for calzaghe. in my opinon of course!
wel actually hopkins hasn't fought 'great' opposition in his career. but the difference is he has fought on the legitimate world stage and beaten them. take a look at the world ranked super-middles who kessler and calzaghe fought prior to their fight and calzaghe's resume is dismal in comparison. but like i keep saying. the man's outstanding but was fighting as his promoter's nestegg. the fact that calzaghe never put himself on the world stage is the crux of the argument for my mind.
tarver will be living off his jones win for the rest of his life... he was in the right place at the right time but no-one will remember him, will they? you can't name names without putting in perspective where those fighters - all of them - were at their stages of their career. if i beat up roy jones and bernard hopkins in 10 years time would i qualify as well? of course not.
Tarver will be living off that win against RJJ for the rest of his life. The difference in your comparision to JL bum of the month is the fact that Joe beat a lot of legitimate contenders out at the time. Calz didn't do that. Sure they weren't in the same weight class, but dang 10 years is a long time to hold a belt and not fight a P4P guy in RJJ or Bhop regardless if they ducked or whatever.
thankyou. but i'll reitterate what i said before. i'm not posting to preach and i'm more than happy to lock horns with anyone who disagrees - and has read the full post. i'm trying to make people think here.
I think Joe is a great fighter and it saddens me that so many people disrespect his achievements. The Lacy win, for example, was a total domination of a decent fighter (notice I say decent, not great or elite). It was a boxing clinic, offense, defence, outside, inside, everything. So Lacy wasn't as good as everyone thought, he still got obscenely beasted by an old man (in boxing terms). Until other p4p fighters start doing the same to decent competition that win is a hell of an achievement. Hopkins did duck Calzaghe, that's beyond debate. He was offered a career high payday so the risk/reward wasn't an issue. But, Joe SHOULD have done a Hatton. He SHOULD have ditched Warren and gone to America to solidify his reputation and force the big fights to happen. After he's through with Hopkins he needs to fight Pavlick. That's the only fight that will give his legacy the boost it needs. If he fights and beats Dawson then everyone will say Dawson was green. Joe should have more respect as a fighter but he could have fought harder to get it.