Why don't more fans appreciate Joe Calzaghes fighting style

Because it's been done not only before, but better before, and with more devastating punchers.

Oh and the fighters with the same styles didn't get knocked down by a shot RJJ. Oh also I don't like showboating.

I wish he fought Ward

 

I don't feel its about his style, more about his competition and when he fought them, Eubanks, Jones,Hopkins and Brewer were past, and well past prime when he fought them, Lacy was looking shaky before he fought him, Calzaghe just exposed him. Their was nothing special about Kessler. The rest are mainly European club fighters basically that carry the same amount of weight as American club fighters.

 

I give Joe C. credit. I have always said this about boxing that every fighter is different, whether it's technique, strengths and weaknesses, boxer or more brawler, heart, etc … You use your advantages in order to get the Win. At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

 

It's his record and safety-first approach to his career I have issues with, not his fighting style. Although I have to say I don't remember any impressive inside fighting from Calzaghe as referenced in the original post. He was very brave and quite flashy letting his hands go in mid-range or open exchanges, but fighting his way out of a clinch or mastering the other guy on the inside? He was nothing special there in my opinion.

But yes, good hand speed, fantastic stamina, had a big heart, could take a punch and nice all-round skills. But as Lachbuster referenced, he maybe didn't have a USP or one area where he really did stand out as being exceptional. Combine that with his poor opposition (in comparison to other 'great' fighters, which Calzaghe's fans claim he was) then it's probably a big reason why he goes under the radar a little.

 

It was an aesthetically unappealing style for me without downgrading him as a fighter. His punch technique was sloppy (although swift), he was ungainly (though very busy), his power was limited (despite posting a decent KO%) and his matchmaking was highly calculated (without any mitigation). I never much liked watching Andre Ward either though I think he was fundamentally better than Joe.

Joe also seemed to have had a charisma bypass at some point. He was cocky, which is fine and plenty of fighters are but he wasn't charming or remotely likable to go with it. At least that's how I perceived him.

I rate him highly at 168 but to be honest Andre Ward's resume at the weight is far better and RJJ looked flat out far superior at the weight, despite Joe's win over a totally shot Jones at Lt Heavyweight. Behind those two he's a clear stand out at 168.

 

Jones floored Joe with his forearm and he wasn`t even hurt, after that Roy got completely dominated.

 

Calzaghe was one of the few fighters during the 90`s that didn`t just rely on athleticism, he adapted midway through fights, a very good fighter.

 

I've got no doubt he'd have slapped Ottke all over the place, but if you're going to claim that he 'cleaned out all the best European Super-Middleweights of the nineties' as you have, then his failure to make this fight happen is quite damaging. Calzaghe dealt with his opponents much more impressively than Ottke did, of course - but the brutal reality is that there actually wasn't much between the names they were facing, particularly after Calzaghe's decent wins against Eubank and Reid in 1997 and 1999 respectively. His opposition for those seven years between 1999 and 2006 was criminal for a supposedly great fighter. Contrary to popular belief, he also had his fair share of poor performances and stinkers against these (at best) gatekeepers and Euro-level opponents, such as the Starie and Salem fights.

Mind you, I can accept that Super-Middleweight was an average division for many years. But that's what bugs me most about Calzaghe - he consistently talked about how hard it was to make 168, how he wanted recognition etc., but never bothered to move up to 175 until THAT division had died a death as well, despite clearly being big enough to fight there and despite there being many more lucrative fights against big names there, too. The WBO's ten defences+ rule entitled him to a shot at Michalczewski's Light-Heavyweight title if he'd wanted it around 2002-03, but it never happened. Lacy was a God-send for Calzaghe, because it meant that Super-Middleweight finally had an unbeaten, hyped, heavily-backed potential star for him to go against, and of course Kessler emerged as a quality championship performer around the same time...But those fights didn't materialise until 2006 and 2007. Meanwhile, the previous few years at 175 lb had contained the pound for pound king Jones as well as guys like Tarver, Johnson (both Glen and Reggie), Gonzalez etc., all of whom were far more proven, high-rated and who carried more cachet and better credentials than the likes of Thornberry, Veit, Ashira etc. at 168 lb. Yet Calzaghe stayed put.

Nobody fights every single worthwhile guy in or around their weight classes throughout their whole career, so I'm not asking that he faced all of these guys. But none of them? When he finally did make the leap, he has a good (not great) win over a declining but still very competent Hopkins, and a meaningless money-grab against the charred remains of Jones. I think Jones, any time before 2004, would have outclassed him (no shame in that), and if he'd have moved to 175 earlier I could maybe see him dropping a decision somewhere along the time (perhaps avenged as I do rate him as a pure fighter) to someone else, too....But a, say, 44-2 ledger under those circumstances would certainly earn him more credit from me than his existing 46-0 one does.

 

Top class post as always.

Everything you wrote is 100% accurate.

It saved me typing it out.

I was a fan of his in the early days. But I soon wised up.

It was criminal for a fighter of his ability to be killing himself to fight B and C class fighters at SMW, when he had the opportunity to target more recognisable names at LHW. He even had Showtime's backing at one point.

 

A few points to consider:

Many times Joe concentrated more on volume rather than accuracy.

Not all of his fights were entertaining. He had some stinkers.

He didn't clean out the SMW division, although that wasn't his fault.

He killed himself to make SMW, despite there being more recognisable names in the LHW division.

Although Hopkins wasn't shot, he didn't go on to do great things after at LHW.

Joe was a great, unorthadox fighter, but his ambition never matched his skills.

 

Roy was shot and had no business being in the ring with any world class fighter at that point. Which is why of course Joe fought him.

 

1. This is a bizarre statement which you keep making.

2. Joe's fitness was his best attribute, which got him wins over the likes of Kessler and Hopkins.