Joe Calzaghe - Modern Day Fantasy Gauntlet

Regardless of your opinion of Calzaghe and his resume, unlike serial cheat Ward, he not only entered the ring with 2 weapons as opposed to 5 like Ward but his 2 legal weapons aka the tools of his trade were badly damaged long before he even turned pro and he everything he achieved throughout his career was achieved with badly damaged hands which robbed him of a lot of his power and they were in such a bad state he couldn't spar for years or spar much for a lot of his fights and during the back half of his career his hands were shot to bits.

If Joe could fight clean with 2 bad hands and not have to resort to holding like an octopus, butting like a billy goat, elbowing and punching low religiously, and actually use legal skills to avoid getting hit as opposed to lunging in and grabbing ahold of his opponents after throwing a sneaky lead in order to prevent them from catching him with counter punches (and every punch which dropped Ward or hurt him badly in his career was a counterpunch - Kovalev right hand, Boone KD, Kenny Kost has him out on his feet from one) leading with his head all night and ducking his head between his knees then why did Ward have to enter the ring with 5 weapons and rely so heavily on fouling the crap out of his opponents incessantly?

He not only intentionally used his head as a battering ram to slice Kessler's face up, inflicting 3 individual gaping wounds all from separate billy goat butts, but he continued to do so right up until the finish in round 11 despite Kessler's face being a mask of blood and Kessler being one of the least dirty and most honourable fighters in the sport and one of the sport's true nice guys not a fake nice guy like Ward

I'm not sure how anyone can watch this video he isn't only one of the dirtiest fighter ever but he lied through his teeth about being so and was the first to cry and complain and play the victim about it when he received a small dose of his own medicine. Even if you for some strange reason respect such filthy dirty cheats how can you respect ones who not only can't take their own medicine but can't even take a small dose of it without crying and playing the victim?

Watch how he booked his place in the Olympic final. He literally spent half the duration of the fight holding on like crazy to prevent his opponent from landing with scoring punches

This content is protected

Joe was compromised pretty much his entire career by injuries to his 2 legal weapons but he never had to resort to the excessive use of filthy dirty tactics and he wasn't scared of getting hit or getting into an honest exchange like Ward whose had to hold like and octopus to avoid getting caught with clean power punches and counter punches.

Joe fought a lot of big punchers in his career and he either outboxed them or outfought them or both and wasn't in the least bit afraid of getting into a good old fashioned honest exchange. If Ward fought like that he would not only been dropped and been badly hurt a lot more times than he was but he would've been KTFO numerous times. Hence the entire reason why he fought the way he did

And despite being ravaged with injuries throughout his career and the damage to his hands Joe wasn't a PED cheat like some of his celebrated rivals and so many others and fellow greats

 

Again, do people actually think Ward's chin is remotely close to Calzaghe's let alone comparable or better?

Yes, Calzaghe was dropped x 4 but he was only dropped x 2 in his prime and he fought a lot of big punchers, fought with a very aggressive style, loved a tear up, and had zero fear of trading punches with big punchers. Ward was dropped or badly hurt x 3 in 15 less fights despite him using every illegal tactic in the book to avoid getting hit, most notably holding like an octopus which obviously greatly reduced the amount he got hit, especially with the most dangerous shots which are counterpunches

Counterpunch. Out on his feet a clean punch or two away from getting KTFO. Kost hunting the body in his follow up flurry was real smart of him

This content is protected

He still to this day says he cannot remember anything about the next 2 rounds of this fight

This content is protected

This content is protected

Hence why Ward developed his height of skill genius tactic of lunging in immediately after throwing a sneaky quick shot of his own and grabbing ahold of his opponents like a lonely octopus and tying them up before they could catch him with a counter coming in, ducking his head below waist level, and leading with his head so that his opponents had to not only be wary of being hit with his 2 legal weapons or octopus grabbed to death but also the top of his dome crashing into their faces and he did this religiously

Joe didn't do this he fought like a warrior. Even when he was dropped for the first time in his career by a huge shot from Byron Mitchell he jumped right up, stood right in front of Mitchell trading with him and he dropped Mitchell within seconds of having been dropped himself

I've not only already resoundingly proven that Joe had a really good chin in his prime but I've proven he had an excellent one and no one who watches those videos I posted of him in his prime can dispute that and that's only 2 fights. You don't think he displayed that excellent chin and took tons of big bombs from noted punchers throughout his career in his other fights vs punchers? I've seen them all and I can assure you he did.

Froch has an ''iron chin'' but he was dropped by Taylor, Groves and hurt numerous times. His lights went out briefly when he was dropped by Groves.

We simply never saw a prime Calzaghe at LHW his hands and chin had both diminished a lot by that time

Look at what was being said about him prior to the Lacy fight regarding his chin, hands and resistance not being what they once were

ROBIN REID

''Make no mistake about it - three, five, eight or 10 years ago and Calzaghe would of overcome a Jeff Lacy. I really think Calzaghe of years gone by was too strong, too fast and too flashy for Jeff.

But I'm definately predicting a Lacy win now. Calzaghe's chin is not as strong as it once was due to wars against Eubank, Sheika, Brewer, Mitchell, Salem and so on.

Also, the main factor is that Joe's left hand is very prone to injury and he'll need to hit Jeff as hard as he can to keep him off him.

I think Calzaghe may injure his hand during the fight and get ruthlessly stopped in the mid-rounds by Jeff Lacy. Fight over.''


RICHIE WOODHALL

''My money's on Joe but I would have preferred this fight to have come five years sooner.

Joe's on home soil and, although it's great when the crowd's behind you, they can spur you on and force you into boxing the wrong style.

If he stands and fights with Lacy, Joe will come unstuck because Lacy's got a lot of power and is the best short-range fighter in the division.

But Joe will show intelligence and keep it mid-to-long range. I think he'll box cleverly on the back foot and win on points.''


CARL FROCH

''I think Calzaghe's left it a couple of years too late. Two years ago he would have beaten Lacy on points.

But he doesn't look as sharp and tough as he used to, and I think Lacy will get him out of there within the distance.

The last few fights Calzaghe's hit the deck a couple of times and that shows a bit of vulnerability.

I've got a feeling Calzaghe will make the mistake of being drawn into a fight, because he's a proud man. He'll come unstuck, because Lacy is a big puncher.''



Roy saying the same as what I told you earlier about Joe's heart and having that instinct within him of wanting to get his get-back immediately after you catch him with a big shot. I know all this because I've seen every single one of his fights and followed his career since the early days

ROY JONES

''Lacy wins, and I'll tell you why. One of the main factors that would lead to a Lacy win is Calzaghe's heart.

I'm not saying Calzaghe dosen't have heart, I'm saying he has too much!

When Lacy nails Calzaghe and hurts him then Joe will try to get payback, and then he will be open to really get hurt - which he will.''

If Ward's chin, even factoring in his excessive use of his illegal tactics, can withstand big punching LHW power then there's zero reason why Calzaghe's way better one couldn't in his prime and obviously his speed, athleticism, insane engine, work rate, skills and high ring IQ, unique style, adaptability and power wouldn't cause huge problems for LHWs in his prime. He was a very gifted fighter who was strong in all departments, especially in his prime when he still hit very hard.