After watching a couple of Calzaghe’s fights, it seems to me that the whole slapper-accusation is a bit misbegotten. Granted, in the Manfredo-fight, a whole lot of the punches did not go in, or were not all that heavy, but watching Calzaghe putting a little effort into it, I am compelled to think that his slapping-technique is just a way of circumventing his opponents’ parades. Look at his fights with Lacy or Byron Mitchell. No matter what you call it, there is *a lot* of pop in those punches, and they go right in. At first, his opponents are busy trying to block the punches that are aimed for their face/chin, which Calzaghe takes advantage of with his “slaps”, hitting on the SIDE of the head. Of course, you are not going down as easily from being hit in the side of the head as you are from being hit on the chin, but when it is easier to make your shots go in on the side of the head, why not? Getting hit perhaps a 100+ times in the temple during a fight will surely take its toll on you. Another aspect of it, which I think is often overlooked, is that by “slapping” and hitting people in unorthodox ways and places is a great way of distracting your opponents, making them spread their interests too far, confusing their defense, and thereby making room for uppercuts and such. I’m all in for supporting your team and what not, but if it is an effective technique that has served him well, why mock the man? It takes the air out of your own arguments if you can not tell skill from weakness. On the other hand, the image of Kessler as being some sort of slow-moving and 100 pct. predictable robot, that some of the Calzaghe-fans try to paint him out to be is not doing them any favors either. I’m just saying: give credit where it is due. The antidote to partisan hackery is *not* being as blinded by bias as the opponent. Anyway, as most people, I feel that this is pretty much a toss-up, although from what I’ve seen I would give Calzaghe the edge. This coming from a Dane.
No ones saying he doesn't slap , but his slapping is effective and when he puts a bit behind it he can hurt guys with his slaps .
Calzaghe is effective enough, no matter how you may label his punching technique.Lacy's career was certainly "slapped" into oblivion.By now, the whole point seems moot, and if Joe beats Kessler, it would seem ridiculous to mention it again.
It seems the slapping techniqure works, so why change it. I'm not much of a fan of Calzaghe and his fight with Kessler is probably his best challenge up to date so good for him and Kessler. I don't see how this fight will impact the boxing world as I dont really rate the super-middle weight division much, its one of the more weaker divisions in boxing so Calzaghe or Kessler need to fight some big names before I can consider them top fighters in this era.
Fact is, the inside of the glove should not be considered a scoring blow, or should at least not be regarded as highly as a square shot. They aren't scored in the Olympics for a reason. To easy to throw, to inneffective, to easy to make it look like you're doing something.
I rewatched Calzaghe-Lacy yesterday and was not quite as impressed as I was back in March 2006. Don't get me wrong, he dominated (there isn't even a single 30-second interval you could give to Lacy) and outclassed him, but his punches weren't landing as cleanly as I'd recalled. Obviously his technique works and he did landed enough to do obscene things to Lacy's face, but his form and slap technique just don't LOOK incredibly impressive. He clearly gets results, though, so I wouldn't change a thing.
Whether you count his slaps as scoring blows or not is secondary. What matters is that it is an effective technique that serves to A: wear the opponent out, and B: to disrupt the opponents' defenses, making room for blows that do count. But I agree that he also tends to use the slapping-flurries to make him look more impressive than the actual blows would merit.
Calzaghe does slap, this isn't an opinion it is a fact. He doesn't ALWAYS slap but some of his shots are slap. He has to slap because he has bad hands. I used hate on the slapping but he does it because he is very injury prone.
