We know how bias The Ring is, and their ratings are a joke, but Reid and Vanderpool were in The Ring top 10 when Lacy beat them. I think Pemberton was also but cant completely say for sure. Pemberton was in Boxing Monthlys top 10, and I have found their ratings more reasonable most of the time (not all) than The Rings, especially with how The Ring have pulled some funny things in their current SMW ratings. Witter definately wasnt in The Ring top 10 when Judah fought him and Bergmann had lost to Witter what I think was only a couple of fights before he fought Judah. Ward wasnt in the top 10 when Judah fought him either So it comes back to what the wins were at the time and hindsight.
In hindsight it was Tszyu beating Judah, no question. Lacy's career pales in comparison to even the average career that Zab has pieced together. At the time though it can be argued that both wins were about even. Lacy was overhyped and maybe even a slight favorite to beat Joe C.
Love how everyone is talking about the HYPE that surrounded Lacy before the Calzaghe fight and that making it a greater win which in itself is a flawed way to look at things. It also shows how new they are to boxing and how much they lack knowledge past 2005. Judah was wayyyyyy more hyped and was suppose to be wayyyyy more of a better fighter then Lacy...... Pernell Whitaker with KO power remember???? And Judah was hyped to be possibly be the next #1 P4P fighter in the world. Not to mention Judah was the linear champ at 140 after beat Millet who beat Phillips who beat Tyszu. Plus in highsight Judah is clearly a much better fighter then Lacy was, is or ever could be. 3 time 140 champ and the undisputed 147 pound champion of the world. Lacy.... good fighter that got his heart taken from him and then became journey men status. Tsyzu vs Judah>>>>>>>>>>> Lacy vs Calzaghe
Judah was a bigger betting favorite over Tszyu than Lacy was over Calzaghe. Judah was just a better fighter than Lacy, and the better win. Kessler was probably a better win though for Joe than Judah was for Kostya.