Spinks makes my top 50 alltime. Calzaghe just squeeks in to the top 100. In a fight at LHW, the Spinks Jinx to end it in one, perfect counter to a southpaw, and Joe C seemed a slow starter to LHW, assuming he gets buzzed in the 1st rnd (just like B-Hop and Jones) and seeing how hurt he was by Roy, even his ATG-powers of recovery don't get him through here and Spinks stops him.
I think Spinks' power at LHW is severely underrated. In fact, I think Spinks is very underrated as a whole.
I think he does get serious credit on this board though Flea, and his right hand power at this lower weight was massive.
He does, but for people to even make threads like this. What next, Ali vs. Valuev Okay, Joe is a good fighter, but vs. Spinks at LHW??? I personally give him to little to no chance against Qawi, Saad Muhammad or Mustafa Muhammad. I give him 60-40 against Conteh, but again, I feel that Calzaghe was nowhere near the fighter at LHW as he was at 168 (because the calibre of opposition went up i.e B-Hop; or age????) We'll never know how good a LHW he could've been as he never went up in 2001/2002 to fight Glen Johnson, and reasonably decent versions of Roy Jones, Antonio Tarver, Clinton Woods and Gonzalez were still knocking about/about to come into ascendance. Granted, the Kessler and Lacy wins are decent, but wins over any of these guys when he was still pretty much prime himself would give him a shout against the LHW's I have just mentioned. I rate Calzaghe fairly highly, but stylistically these guys have got it on him. Spinks is just a better boxer with better power, and was tough at LHW (Hell, only man one beat him, and that was Prime Tyson, NO DISGRACE THERE WHATSOEVER) Saad Muhammad would let it all go against Calzaghe. If Calzaghe wanted to fight he could not dent Saad's chin, whereas he would be decked and stopped. If he tried to box, Saad could do that too, and was sharper, more accurate and faster. There's a chance if Calzaghe can take Saad's punches that he could outwork him to a decision, but I think that is highly doubtful for against the super-tough volume puncher is more athletically gifted like Saad. Qawi would walk straight through Calzaghe, no doubt. There's be limbs stuck to him by the time he'd stopped and realise Calzaghe was in a pile five feet behind him
I mean, I went to the Calzahje-Kessler fight and cheered Joe on as if my own Son/Brother was in there! But since seeing the nuthuggery placed on Calzaghe (by some of my own friends aqay from ESB as well, one of them went crazy at me for me not including Joe C in my top 20 list with the immortal line 'There aren't even 20 weight divisions, Calzaghe is the best SMW of all-time so how isn't he in the top 20????' atschatschatsch) So you can see my I get so vitriolic about it
Spinks for both for me. Calzaghe fighting Lacy, Kessler, old Hopkins and shot Jones is not enough. He had talent but not the desire, boy is he going to regret it when he looks back and thinks what could have been. In order to fly you need to devour you fear of falling.