Calzaghe - Most Overrated Fighter

as per dina's request:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ge2oCEH6NI

 

Blasphemy.

Calzaghe's legend will never end. A shadow on all those who go after him...

 

forget about his record, watch the fights and compare his skill to the real ATGs' and he looks like an amateur. he literally throws his punches, very sloppy, good speed and footwork. a decent fighter at best.

 

Classic Calzaghe.

Looked good hammering in tomato cans purely because he had nice handspeed, but with the standard of opposition in mind and considering the very clear flaws in his technique and his all-round game, I just cannot see how anyone can think this guy was on the level of Jones, Hopkins, or Toney.

Yes, he had a zero.

No, the fighter in this video would not have had a zero had he fought the best of his era. An elite level technician like Hopkins and a fabulous fighter like Jones would have picked this guy apart, no doubt.

An amateurish defence, stationary head, lack of power and lack of technical skill - these things surely must be obvious to anyone who isn't a zero-smitten fanboy?? :huh

Honestly, I will never stop being baffled at so many of you knowledgable guys not seeing this in Joe C.

 

I agree with this sentiment.

I'd say in light of his win over a prime Kessler, he was a very good fighter.

But I just cannot see the 'greatness' at all.

 

Right on point. Been of the opinion for the longest time that only compatriots, nuthuggers, and/or mediocre non-athletes (but ESB posting KINGs) could be overly impressed with Joe. He is just not exceptional in the aggregate or extraordinary. He has struggled with so many relatively average fighters. If Joe is an ATG then hundreds of other fighters in their prime were basically close enough to him in skill, talent, and physical ability to be considered ATGs as well. Might as well call guys like Robin Reid, Steve Collins, Sven Ottke, Mikkel Kessler, and Omar Sheika ATGs. Reid fought Joe to a standstill, Collins beat better versions of great fighters, Ottke was also undefeated and shared the 168 crown DURING Joe's time at the top, Kessler would have beat most of the guys Joe beat, and Sheika (really) beat Lacy first and got screwed out of a full opportunity with an early ref's stoppage on a cut (and no rematch) against Joe. None of the guys mentioned in this entire post is an ATG - including Joe.

Joe managed to exit with an extraordinary winning record. But, as you said, "watch the fights" and it is evident what Joe does well and what he cannot.

There is no mystery.


Watched all of his fights and enjoyed many of them (as far as that goes). But he is definitely no ATG. That is overrating the man and attributing some thing that is obviously not there if one just focuses upon his performances against the few old past peak versions of better fighters he ventured to face over fifteen years and as he was a "champion" for about eleven of those years.

 

Some of the most sensible posts I've ever read on Calzaghe are on this thread.

Maybe the lustre of the zero is fading with time, and people are starting to judge the man on his performances and opposition at last.

Bravo ESB, bravo! :happy

 

Calzaghe the most overrated fighter ever?

I have someone else in mind.... how about, lets say Jeff Lacy?

 

thank you, though i'll go to very, very good. not great

 

very well thought out, objective post. good work

 

yeah, but no one gives two shits about lacy anymore

 

Lacy was overrated in the build-up to the Calzaghe fight, as there was collective memory loss in the USA regarding his shoddy performance against the mighty Omar Sheika, but he is no longer overrated at all, everyone sees him for what he always was, an overmuscled overhyped undertalented and thoroughly mediocre boxer.

 

maybe not, man?

remember the Winky Wright vs. Calzaghe thread i did... career-for-career. Look it up, it's on the first few pages now... brought it back to life to see where ppl at... before it was even on the voting (which is still ridiculous) and now Joe is quite a bit ahead =/.

 

Calzaghe's best wins:

Chris Eubank - a 31 year-old champ, and not "past-it" as most people think.

Mikkel Kessler - a prime champ.

Robin Reid - former champ in his prime. Almost won the title back when he was robbed against Sven Ottke.

Bernard Hopkins - Past-it champ who was slower but smarter than he was in the nineties.

Jeff Lacy - prime champ, whose only other loss is a decision to Taylor. Lacy floored Taylor in round 7. Any fighter can lose decisions to Calzaghe and Taylor. Why all the criticism?

Byron Mitchell - former champ in his prime.

Sakio Bika - has beaten every man he has faced, except for Calzaghe and Bute. Has never been KO'd.

Roy Jones, Jr. - past it, but Roy hasn't been looking bad at all in the past few years. Just look at his fights against Sheika and Trinidad.

He's definitely a great fighter but he was only in 8 fights in which there was a real doubt as to who would win. His resume would possibily look a lot different if he had fought the elite American fighters of the nineties, like Toney, Hopkins, Jones, Johnson etc. In all fairness, they didn't really want to fight him. Chris Eubank says Roy Jones called him and asked him if would be worth risking his title against Calzaghe, and Eubank said no.

 

You clearly know absolutely nothing about the circumstances surrounding the Eubank fight. An ill-informed post.