For one thing, 175 was not Calzaghes best weight to fight at. He was at his peak at 168, a division that did not exist when all of the light heavyweights mentioned competed at their best. Having said that, Calzaghe does not beat a single one of them. Just like the heavyweight division at the time , the light heavyweights of the 70's was one of the weight class history's strongest era's. Bob Foster and Michael Spinks were two of the best 10 ever at 175. Dwight Qawi, Victor Galindez, James Scott, Eddie Mustapha Muhammad and Saad Muhammad were guys that could have mixed competitively with any light heavyweight in history. At 175, Calzaghe barely edged 40+ Hopkins and had to haul himself off the floor against a shot Jones. Hardly an impressive resume compared to those of the aforementioned 175 pound stars, who all fought most of their careers at 175, and against better competition , not to mention 15 round fights. Joe didn't have the power or physical strength to deal with those monsters listed. Calzaghe is loved and revered to the point of delusion at times, but when we all come back to reality, it is quickly realized that Joe wouldn't stand a chance as a 1970's light heavyweight contender.
I think foster kills calzaghe---this is a guy who lasted 8 rounds with one of the three best and certainly the HW with the fastest hands. I think he KOs JC with ease. I think spinks beats him and also may KO him . Remember spinks best shot was his straight right and JC got dropped regualarly witht hat punch. Spinks was awkward and strong with a great beard---no way JC beats him. Qawi is one of my all timefavs...but I think this is a 50/50 fight. Dwight might not cathc up to joe and might be befuddled by Joe's hand speed---but on the other hand a 190lb young, fast holyfield could barely keep the "buzzsaw" at bay---not sure how JC keeppshim off him--50/50fight. the others I shade JC slightly but any of them could have beaten him on a good night.
I think he'd be a middle of the road contender at LHW at the time, maybe capture a belt but I doubt he'd keep it for long. 168 didn't exist then, and I don't know for how long Calzaghe even would've made 168 then anyway, with weigh-in being on the day of the fight.
If Joe fought in the 70's his record would look a lot like Murray Sutherland's. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=2629&cat=boxer
Spinks and Foster pretty clearly beat him, IMO. The others aren't so black and white mostly. The only one I think would be an easy fight for Calzaghe (based on styles, strengths and weaknesses) would by Qawi, although even then he might have to pick himself off the ground to finish. I'd probably favor him to beat Muhammad, but it would be a close and ugly fight. I haven't seen enough of Galindez or Scott to make a judgment on those two. Keep in mind that it was same day weigh-ins back then, and 168 didn't exist as a weight class. Half those guys would have been campaigning at 168 in this day and age anyway, and back in those times, Calzaghe would have been a bit more bulked up to fight at LHW.
