Calzaghe WBO reign, "a decade of dross"

Agreed, and that’s the crux of the issue. Context is key.

I remember at the time people saying that history will rank Roy Jones miles above Kelly Pavlik, Chad Dawson and Carl Froch, and they’re correct. But the same people seemed to think Jones being shot would be somehow demoted to a footnote. It’s not really happened and for a fighter as good as Calzaghe was it was a disappointing way for him to leave the sport.

 

Jones had just beaten Trinidad. In his two fights after Joe, he stopped Sheika and Lacy.
Joe was a few months off his 37th birthday. To bow out at Madison Square Garden wasn't that disappointing.

 

Jones (former heavyweight world champion) had just beaten Trinidad (former welterweight world champion)? That Trinidad? Same Trinidad who hadn’t fought at all in three years? Same Trinidad who hadn’t won a fight for four years? And only won two since Hopkins beat him?

Surely you’re not crediting shot old Roy with a beating of a just as shot essentially retired Tito? That fight was an absolute joke!

 

Context is very important - Calzaghe fought for most of his career with badly damaged hands and admitted himself that he knew his time was up after the Kessler fight. Shook hands with the man post Ashira fight and he was in serious pain after another broken hand suffered early in the fight.

His final 2 fights were simply to fulfil his ambition to fight in the USA for decent money hence the 2 old but big name opponents - bit like Mayweather's 2 late fights against Faded Manny and Conman McGregor.

There is always young contenders out there ready to ice aging fighters and Frock himself was nearly found out against Groves.

Undefeated World Champion after 46 fights, Hall of Fame fighter, Elite boxing skills, gave us some great fights - enjoy the memories and hope we see new boxers emerging with his exceptional talent and heart.

 

Truth, poor resume tbh, but he did what he had to do.

 

Calzaghe also delivered great performances on the big nights.

The CV has a fair share of puddings but nothing compared to the CV for Tony Dosh PPV - it is a one sided pudding festival with the exception of an old 41 year old man inactive for 18 months prior to that fight.

Fury grew a pair and stepped up to face Wilder twice - Tony Dosh PPV claimed money was not important then avoided that fight due to ....... money.

The humble one is the future Humpty Dumpty of boxthing sitting on a jelly wall.

 

I always think Joes CV is under played a little - yes there is that big stretch of really underwhelming fights. Where injury, pull outs, mandatory fights etc just seemed to see him stalling but i still think its decent in places. There some solid fighters in the Mitchell, Salem etc that just get brushed aside as dross which is a bit unfair,

Eubank - a faded version but one still capable of giving good fighters a hard night
Reid - World class fighter in his own right who should probably have beaten Ottke some years later
Woodhall Good win not a bit name but a good fighter in his own right
Veit - Good win is one fighter often used to drag Joe down but he had 40+ fights and some good wins himself.

2002 on wards are then the dark days where the quality of opposition is pretty weak then he goes in with Lacy and his career gets a shot in the arm and finishes pretty strong

Lacy Undefeated, overhyped sure but he was on a decent run- but we will never know how good he was after the arm injury. Terrible match making to put him in with Tyspko after Calzaghe batterd him and that was basically his career over. But i do give Joe plenty of credit for dismantling an undefeated fighter

Lacy World class win - brought him more recognition than he had ever had to this point i feel
Bika - World class win against a guy impossible to impress again
Then Kessler - Elite level win
Hopkins - Elite level win - if close

he should have had more big name fights for sure - the fact he didn't was disappointing but his list of wins is still more impressive than most British fighters and for me he's is with Lewis and Hatton as a modern British fighter who has a win over a genuine win over an ATG.

 

I actually think one of the most disappointing aspects of Calzaghe's career were the two fights after Lacy. He'd struggled for years to get recognition, then got it, and what happens? A career middleweight who nobody had barely heard of, having spent nearly all his career in Australia, who had beaten nobody of note, and on reflection loses every time he steps up. And Manfredo who was as bad as some of the jokers he'd fought before Lacy.

Total waste of time.

 

He fought the worst selection of puddings since Tesco's Value range.

 

He's a great fighter no doubt. But he has the personality of a potato and he s****s sheep.

 

Yeah the Manfredo fight was a strange one for sure.

 

No way mate - Tony Dosh PPV is King Pudding Basher by a mile.

That was until a large, stale rhubarb crumble, left on the discounted shelf for 6 months, battered him all over New York.

 

It was unreal what he did against Eubank. He looked the best fighter in the world, other than Roy Jones. Dazzling stuff.

Then he kind of hid away in the Valleys and appeared at Cardiff Ice Rink every now and then against some obscure opponent.

Then Lacy, finally. And won all the belts and beat Hopkins. Those 8.5 years of obscurity though are odd. Where was his mind at? What was he doing with himself to pass time? It's weird.

 

I think he was a bit unsure of how good he was, and Warren was more than happy to allow him to tick along fighting rubbish WBO defences.

That's not to say that all of his opponents were bad because they weren't. But there comes a point when you've been defending the same title for eight years and your best win was Robin Reid six years earlier that surely you're wondering where your career is going.

 

Zero charisma.