calzaghes legacy could it have been better

the fights in UK and a lowly 168 division...his comfort zones...

 

Plenty of these fighters called him out, he was happy with easy fights and pulled out 3 times against set dates with Glen Johnson

 

Calzaghe only established himself as no1 at 168 with the win over Kessler, that was his last fight at 168 so it didnt have much time to catch up with him

 

Could Calzaghe have done things like taken on a few bigger names who were willing, looked a bit decisive in some of his wins and maybe had a few more fights overall? My answer is yes. He could have done things to strengthen his legacy and perhaps even bumped himself up 2 or 3 spots on an all time pound for pound list.

On the otherhand, does his legacy leave HUGE things to be desired? My answer to this question is no. Being a champion for 10 years, dominating a division, and retiring undefeated is a respectable feat that would catapult anyone into all time greatness. I don't care what the critics say, " He was unimpressive against a 43 year old Hopkins, " " he threw slapping punches, and rarely engaged in serious wars, " He never fought Jones when he was at his best, or a number of other guys. " Truth of the matter is, we can find all kinds of things to say about anyone who is up for all time great evaluation. For all his shortcummings, Joe Calzaghe's career far exceded that of the norm, and for all practical purposes was better than most.....

 

Firstly ring magazine ranked him as the No1 168 pounder from 2002 onwards.

Secondly even if he only had a short tenure at the top so did hundreds of other champions and they still all ended up droping the 0.

It is an acheivment by virtue of the fact that nobody else was able to do it including protected fighters. If it was as straigtforward as you make out then half a dozen other fighters would have done it.

Hell you could always have a go yourself.

 

Pleanty of fighters called him out untill they had a contract in front of them.

I am not saying that Calzaghe is the victim in all these cases but it usualy takes two to tango.

Also I think that his cronic hand problems might have made him reluctant to take on the big names at some stages of his career.

 

It could be better, he actually could have fought live competition rather than washed up competition (though I'd be lying if I say Hop is washed up, though he wasn't the Hop of a few years ago).

 

Was Hopkins past his prime?

Yes.

Was Hopkins the best 175 pound fighter around at the time?

Absolutely.

 

His legacy could certainly be a lot better.There was a time when he could have been chasing big names in thier prime and he was busy entertaining th likes of Pudwill and Sheika.He only took risks late in his career and nothing should be made of his win over Jones.Hopkins and Rob Reid both deserved rematches and didnt get them a second Kessler fight would also have been good.He should also have fought Ottke who i think he would have beaten.Joe cant be blamed entirely for some of the big fights not comming off but he did not seem to make much effort to get them for a while and seemed content with beating mediocre fighters and building up his unbeaten run.A lot of his fights were dreary 12 round affairs,he seemed to struggle with anyone of real class and would use the thousand slaps per round tactic instead of getting involved,the only class fighter i can recall him stopping was Woodhall.

 

I think the problem is Joe was carefully managed instead of taking bigger fights but he has this in common with all fighters now, the shame is he would have defeated all the fighters mentioned and if he hadn't would have put on a great show.

 

Joe fought in an era where fighters had multi fight contracts with one Promotion. It was not in that Promoter's interest to see Calzaghe lose, and thus Joe was matched sensibly.

When Joe fought in one off promotions he was matched tough, and still kept his '0'. So I think Calzaghe could of had more pre 2003 on his resume, but I understand why he has not.

Multi fight contracts for fighters with one Promotion, is a significant reason why boxing is no longer mainstream. A promoter is promoting a fighter now a days, back in the 80s and earlier, he was promoting a fight....

 

What legacy?