Carl froch resume can't match joe calzaghe's

I thought you meant an All Time Great boxer, not one of the best guys a new division has produced.

 

Correct.

Ottke wanted no part of Calzaghe. Neither did Benn and Collins was retired. Who has Calzaghe missed? There have been multiple threads about who ducked who, during the careers of Jones and Calzaghe, it's not something I really want to get into.

Boxing's home is America. American people seem to have a feeling that if you haven't fought in the USA then you're not legit? It's who you fight Sir, not where you fight that makes you. Calzaghe's resume is deeper than first glance would appear. Hopkins is him fighting and beating a P4P fighter and ticking that box on his career profile.

Calzaghe took on an undefeated Lacy, and an undefeated Kessler; it would suggest that he took the oppertunity to unify when it came around. W arren did his usual, and kept his Champion at home fighting mandatories. Credit should go to Calzaghe for eventually managing to get unification fights. Watch Cleverly, he won't get one.

 

And yet, Joe C STILL missed out on most, whether it's his or anyone elses fault.

Where's Beyer? Where's Lucas? Where's Ottke? Where's Larsen? Where's Markessun? These were prominant names fighting in his era, and they are missing from his resume.

And before you accuse me of anything, I am aware the problems holding the WBO belt. But that was a choice he made, hold on to it and defend against the weakest ranked fighters. He seemed fine defending at home and making a mint against less then stellar comp.

Now, I don't know if Froch has surpassed him, but he's close and in much less time.

 

Calzaghe has a better resume, charles brewer is a far more accomplished 168lb fighter then some1 like Bute or Pascal, he beat herrol graham and got robbed twice against ottke in germany.
Hopkins(who went on to beat pavlik and pascal),Kessler who beat froch, Eubank, Woodhall, Reid(who went on to get robbed by the german vs sven ottke), Bika (a guy who gave ward his toughest fight to date),

 

The first SMW Champion was SRL. Jones and Toney both recived P4P recognition whilst fighting at 168. Americans have no intrest in a divison where they haven't got a dominant Champion. Look at the heavyweight division. Look at the lower weight divisions which are dominated by the Asians.

 

And do you think the UK would been keen on the HW division w/o Bruno or Lewis back then? :huh

What you described goes for everyone, not just Americans.

 

A whole new thread would be needed to debate who was responsible for certain fights being made, wether it be the fighters, or a certain promoter.
As for his holding on to the belt... Calzaghe never had much marketability, the title was a way to get consistent fights, to support his family. Dropping it would of meant fighting for less money.

 

Guys like Holyfield, Tyson etc would attract attention from any country. I do see your point, but the UK Boxing fans keep a healthy intrest in most major weight divisions. We don't have a Champion at Welterweight, but we watch, nor Middleweight, but we watch.

Again, generalisations are wrong, there are a fair few British fans who only follow British fighters, just as some of our American counter parts do.

 

That's assuming if he dropped it, he would never get a big fight against the other belt holders. I highly doubt that. Losing the WBO would get him ranked by the others.

And for the record, I blame Frank W.

 

It was considered a joke when the division was made to accomodate SRL. Toney and Jones were much higher regarded prior to moving up to 160 with Jones constantly hammered for fighting cans at 168.

I would be surprised if Slappy was making nearly as much as a run of the mill middleweight fight on a Saturday HBO broadcast. There was no money, therefore little talent aspired to fight at 168.

 

As do I. Rumour has it, he urged Joe to retire after Kessler, so it would be to Calzaghe's credit that he continued onwards.

 

Calling his slappy is disrespectful, the man was a Boxer, the same as Mayweather, or the club fighter we'll never see. They all take the same risks.

I fail to see the point pal. America had no intrest in Joe, except when the deal came about for him to fight Hopkins, and as documented, it was Hopkins who pulled out.

 

Well....I can't argue with this. :thumbsup

The UK fans seem to more dedicated. I've often said, it's a shame the US doesn't break out into song like the british fans do.