F***-off

Slider - seconded

 

Just to make things clear with Roy Jones for all the Calzaghe fanclub...

Roy Jones started fighting at 175lbs in late 1996 while Calzaghe was at 168 ! He started getting the belts at 175 one by one until he possessed the WBC-WBA & IBF belts by June 0f 1999. He was still considered the P4P best in the world at that point and about to be proclaimed the boxer of the decade !!!

If Calzaghe was gonna fight Jones at any time, he would have to make the fight at 175, in the US and with the kind of purse that Clinton Woods was offered to fight.

At that point Calzaghe was a nobody for most and he would have had to concede many things in order to try and become the new king of 175... That was the ultimate prize, beat the P4P best and instantly become the new KING in town !!!

It wasn't for Jones to adapt to a nobody on the scene, but Calzaghe to try and accomplish something GREAT, which either HE or WARREN didn't want to try !!!!!!

 

He had the WBO belt who did you expect him to fight? The WBO top ten is always filled with crap fighters compared to the other abc orgs. Plus being promoted by Warren was no help.

Either way Calzaghe is an ATG.

 

Not a fair comparison. Why don't you list last 13 fights by Calz then.

 

I'm not questioning RJJ status at LHW or P4P talent . He was the man and he controlled the agenda. He's one of the most naturally gifted fighters of all time - but if you wanna start a hate-fest you isolate something and put it out of context.

So - what happened between Ruiz & Toney: -

Clinton Woods
Glen Kelly
Julio César González
Derrick Harmon
Eric Harding
Richard Hall
David Telesco
Reggie Johnson
Otis Grant
Lou Del Valle
Virgil Hill
Montell Griffin
Montell Griffin
Mike McCallum
Bryant Brannon
Eric Lucas
Merqui Sosa
Tony Thornton
Vinny Pazienza
Antoine Byrd

The point is look at the total picture - respect the total record and longevity. Calzaghe was a great fighter - imo he would always have been a handful for RJJ and would always have beaten Hopkins. The guy you saw in the USA in 08 was 3/4 years past his prime too and had bad hands.

Could he have beaten better fighters than on his record in their primes - yes. It doesn't make him an underachiever or over-rated though.

 

I really can't be bothered to type out another argument as to why this thread is bull**** but why do people never the mention the fact that when Joe beat Hopkins and Jones he was also way past his prime? People go on as if that was a prime Calzaghe fighting on them nights.

 

In Jones' case, a few guys above said he refused fights with Calzaghe... The point is he was the best and he had unified belts, he already had his top P4P status, therefore it was up to Calzaghe to step up and concede things in order to possibly accomplish something great !!

Of course Jones could and should have fought better opposition too, there's no denying that but in the end, if an earlier fight between Joe and Jones wasn't made, I put all the blame on Calzaghe because of the reasons I mentioned in my 2 posts on this thread.

 

I don't give him a whole lot of credit for beating Roy Jones Jr, but Calzaghe is all time great regardless in my opinion.

 

Gay. Grow up.

 

Calzaghe was a SMW. Jones was a LHW. It's really that simple: two different fighters, two different weight classes. Jones wouldn't come down and Calzaghe wouldn't go up. There's a reason Calzaghe fought at 168 for ten years. That was his natural weight.

 

Jones was light heavy world champion before Calzaghe even won a world title at 168 FFS atsch

 

Exactly.

 

The Lacy that fought Roy was way worse than the Lacy that Calzaghe beat.. Roy is a B level fighter at this point, he can still look good against C level fighters, but A level fighters such as Calzaghe, Dawson, Hopkins will be too much for him.

 

Paksy2000 - I'm not sure we're entirely disagreeing other than the fact than I don't think there's blame to be laid for RJJ v JC not happening earlier. It just didn't and its a damn shame. I