how much more would calzaghe have to do to get the respect he deserves?

Joe's resume is weak. It's ridiculous this guy is still being talked about. I can easily produce a list of 30 fighters(between 160 and 175) who would have been heavily favored in a fair fight with this POS. My cat is only marginally less an ATG than Joe is.

 

joe isn't an ATG but he is HOF. he was legitimately the man at 168 without question.
i'm waiting for your list....

 

Joe was too busy importing career long bums like Sheika(154 pounder) to take one sided home town beat downs. Green would have been one of the biggest names on his flimsy resume had they fought when Green was a titlist. Green didn't hide from anyone, he was admittedly a regional fighter. Joe remained a regional fighter out of fear of having his ass tore open. There is a difference in the decisions these guy's made.

 

danny green was never a legitimate champion - he was an alphabet champion. you must be australian if you even think to mention green's name alongside joe calzaghe - which is ironic because i live in armadale, which is about 40 minutes from perth.

however, i'm not naive enough to believe that danny green was EVER on the same level as calzaghe was.

"green didn't hide from anyone" you say here...but in the above post you acknowledge that green spent his career fighting out of australia - and THAT'S why he did hide his whole career.

seriously, mate, you need to put the flag away and call a spade a spade.

EDIT : you can't defend green as being a self-proclaimed regional fighter and then say that the legitimate 168 pound champion was afraid to fight him. that's foolish thinking.

 

5 at a time whenever I get to it. In no particular order:

1. Ray Robinson
2. Tommy Hearns
3. Michael Spinks
4. Michael Nunn
5. James Toney.

and a special off list bonus, Mark Kavenoski. This guy lives down the street from me and has never faced a world champion but I'm convinced he would beat top level competition. I mean he is undefeated so obviously we would beat all these atg fighters if he had the chance.

 

atsch now i know you're taking the ****

 

Is your cat gonna make the list? Can kavenoski beat your cat?
I say, Kavenoski comfortable UD the cat.

 

I like this post.

 

I think Calzaghe would also UD the cat, but in a much, much closer fight. (similar punch techique)

 

6. Marvin Hagler
7. Ray Leonard
8. Andre Ward
9. Jake Lamotta.
10. Billy Conn

 

11. Anne Wolfe

 

There's a lot of conflicting elements that come into play when ranking or rating Joe Calzaghe. Like many have said, Joe Calzaghe never truly fought an all time great in his prime. Make no mistake about, Hopkins was one of the top fighters P4P at the time Calzaghe beat him, but physically he was a good deal past his peak. One can further note that a lot of the blame for not fighting an ATG rests with Calzaghe himself. Calzaghe had entered into negotiations with Ottke and Glen Johnson on a couple of occasions, but each time the talks broke down (although I think Calzaghe couldn't fight Johnson on one occasion due to injury).

On the other hand one could note that Calzaghe still has several wins over strong contenders on his resume (Sheika, Veit X2, Reid, Brewer,etc.) Additonally, Calzaghe beat the two fighters who were considered his major competitors in Kessler and Lacy. Lastly, for a good portion of Calzaghe's career it can be noted that there were not ATGs to be fought.

Overall, I tend to rate Calzaghe highly, but I wouldn't necessarily disagree with someone who is less enthusiastic about him and his accomplishments.

 

There are active welterweights that would walk through the list you just named. Joe was a titlist and he was the best super middle when he left the division. Any claims about his "greatness" beyond that borders on insanity.

 

I'm not disputing the fact that his competition wasn't all that strong. Most of that aspect is/was beyond Calzaghe's control.