If Calzaghe fought everyone on Hopkins record....

But my fantasy match takes place in Cardiff with FW as ref and Enzo Calzaghe, Enzo Mac and Gavin Rees as judges:smoke


Calzaghe has the longevity at 168 to be considered the greatest 168 fighter ever. In most people's mind, he's second only to Jones h2h wise at 168. Leonard and Hearns were waaay out of their depth their. Would Winky be considered a great fighter at LH just because he fought there?

 

When you say FW as referee do you mean me or Frank Warren? If it were me then mercy would be shown as I've always had a soft spot for the poor Welsh, if it were Frank Warren then that would just panic Roy into KO'ing him early.

Longevity means **** if you've fought no-one, sorry but a 10 year reign as WBO champ means pretty much nothing when you consider the fighters he avoided along the way. He may or may not be finally proving his greatness now, but you can't erase the mediocrity that was 1997-2006. Jones, Hearns and Leonard may have had fleeting careers at 168 but they were all far more impressive AND they took on REAL opponents.

The Winky analogy is nonsense because to my knowledge he's only had one fight at that weight and it was understood by all concerned that this wasn't his natural weight. 168 is Calzaghes natural weight, and he took a lifetime to prove he was number 1 at the weight....other, more worthwhile fighters proved they were the best at multiple weights in the last 10-15 years, there's the difference between an average champion and a great champion.

 

Same hate for Joe...some things never change:-(

 

The fighters he avoided? Oh, like Bernard Hopkins in 2002?

 

Joe never fought Jones, backed out of his fights with Johnson, never challenged griffin. Calzaghe is as much to blame for his sorry resume as Warren or anyone else, how could anyone consider Calzaghe ATG when he pissed away 9 years of his career fighting C class competition in or around his homeland, never once coming to America to challenge the big dogs in the division, instead he rather of held the lame WBO belt for 9 years, calling himself champ.

 

Yep, that's about the truth of the matter :deal

 

You said it better earlier in the thread, I just thought I would throw in a few things. Calzaghe is a great talent, but whats talent if you dont challenge yourself, and fight guys who are up to your level. Thats like Barry bonds staying in the minor leagues so he could hit more homeruns, against lesser competition anyone could look good, him wasting 9 years of career to pad his record, is unexcusable IMO.

 

He's been chasing Bernard Hopkins for the last 10 years. I don't know what anyone's talking about here...

 

Dude....most posters say he'd beat almost all his opponents. That's hating? :huh

 

Yeah its hating because we dont think that Joe would beat everyone on everyones resume ever. Some of these guys honestly think that Joe is the GOAT. Now they wont really have the balls to say but they think it. Funny thing is they are tring to run down Hopkins Resume but if Joe were to win then they would be saying that Joe is the GOAT.

 

He never fought them. That's the problem. How many of the fighters that Hopkins beat when he was the true middleweight champion of the world has Calzaghe actually fought? None! They haven't fought a single common opponent. Hopkins beat all of his mandatorys, and that was for a REAL belt. The FACT that Calzaghe has never fought any of these fighters who were MANDATORYS for a real middleweight belt says a lot about the level of his competition for most of his reign.:yep

 

No doubt about it Calzaghe is the greatest 168lb fighter ever.:good

Having one fight at 168lb does not even compare to someone who stayed undefeated in the division for so long.

Yep Joe is the best Super Middleweight ever. That isn't even debatable.