If Lacy hadn't fought Calzaghe..

Goran,

It is valid, but I think that H2H ability should be factored in just as much.

It’s not a fantasy to say that Roy easily beat James Toney.

It’s not a fantasy to say that Roy easily beat and knocked out Thulani Malinga. And that was 6 years before Malinga beat Robin Reid, which was just before Reid went on to give Joe a very close fight afterwards. A fight where Joe won on a controversial split decision. And Reid is one of Joe’s best wins at the weight.

It’s also not a fantasy to say that Roy moved up and easily beat better fighters at a higher weight.

If you want to rank guys like Joe and Ottke above Roy based upon numbers, then that’s up to you. But again, Roy was clearly a better fighter than what they were.

So there is no fantasy.

Roy easily beat Toney and Malinga, whereas Joe struggled with Reid and was dropped by Mitchell and Salem.

Roy was clearly on another level.

James had recently knocked out Tim Littles in just 3 rounds. Tim Littles was a very good fighter who split fights with a prime Frankie Liles.

He then knocked out Charles Williams.

So yes, he was clearly in form.

Yes, going into camp at that weight, 6 weeks out was completely unprofessional and takes some of the shine off of Roy’s win. But James was undisciplined at that stage. And nobody else ever did that to him. It was the style more than the weight which bothered him the most.

Joe had a walking around weight of 196-203 pounds. So he too was going into camps at the same weight for 168 fights. Okay, he had a lot longer than 6 weeks to prepare, but it was still a high weight.

You seriously think that what Toney did was harder than what Roy did in preparation for Tarver?

You seriously really think that burning fat at 26, is more difficult than burning muscle at almost 35?

Ha!

Get real.

Yes, Roy doesn’t have a deep resume at SMW. Do you know why? Because he was ambitious. When he couldn’t fight the WBA and the WBC champs, he moved up to LHW for a new challenge.

Yet when Joe was faced with the same predicament, he just stayed and carried on.

Nobody thinks that Paz was a great win for Roy. But Roy moved up and fought Griffin, Hill and Reggie etc, whereas Joe was just content to defend against whoever Warren and the WBO put in front of him.

Roy could have defended his SMW belt numerous times had he have had Joe’s mindset.

You’re criticising Roy for having a weaker SMW resume, whilst your praising Joe for fighting 44 fights in a weak division, which culminated in him fighting a guy like Mario Veit twice.

I’ve already covered this. It was extremely unprofessional. But he was in a run of form in the ring, and he also had weight issues with his fights against Griffin amongst others.

 

Oh no.

You’ve been banned.

What a terrible tragedy.

Hopefully, you’ll be back soon to share your great knowledge with us.

 

I literally remember James Toney saying Jeff is going to kill that boy!

 

Personally I felt that it was a stupid move for Lacy and his team to give up home advantage to Calzaghe. In more familiar surroundings In the USA who knows how the fight would have gone. Lacy seemed a bit tense and tight during fight week compared to how he seemed in Florida for his victory over Rocking Robin Reid. No excuses though it is what it was.