joe c fighting without injury to hand would the ko's keep coming

he would have stopped a few more opponents iof his hands held up, they became brittle later in his career after all the fighting he did since he was young.

he ddi good to adapt and throw pit patt punches.

 

move on with your life, he's retired

 

Is slapping as hard with a broken hand as punching?

 

he was also one of the most superbly conditioned fighters i have seen:good

 

He never lost...

I guess it couldn't have been that bad a tactic.good

 

Everyday there's a thread about Calzaghe that inevitably gets hijacked by idiots who only ever bash him. But in response to the actual thread, of course, though to what extent I don't know.

 

his hands became a problem because he refused to wrap them properly.

 

The only guys Joe tko'd were bums, old guys, fat guys, old fat bums, and other miserable no-talents in his first twenty two fights. His punching technique was never particularly great or fluid as readily evident in real talented boxers/punchers/athletes. He never had any significant upper body strength as he boiled down to make 168. Adding upper body strength would have forced a move to 175 - which was out of the question (that would have required immense talent to make a stamp on the LHW division which he simply didn't possess).

As you must not have been around at the time they happened - go out and get his fights and watch them. The first twenty two varied from 4 rounders, to quick ref stoppages, out of shape bums quitting, and was very unremarkable in light of the completely dismal regional/domestic opposition and few foreign stiffs that made up that pre-Eubank period.

Post-Eubank, Joe has stopped no one of consequence without controversy. His KO capability was actually statistically Ottke-like if you exclude the aforementioned early group of bums. Most significantly, Mitchell got jobbed with a hometown quick hook and Sheika got jobbed with a quick ref stoppage on a cut.


Speculating on Joe's power or ability to get KOs (LMAO) flies in the face of reality. Make a thread about his endurance, many close wins struggling with pedestrian opposition, wild slapping attacks that were successful if the opponent was less than athletic, his vocals in Maroon 5, dancing with the stars performances, opinions on the quality of London snow, etc. This one has no merit.

Nice blonde though ...

 

24 tko 's out of 32 ko 's says allot about his power Id say he amd Hopkins are about equal in the power dept ..

 

Didn't Eubank say Calzaghe hit extremely hard?

 

Joe had 2 KO's out of 32 - that means 30 TKOs - and of those a far larger than normal amount were ridiculously quick ref stoppages - and most all of them occurred against a parade of lousy domestic fare. Go get his tapes. Look at the condition of his opponents and YOU ask yourself if you'd be willing to get in the ring with them - I think many guys wouldn't hesitate to fight the majority of this **** poor group of out of shape, non-athletic stiffs that ventured to get in the ring but discovered they had barely any athletic talent and largely showed up just to get a check.


The first twenty-two of his KOs/TKOs was a collection of bums, near bums, and out of shape/past it fighters. After that ... well .. there aren't any without controversy after Eubank - at least none against a fighter of consequence. No fighters with much of an actual pulse (and that is what we are referencing if the desire is to rate Joe to the standard of great fighters).

Joe was a decent sized SMW. He was somewhat better in the aggregate than the weak comp he faced. He was in a horrible second rate division and he still KO'd virtually NO ONE.

I don't know what BHOP has to do with Calzaghe and yet so many want to address BHOP as if he can be used as some justification or vindication for Joe's choices or career.


After BHOP's prime (end of the 90s) he was a middle aged man cutting to make middleweight. The sacrifice was in his strength and power relative to his physical prime years. If he had taken the normal course and moved up earlier - instead of staying far too long protecting his defense streak - he would have done what all maturing athletes generally do. Add size and power to compensate for a reduction in foot speed, agility, and movement. Instead he stayed at middleweight and was comparatively less physical from the early 00s onward.

If you are evaluating the version from his mid-30s through to his move up to LHW - then you are looking at a WAY WAY past prime fighter. Hop was more aggressive and more innately physical through the end of the 90s.

A prime BHOP with 8 lbs of muscle to 168 would have stopped Joe in '97, '98, '99.


BHOP was a more concise, direct, skilled, and talented puncher than Joe. Nothing was more evident than comparing the two in the ring when BHOP was 43. The less coordinated guy flailing and missing with both hands was Joe. The older more talented guy without any endurance was Bernard.

In his prime, BHOP would have gotten the stoppage because he would have landed first because he was better puncher - and his inside game would have finished the job - one way or the other (i.e., KO, ref stoppage, or corner towel).

Retired compatriots often say a lot of complementary things about their brethren as time passes and social events bring them together. Joe caught a lot of punches with his grill in that '97 fight and didn't fight another fighter as decent as that past prime version of CE until he fought a far far past prime BHOP in '08. That speaks volumes ...

In '06 Chris did say this about their fight ...



"Listen, Calzaghe is easy to hit with right hands. He's busy enough, fast handed southpaw but he's a bit European, quite square and rigid, you know? He's far from unhittable, in fact he's easy to hit with the right (hand). Just a basic, straight right hand lead he doesn't seem to see, but of course, you have to have a bit of speed ..."

"I also found him (Calzaghe) fairly easy to hit with body shots ...," added the lisping former champ.