Joe Calzaghe vs Gerald McClellan At SMW

I hate to say this because it's going to sound disrespectful and Gerald himself fought with everything he had, but King and Co. managed him like a hype job. I don't think Don had much faith in Gerald's boxing ability. That's why, after losing decisions to a couple journeyman-level fighters, they lined up a bunch of fighters with a history of getting knocked out- so Gerald could look great, build up plenty of hype for himself, and cash for Don. They tried bringing in Steward, and that didn't work. The Benn fight was supposed to be another case of a brawler with chin issues that Gerald would blow out without too much effort. The plan was to mow down as many fighters as possible before Gerald self-destructed.

Small tangent aside, I don't like McClellan's chances against Calzaghe. Overall boxing ability and conditioning questions are the difference for me.

 

IMHO, Gerald and Nigel Benn are overrated on this boards. Gerald had big power and was huge for a supermiddleweight but it seemed as though he focused on blasting people out rather than emphasize his pretty good boxing skills and size advantage. Calzaghe had the greatest workrate of anyone over 140 pounds,ever. That,coupled with his underrated boxing IQ and footwork(as well as his being a southpaw),would be hell for Gerald(or anyone else at 168). Gerald seemed to fight in straight lines, whereas Joe would throw punches at multiply angles at lightning speed. McClellan would have a punchers chance as Joe was susceptable to straight rights, but I've don't remember ever seeing Calzaghe hurt(although he never fought a puncher of McClellan's magnitude). The way I see it, JC weathers an early storm and then easily outboxes GM for the majority of the fight.

 

Calzage rose to the occasion and i think his speed and movement create problems for GM with a few tough spots for Joe but if he sticks to his game plan a UD win for Calzage

 

Interesting post ..

 

Well said! He lands big and he lands alot. If Joe gors down hes not gettin back up:good

 

Gerald McClellan outboxed Roy Jones and Ray Leonard in '88 in fights that resembled professional world title fights.

Julian Jackson had faster hands than Calzaghe other than inside of the glove flurries.

Who said McClellan couldn't box? In most of his fights he is circling opponents, finding his range with the jab, and showing amazing timing. He was lightning fast too.

He went to war with HOLYFIELD every day for six weeks.

Mugabi says he was weight-drained against Norris but in his best shape since Marvin for GMc.

He was the only guy with the speed, timing and distance masteries to drop Sanderline Williams.

His left hook to the body scored at least 12-15 10-counts.

Hopkins struggled with Baptist.

If the ref counted Benn out, that was 2-3 back-to-back 20/30-second wins in Vegas and London against the likes of Benn and Jackson.

This guy was real.

 

In fact he was looking nearly unreal.

 

And with due respect to Calzaghe, he wasn't near as elusive as the mature Benn. Watch Eubank fail to nail Benn all night with the right hand in their 2nd fight - then see him land every right hand he throws at Calzaghe, until they become countless.

Benn ducked, bobbed, slipped and weaved from a low crouch as he did and McG couldn't figure it. Benn was getting under his long punches and coming up with his hooks and short cross. Steve Collins also struggled to time the right hand on Benn in their 1st fight - he landed more on Kalambay.

 

What you needed was a Tommy Hearns to throw jabs from the waist against a low stance like that. Malinga did that, jabbed from the thigh so Benn couldn't read it to get beneath or catch you falling in. McG chose not to jab Benn but had the ability to win every round.

 

Good point when I boxed amateur between the weights 156-165 the best fighters in the country 1985-87 were guys like McClellan, RJJ and John Scully to name a few. I see a lot of posts where amateur experience is discounted as far as fighter pedigree and this is wrong, you cannot be a successful amateur without exceptional boxing ability especially at that level from National to world level. You can be a KO puncher a good inside fighter and tough as nails but without the ability to move, box and score points your amateur career won't generally get past the regional level.

McClellan had some serious boxing talent, John Mugabi had serious boxing talent as well proven by his Olympic silver medal. They may have turned into power punchers as pros but they had ability beyond that.

 

Good post.

People seem to think being a puncher somehow equates to a total lack of boxing skill which is bull****. Maybe a Max Baer type fits that stereotype but the likes of McClellan were so effective because they were highly skilled at setting up shots and picking openings and had footwork that allowed them to successfully corner and cut off the ring on opponents.

Attacking skills are a very important skill in itself but where Gerald fell short was with his defensive skill set. Whether it was his seek and destroy mindset that led to this I'm not sure but Gerald badly lacked head movement, couldn't defend backing up, didn't slip and rarely if ever adequately covered up. But his chin was genuine rock which compensated for these shortcomings.

Despite these weaknesses and the fact McClellan did nothing at 168 I just think Gerald with his enormous power and aggression and total self belief is a bad match up for a Joe who despite a brilliant unbeaten record still had plenty of flaws as well, susceptibility to right hands being principle amongst these.

This is why I favour a McClellan KO victory in this match up but to be fair to Calzaghe I've thought a couple of other guys (Hopkins and Kessler namely) had the tools to exploit Joes various faults as well yet Joe still found a way to prevail, as all great fighters do.

 

I don't think he had a total lack of boxing skill.

I think his pro career shows a guy who fell in love with his power and neglected his skills. Listing his amateur wins and sparring partners are great; but dropping decisions to Ward and Milton don't show me the level of skill to match that kind of pedigree. It happens- Andy Lee was another Kronk guy who sparred better than he boxed because he fell in love with the fight.

It wasn't about boxing for Gerald; it even went beyond loving to fight. It was about trying to kill the other guy. That kind of rageful mindset isn't going to make for the most skilled operator. It was only a matter of time before he was undone.

I'm playing devil's advocate on this thread despite G-man being, without a doubt, an exciting fighter who'd give his all. He could definitely punch. I'm not a blind hater who missed his career and can't appreciate the damage he could do. But I'm also not going to ignore that he had a losing record in fights that went 6 rounds or longer.

King knew he had a volatile, but exciting, fighter and cashed in by matching shopworn fighters who'd shown a chin weakness. The perfect guys for Gerald to mow down, and G-man was all too happy to oblige. Do you think it was an accident that the only fighter he was ever matched against that hadn't been knocked out going into the fight was Ken Hulsey?

 

Losing to Dennis Milton was no shame - Milton held wins over Barkley, Tate, Nunn, Eubank and Reggie Johnson in the amateurs so obviously had ability! Throwing a 21 year old with no rounds under his belt in with a cunning slick awkward quick experienced boxer like Milton was silly.

Against average Ward he could barely lift his arms via overtraining, and the referee gave Ward about 15-16 seconds to get up following the body hook KD in 2nd - McClellan went all guns blazing then with no finesse and looked lost (bums in his corner).

Steward wasn't training GMc or in Gerald's corner for those losses because he was too busy with Andries and Hearns deep in world title camps.

 

Milton was to McClellan what Michael Watson was to Benn. And in some ways even Benn was to McClellan what Michael Watson was to Benn!

 

McClellan would break a Calzaghe rib with a body hook early. Then take him out with an overarm right to the top of the head when Calzaghe is overly protecting his ribs.