Calzaghe was regarded by the top fighters in America as the dangerous Welshman who couldnt command a sky high fee or for that matter a decent crowd. I believe Calzaghes big mistake was beating Chris Eubank so early on in his career. Do not try to tell me none of the top dogs in the US didnt take any notice of this one. They refused to take on such a dangerous unknown opponent, because he simply was not worth the risk. Yes, Frank ****** probably protected Calzaghe during this time but it was the same thing that Roy Jones Jrs promoter was doing over in the U.S., as Roy was making a name for himself in the middleweight division fighting boxers who couldnt lace his boots. You got to give credit to Mikkel Kessler for stepping to the plate to fight Calzaghe, which in fairness, Kessler probably had to do as he will have been having the same problems as Joe. A talented dangerous Dane who couldnt command the money or the glamour. Make no mistake, Calzaghe easily beat Kessler in this fight and Kessler had been on fire for years. So what now? The Americans decide to send their brightest star in Jeff Lacy to silence the annoying Welshman once and for all. There is no way anyone in the Lacy camp thought Calzaghe would beat him but beat him he did in emphatic style. Cue Bernard Hopkins finally realizing he was big news and smelt a payday a mile off. Dont tell me Hopkins was finished as AFTER this fight. He destroyed one of the best middleweights in the world in Kelly Pavlik (yes, I know Im gonna get the banter that Pavlik jumped up a weight but so did Calzaghe.) I have no idea where the notion comes from that Bernard won this fight. Were you watching the same fight as me? I didnt give Hopkins a round in the last seven of the fight, which ended up with Calzaghe winning by a 12 round split decision. So here comes Roy Jones wanting a payday, too, and he decided to come in defending with his face and was beaten to a pulp. The only reason that I believe Calzaghe didnt knock him out was out of respect. So before anyone comes back and says Calzaghe didnt fight anyone, please remember it was these so-called legends that avoided Calzaghe for years, and not the other way around. And when they did come calling, Calzaghe beat them all.
Calzaghe was a favourite of mine. I think his record is somewhat underrated but it's true it could've been much better. Frank ****** protected Joe long after it was necessary, this combined with constant injuries hindered his progress. For a long period of Joes 168 career he also had no big name rivals, he was just one title holder in a weak division with other European rivals not want to take the risk of fighting him (mainly Sven Ottke and Beyer). I think people were so bored by this stale super middleweight division that it is no surprise that they ate into the Jeff Lacy hype when it arrived, here was a young power punching American who looked the part ...who wouldn't want a piece of it. Jeff lacy was calzaghes saving grace, without this fight I don't think he would've ever got onto HBO. I do think Joe made up for lost time after this by coming the first undisputed champ by beating a prime Kessler and out pointing Hopkins at 175. And Rjj was simply a payday but that Sakio Bika win doesn't look too shabby now.. He should've had packed his title defence record with more recognisable games though, why fight Will McIntyre when you can rematch Robin Reid for example? Why fight Byron Mitchell only after he has lost his WBA belt to Ottke? He was the first undisputed super mmiddle champ, he did have 20 abc title defences, did capture the world title at light heavy, he does have wins over Chris Eubank, Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins, Ol Roy Jones and a five star demolition of Jeff Lacy and did retire undefeated. I do expect him to get inducted into the HOF first time round.
I am a fan of Calzaghe. You are biased in his favor though. Eubank was old and was given very little time to lose a lot of weight for the fight. Calzaghe did not beat Kessler easily. The outcome was very much in doubt until Calzaghe found an adjustment in the later rounds -- putting power in only 25% of his punches. Kessler couldn't deal with not knowing which punches were dangerous. Joe Calzaghe, Calzaghe's dad and Frank ****** simply did not know how good Calzaghe was. They had the belt, and life was good. Why step up? When he beat Lacy like a step child, the Calzaghe camp was as surprised as the rest of the world.
