Joe Calzaghe's punches

School me tomorrow then chump, after you've doctored the resumes of Hagler and Monzon, by the same logic you apply to Hopkins's res. See you in 24 you daft trout.

 

even i'm getting tired of saying it...

not in the US it doesn't and not against world class fighters in their prime.

is he one of the best fighters that ever lived because he beat jones and hopkins at a combined age of 80-something?

or do you just want to list opponents and it's relevance to world boxing at that time becasue it suits you?

 

...?"

If you looked at it objectively, you couldn't discount the possibility. Indeed you would probabably find that you were in support of the claim.

 

I agree it was in calzaghes hands to make the jump if he wanted to force himself on the world stage, thats what you have to do.

Your last paragraph is interesting coz 2 of his biggest wins (Kessler Lacy) are still in the mix. I wrote on a thread the other day there that Calzaghes legacy could easily be moved up or down not depending on what he does, but what other people do, for example if Bhop beats Pav, Lacy beats Taylor and Kessler scores big wins in a growingly competitive division his stock will sore, but if the reverse of this happens it wil inevitably fall.

 

good post.

i agree completely that both hopkins and jones have holes in their resumes - because, like calzaghe, they ruled a weak division.

the reason calzaghe is seen in a lesser light is because he never fought in the limelight. he was never as marketable or carried the notoriety that the others did because the average beercan fan didn't know who he was.

thats why jones got ruiz.

thats why hopkins got tito (his best win imo - that was textbook) and oscar.

hopkins may have fought smaller men to define his career, but you have to put yourself in that position to get the fight in the first place.

hopkins showed he was resilient by beating tarver - who, honestly, was in the right place at the right time when he beat jones.

tarver will only be remembered for beating roy jones.

the points you make are correct, but at the end of the day you're talking about a fighter who never put himself on th same playing field.

yes, it's unfair to british fighters.

but he knew that and still didn't test himself even though he's super-talented. that's the frustrating thing about joe calzaghe.

 

I respectfully disagree, I think he would give all three a close fight, his best chance of victory would be against hopkins, the most awkward would be Toney, and the best fight would be of course RJJ. If Calzaghe came out of those 1-1-1 i wouldnt be surprised. But to be continued another day.

 

thats a really good point too. what lacy and kessler do from here can help to define him.

but kessler has fallen back into the european mold (aka felix sturm after he fought oscar and now he's a nobody in the US). i live in denmark and kessler has said these aren't the fights he wants but he's letting mogens palle pull the strings which tells me he's not wise to how things work.

lacy isn't going to cut it and kessler is going the same if mogens palle takes the frank warren philosophy on boxing.

i hope he doesn't but he 100% is playing 'chess' with a 'BELT'.

i guarantee you that uch..and that isn't healthy fior kessler's career.

 

First it was 95 and second it wasnt nigel slated to fight roy or even the winner of Benn-Mcclellan it was just the g-man. But that was just don king bull****.

 

:nono...it wasn't 6 minutes, it was 8 :deal.

 

i already told you why prominent british fighters (generally speaking) dont get to fight the legitimate best fighgters of their era.

if you want start being dismissive "this place is nuts" then that only tells me you're not willing to risk your local heroes against honest opinion....

 

Yes it is Joes fault he wasnt a middleweight in 1990 to face Eubank. Muppet.

 

dont be so defensive if you beieve in what you say.

of course it's "prime champs".

calzaghe has never fought a proven one.

why do i have this **** every week?

 

its all good if people are objective.

i am. but you are british, right?

 

donøt be so defensive....

 

Of course elite champions are growing on trees these days.

I guess you really mean Jones, Hopkins, Toney... Ottke too?

Joe was effectively a career supermiddle, his perfect fighting weight. Jones and Toney took heavier paths. Hopkins reportedly pulled out of negotiations back in the day. Who wants to fight Ottke in Germany, did Ottke want to fight Joe in Wales, or at all?