Just how good was Joe Calzaghe?

THIS. Calzaghe was the ring belt champion, not the lineal champ at lightheavy. However, noone really doubts he was the best there after the Hopkins win (although it was barely a win).

Calzaghe was a very, very good fighters. However, he had NO AMBITION. He was content fighting domestic level fighters in leisure centres across the UK on the Warren-Bum-A-Month circuit along with Hatton and his disgrace of a WBU belt. He claimed he 'tried to get the big fights' but that my friends is STEAMING BULL.


Look at Froch. After he got the title, he went to the USA to defend it successfully. He is now CALLING FOR KESSLER AND BUTE to meet him in a unification match. It is very likely this will happen. You can be sure Froch will demand to fight the other champs because he has AMBITION. Calzaghe was scared to loose his WBO crap strap which means **** anyway. If he had had all those fights without that awfui Warren-Boxing-Organisation belt 'on the line' how much of a joke would his resume have looked? A complete joke, that's what.

To think of all the fighters around Calzaghe's weight class that just 'passed him by' during his SMW hey-day... Johnson, Jones, Hopkins, DM, Ottke (although granted, thse were hard fights to make but WHERE WAS THE NOISE?) to name just a few. Calzaghe never even TRIED TO GET THE BIGGEST FIGHTS and yet referred to himself as a dominant champ. No mate, you defended a POS plastic crap strap in the welsh valleys for 10 years.

All in all though he was a very very good fighter who should have called out the best. A lot of people think 'prime Jones' would have dominated him. I'm not convinced at all. Jones had a china chin and Calzaghe was a bit of an animal when threatened, I don't think it's clear cut at all.

 

There's no 'strictly lineal point of view'. It all depends on your standards for resolving a vacancy when there is no linear champion. Different people have different standards and therefore different opinions. Depending on which one you follow you could perfectly validly have a Hill - DM - Gonzalez - Erdei lineage or equally a Jones - Tarver - Hopkins - Calzaghe - Vacant lineage. It's purely a matter of opinion.

 

good fighter, not great, not enough big names on his record, will be remember in britian as a great

 

You're still claiming to not be Rico, right?

 

I'm not Rico. If you PM a mod so they can check IPs etc they will confirm.

 

You never watched a Calzaghe post-fight interview I take it? He made plenty of noise. The more valid criticism is that he could have done more to back up that noise. That said, Hopkins turned down a fight against him, so criticising Calzaghe for that fight not happening always seems ******ed in the extreme.

 

I'm sorry but the line from DM is a far stronger case, the one from Jones only carries any weight at all because it contains the "name" fighters which, from a lineal point of view, makes no difference.

 

This. Erdei is actually the TRUE lineal champ. Strange as that might seem.

 

He needed the Ottke and Trinidad fights to be one of the best ever. but there is no doubt he is a modern great.

 

If Calzaghe had pressured Hopkins, hoped on a plane and fought him in the USA he could have had one of the best wins in British boxing over the last 20 years. Obviously I mean you have to back it up.

Calzaghe did not chase the big fights. He was happy fighting Mario Veit in Gillford Community Centre infront of 300 old men and a pack of rabid dogs.

 

Best @ 168 and moved and beat best @ 175.....beat everyone in front of him and was not lacking in any area....most adaptable fighter of modern times

 

If you apply the objective standard of unification of the three main titles for resolving a lineal vacancy then Jones was the first to do it after Spinks vacated. There's not an argument that you can make against that statement, it's an objective test.

If you take a more subjective approach and require a meeting between the two fighters that you personally consider the best in the division to resolve a vacancy, then Maske v Hill or Hill v DM probably satisfied your criteria.

Simply two different opinions, I'm not sure how one is 'stronger' than the other?

 

Hopkins wouldn't sign the contract. If Showtime couldn't bring sufficient pressure to bear, then I'm not sure what Calzaghe could have done on his own? Force a pen into his hand?

 

My (perfectly valid) argument against that statement is that Jones got those belts AFTER DM had done enough to be considered (IMHO) lineal champion and that that makes them pretty much irrelvant to the issue.