Legacy wise, Joe Calzaghe did everything wrong!

He should have gone to America.... Yes, I know you being facetious because you want to deflect attention to the only available option. If Calazaghe wanted to be an all time great he should have challenged and chased after Roy Jones and the other great fighters at Middleweight. Generations of foreign fights from Chavez to Trinidad to Roberto Duran came to America when the best in their division were American and they did exactly that. Its the same reason why Americans are going to Germany to fight the Klitschko. But Calzaghe was content to sit on his thron in the UK. That' it.

 

No i agree he shouldnt have to, i thought i said that. He was champion so challengers should come to him. All i was pointing out is the only way I could see how he could improve would be to fight other champions scraps to force a confrontation. But as noted there is very very very few champions who would have done that.

 

I wil say tho IF he had come to america and fed on scraps to force fights it would have instantly put him far above Hopkins and Jones, becayse they refused to travel aswell. They where just as much stay at home fighters as he was. So all the haters should be thankfull he didnt come to america earlier because that willingness to travel would have shown him to be a better fighter.

 

I'm not being facetious at all. 'Going to America' is not a specific plan. We know Calzaghe wasn't 'content to sit on his throne' in the UK and did chase 'other great fighters at middleweight' because there was a contract in front of the then P4P number one Bernard Hopkins in 2002. We know Hopkins changed his mind and didn't sign. So that assertion is proven wrong, as it's been proven wrong when you've made it before.

What we're looking for is specifics here. Ie. In year ___ Calzaghe could realistically have fought _________. This would have lead to _______.
Unless you think he should have 'gone to America' just to fight the same people he was fighting anyway, on the same TV channel in front of smaller crowds for less money. Because I'm still waiting for someone to explain how that would have helped.

 

Calzaghe's main priority though was to unify at 168 and he stated that liv on US tv after the Mitchell fight.

Persistent hand problems and obviously problems trying to get unification fights held him back.

As soon as he cleaned up he was over to America and beat the main man at 175 and retired the main man.

 

168lbs was pretty weak during Calzaghe's prime, everybody thought Lacy was his #1 competition but Joe trashed him with ease. The Kessler fight was also a huge deal. After that he just went fishing for his retirement pension against Jones and Hopkins cause business was done at 168lbs.

 

It would have helped if he had called out those fighters earlier. It would have helped if he had attempted to make a name for himself in the state. This is the same thing that the Klitschko are constantly criticized for...right? They fight in Germany too much....How many times does Joe fight at MSG or Las Vegas in his prime?

 

Try to make fights with Jones from 2000-2004, also try to fight Otke during this period for the undisputed championship. This may have got him a super fight sooner, because many didn't consider him a real champ

Show up for the Glen Johnson fight in 2005, instead of claiming to be injured 3times

He could have demanded a fight with Erdie from 2004-2006, WBO would have made him mandatory

Failing that fight the top contenders from 2000-2006 - fight Echols who beat Brewer. Fight titlists/contenders who were available at this time:

Mundine
Green
Otke
Echols
Vanderpool
Robin Reid
Mads LArson
Branco

Rematch Robin Reid who some thought beat him
Rematch Hopkins

Fight the top young LHWs - Chad Dawson, Adamek, Paul Briggs

Calzaghe is a great fighter and I think he wins most of those but he rarely fought the top guys

 

I've never criticised the Klitschkos for fighting too much in Germany. Five out of Vitali's last nine fights were in the US and Wlad is attracting big numbers in Germany.

So, we've pinned you down to a couple of geographical locations. So, who should Calzaghe have been fighting at MSG or Las Vegas and when?

 

46-0. Beat kessler, lacy, Bhop and jones. Yeah definately done something wrong!

Fail!

 

Good answer. I'm not sure there was much mileage in trying to fight Ottke. Doubt Ottke was interested and you just set yourself up to get screwed in Germany, which is hardly a career boost.

Not sure Erdei is the answer. Not like Erdei got any big fights.

Johnson is the one that really could have been a difference maker. Not in 2005 though, but the first time in 2004. If Calzaghe won (and he would), would he have been in line to fight Jones after Jones loss to Tarver?

The other list of fighters you give are really just different names, not necessarily better names.

 

yeah Branco for instance was stopped after taking a hiding from Woodhall who in turn took a beating from Joe.

Its interesting fact that some miss, when Reid and Woodhall were WBC champs they never went looking for Joe.

 

Fight one of the top young LHWs? He spent his entire career at SMW and only had two fights at LHW! Why should he have thought a LHW?

As for the 'going to America' argument, wasn't he a world champ for 10 years?doesnt that feat alone warrant top American fighters going away from home and fighting Joey in the UK. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember too many lining up calling for a fight in the UK with him.

And rematch Hopkins, get the **** outta here, why? The guy is a racist and got beat on his home patch, what's a rematch gonna prove?

 

I think it's partly about the thing I call the "exposure syndrome". All people, nor just Americans as in this case, think that what thay see with their own eyes and what is closer to them is better. A bit of in-group bias. It's really quite natural but sometimes it influences the p4p ratings glaringly obviously. Like when Dawson jumped over to HBO and all of a sudden he was elected p4p#3 by the majority of the board even though his best wins are against over-the-hill fighters and an Adamek three years ago. Same thing with Dzinziruk; after he made his Showtime debut people are staring to make threads about him, matching him and even favouring him against the likes of Cotto, Angulo and even Williams! The funny thing is, he was much better vs Santos five years ago!

Enough of that. The bottomline is, I think it's the same with Calzaghe. Had Calz been hyped up by American announcers and been given top-billings he most definitely, in my eyes, would have been more highly rated had he met the EXACT same challengers on US TV. I'm even willing to bet money on that. People call fighters they know nothing about no-names and think thay are worse just because they don't know who they are. What these people, NOT ALL, are saying is basically "If I don't know them, they're not good". A bit presumptous.

I too don't understand the notion that you should have to go to America? Why? Especially not when you're the champ and can make the opponents come to you and still make a living? He did succeed in making Kessler, Lacy and Eubank come to him and he met the champ a division above. Dawson wasn't a big name back then even thogh I would have liked to see him face Pavlik and not Jones, Pavlik wouldn't stand a chance.

I'd be very interested in finding out what constitutes the ring ratings panel. What percentages, from which countries etc. Because if it's mainly constituted by Americans then I think the whole concept is unfair and should be changed. Boxing is a global sport. Sadly, accesibility to TV is crucial to your ratings and that's why some people call the p4p stuff a popularity contest. It has some merit.

Dawson, Pavlik and Hopkins in his prime. Other than that I don't see what more. And Dawson is excusable since he was very old and had already taken a farewell fight against Jones. But yes, he could have done more.

 

Calzaghe was on US TV though. Showtime showed loads of his fights and were the prime movers in the 2002 offer to Hopkins.