Rank them: Calzaghe, Jones, Hopkins, Toney

Legacy

They are pretty even but Toney didnt achieve a whole lot at lighter weights because he was a little fat ass, excellent cruiserweight and could have won a heavyweight strap if he had trained like he did vs Holyfield, terrific chin for a smaller fighter

Who Beats Who

Jones (physical freak but he did avoid Calzaghe and fought US-based crap like Richard Hall etc)
Calzaghe (born winner, only thing he lacked was crunching power, terrific boxing ability)
Hopkins (still near his prime and competitive vs Calz but even when a bit younger he wouldnt have won)

........


Toney (doesnt really belong on this list even tho he was a great fighter)

 

H2h and legacy

Jones Jr Hopkins about tied at the neck

Toney




And sorry hes not even good enough to mention,so im not saying his name

NO FRAUDS ALLOWED

 

Head 2 Head (prime)
Jones beats Calzaghe, Hopkins, Toney
Calzaghe beats Toney
Toney beats Hopkins
Hopkins vs Calzaghe is mind boggling

Ranking based on resume
Hopkins
Jones
Calzaghe
Toney

 

Jones
Hopkins

Toney



Calzaghe

 

How can anyone put Calzaghe above Toney when he has wins over Nunn, McCallum, Jirov, Holyfield, Barkley, Reggie Johnson ?

Johnson has a win over Steve Collins.

Nunns had wins over Starling, Curry, Roldan, Tate, Barkley, Kalambay.

McCallum had beaten Collins, Kalule, McCrory, Harding, Watson, Graham, Kalambay, Jackson.

You have to be nuts to rank Calzaghe above Toney based on who they have beaten, which elite fighter has Calzaghe ever beaten in his prime ? ill answers the question for you...........nobody.

McCallum, Nunn alone are better than anything on Calzaghe's resume.

 

Hopkins has the best resume from them all, Calzaghe has the worst.

Hopkins
Jones
Toney
Calzaghe

 

I hear you, but the guy has lost twice to Sam Peter and Montel Griffin. He has even lost to a man named Drake Thadzi, for crying out loud.

 

Jones
Hopkins

Toney/Calzaghe

 

jones
Hopkins
Toney
Calzaghe

what a pitty we didn't get the fab 4 of our era

 

1. Calzaghe/Toney
2. Jones
3. Hoppy

 

I hear you but to me that does not erase the fact that he has beaten better fighters. I rank greatness on who you have beaten and who that opponent has beaten not consistency over good but not elite fighters. Calzaghe might have had consistency but that is because of who he is fighting.

Peter is a HW so i think we can let that one slide, plus he was not exaclty young when he fought Peter.

No excuse for the Griffin defeats but remember that Griffin made Roy Jones look rather ordinary before Roy got DQ'd. I believe Toney won the second fight to.

Thadzi just fought Toney when he was under prepared and under motivated, do you honestly think Toney would not of beaten Thadzi on his best day ?

 

That is a myth, Toney was not out of shape. He was not huffing and puffing after 6 rounds, the fight went all 12 rounds and he was simply outboxed. I don't know how you can say he was more skilled than Jones in his prime, the fight proved who was more skilled among the two as both were in their prime. Jones knocked Toney down in that fight, and Toney has a great chin.

 

Some good points, but:

Toney being old and fighting at heavyweight doesn't mean one should not take those fights into consideration, when trying to rank the guy based on his resume. Toney chose to fight on till he was old and he chose to fight at that weight.

Shouldn't one have in mind the Tarver and Johnson fights, just cause Jones was not at his best weight/condition then? If you ask me he should have retired long ago (same goes for Toney), but since they both chose to fight on, one can't help but consider all of their fights when judging their resume.

Also, to me being underprepared has nothing to do with this thread's subject. Yes, I also think a well prepared and determined Toney would have beaten Thadzi, but should I judge based on "what might have happened if", or based on what actually happened?

 

Your list makes a lot of sense.

I have Jones, Hopkins, Toney, Calzaghe. I think head to head Jones and Toney would beat Hopkins or Calzaghe, and I don't think anybody could beat Jones in his prime head to head at that weight class. I don't even think SRR would have beat him if they had fought in 1995.

What sticks out is no just the speed Roy Jones had, but also the footwork and the power. He had heavyweight power, enough power to knock down James Toney, and enough power to break ribs. Next up is James Toney who has the best chin among all of them, and in my opinion is both naturally talented and technically sound, I think Toney would have beaten Hopkins over 12 rounds simply because he had super natural ring intelligence. I think Hopkins would beat Calzaghe in his prime, I don't think Calzaghe was as far as Jones in 1993, and Jones barely beat Hopkins.

 

Good post.

My only objection is your claim that Toney would beat Calzaghe. I don't know, Toney was somewhat economical in his punches and although he would have been able to avoid many of Calzaghe's shots, I'm not sure he could score that much by countering, in order to take the fight. It could happen, but prime for prime I'd slightly favour the Welshman.