If Calzahe loses to, or looks bad against, Roy Jones; will it hurt his all time status at 168? Some people still question the caliber of Joe's super middleweight opponents. Joe won a disputed decision over Hopkins, but Hopkins is a former middleweight. With only one victory over one good light heavyweight, Hopkins is not an all time great at 175. Roy Jones is past his best. Roy Jones had established himself as a good 175lb. champion, and is considered by some to be the best 168 lb. fighter ever. Is Joe risking his 168 pound legacy when Jones challenges him for his 175 pound title?
What I'm trying to say is that struggling with Jones and Hopkins is not the same as struggling with natural 175 pound men. Both Hopkins and Jones campaigned as middleweights, a division below the division Calzaghe moved up from. Jones did establish himself as a the dominant light heavyweight at a point in his career, so that may provide a little breathing room.
RJJ is "more" lightheavy than Hopkins is IMO. Hopkins was a middle who stepped up, and, while he performed well, he's still old + past his prime + not in his best division. There's a decent argument to be made for LHW being RJJ's best division. His best resume, at least. Unfortunately, RJJ seems more shot than Hopkins at this point. If RJJ comes to fight and is in good shape, it'd be a great win for Calzaghe. If RJJ comes in as a geriatric looking for a paycheck, then I'm afraid I won't give Joe too much credit for the win.