Should Joe C be happy with his legacy?

looking at him now its hard to fathom how competive he would have been if he fought roy or james toney

 

Yes he will be very pleased, and so will Warren.

 

But he did have the mega fights.

Lacey
Whatever actualy took place, most people on this board said, not only that that Calzaghe would destroyed, but that he would probably cry out of the fight with an injurybefore the first bell.

Kessler
Huge fight that everybody on this site wanted. Much bitternes every time it was stopped. This was to decide the greatest SMW of all time.

Hopkins
The same people who now dismiss the win because Hopkins was old, picked Hopkins to take Calzaghe apart.

 

Joes had some great wins but will not be truly appreciated until long after he has retired. This is no bad thing, because how you are remembered is THE most important thing.

Everybody seems to have the same opinion of Lacy now but that was the biggest fight at super middle since Benn - Mcclellan!

And Mikkel Kessler Was definately a super fight, if you have all of the European boxing fans and American boxing fans clamouring after a fight which sells 50,000 tickets, which has two undefeated world champs and is for the first undisputed tite at the weight then yes its definatley a superfight.

Hopkins was a big fight due to the fact that he held the Rings (and arguably the linear) light heavyweight title and was universally considered one of the very best p4p in boxing. Joe travelled to the US and got the title, definately a huge fight, if an uninspiring one.

People forget his body of work before Lacy though, he beat many top world rated contenders. Were Mitchell, Brewer, Sheika, Eubank, Ried not world class fighters...?

People dismiss Richie Woodhall now but he was good enough to win the WBCs version of the title, Mario Viet was 30-0 when Calzaghe knocked him out and when Viet came back to get the WBO interim bauble, Calzaghe dismissed him easy again, he beat a young domestic contnder like David Starie (who had a very Froch-esqe record) with an injury. Even Manfredo was in the The Rings Top 10 at 168. Sakio Bika was also bashed as a typical Calzaghe oponent even though he would give anybody at the weight trouble and looking back was a very good scalp for Calzaghe as he is still a contender now.

Admittedly the Kid Fire Mccintyre, Thornberrys and Tocker Pudwills are a bit blurgh...

Calzaghe hasnt actually retired yet I see another big name on the record before he calls it a day as undefeated champion of the world.

Definately one of the very best British fighters of all time.

 

Dude, I ain't putting Joe down

And those 3 were very good wins indeed

But they weren't Hagler - Hearns, Leonard - Duran, Ali-Frazier, Morales-Barrera

If we're talking legacy and 'all time greats' those kind of fights are the benchmark and Joe's major wins are nowhere near, just nowhere near AT ALL in terms of what fight fans will look back on fondly in years to come

When we talk about great fighters in the future Joe will forever be a 'dark horse' and a connoisseurs pick in my opinion. He didn't fight other peak fighters when he was at his peak for whatever reasons and therefore we'll never have definitive answers about how good he actually was

And I don't think Joe will truly know how good he was either...

 

No, he'll be gutted being unbeaten, undisputed supermiddle weight champion, the greatest in the history of his division, and a 2 weight world champion

Oh well, at least he didn't make much money in his career

 

he should be happy with his legacy but even he knows he'll never be top 10 p4p. he beat the best he could, sold out the millenium stadium, was named the BBC's Sportsman of the Year and justified his reign by ending his career with his best fights.

He'll never be an Ali or Joe Louis but when ppl look back at his career they'll see that at the end of his career he took on the best the world had to offer at his weight division nad went out on top.

Whats not to be happy with?

 

Erm, I'm pretty sure he's a top 10 p4p, top 3 in any sane persons book...

Top 10 ATG status is a completely different and unrealistic expectation. It is a big ask for any modern day fighter to achieve as fights are irregular and difficult to make

 

that's right, after he beat lacy everybody said he gets beaten by kessler. after he beat kessler everybody said bring on hopkins. after he beat hopkins people are talking about pavlik or rjj. if he gets past them, then he gets no credit, because one is a middleweight who moved up and the other is shot. for some calzaghe can't win...

 

how many boxers have retired and done so with an unblemished record.
if joe retires undefeated, this alone would be good enough for him to be very satisfied with what he has done and 10 years of world title defences.
just remember every single opponent that has shared the ring with calzaghe has left it a loser.!!!!!

 

Unbeaten haven beaten reasonable opposition soundly and without homecooking is another matter

 

My problem with JC is that he is embarrassing to watch. Show some of his "big" fights to your kids in 20 years time and they'll laugh at his slapping.

Hes a classic Warren fighter - fights bums most of the time and only fights "great" fighters once they are shot.

He barely makes my top 40 in terms of ATGs.