Sir Joe Calzaghe: All Time Great The Italian Dragon Of Hammersmith The Pride Of Wales

Undefeated & Undisputed 168lbs champ of the world and kicked Hopkins **** in the states when Joe himself was shot was enough for this fan , to tell the truth he did better than I thought his hands would allow but never mind Herol I'm sure he's not regretting a thing sitting in his London mansion with his estimated $ 21 million .

 

I take it you are talking about the Clev v Kovalev lmfao but that was Clev not Joe I'm still waiting reference ONE TIME the WELSH REF saved Calzaghe ???

Loudon , valid points regarding Calzaghe v Hopkins and i can debate boxing with you at any time as you ain't as blinkered as a bloke knocking a fighters whole career because he beat a guy who beat his guy as in Herols case . :good

 

What do you mean, why should he have gone to LHW?

That's where the bigger fights were, especially when he couldn't unify with Ottke.

Roy left SMW, because they was nothing else to achieve.

He'd beaten the best guy at the weight, and he couldn't unify the titles.

Joe had to struggle to make SMW.

 

So you're telling me if you could make 168 lbs and unify at the Weight you would run up to 175 lbs to meet RJJ , yea right you would

 

You can debate with me anytime. :good

In 2003, Joe couldn't unify at SMW.

That was the perfect time for him to move to LHW.

The WBO stated that because he'd made so many defences at SMW, they would have elevated him to be a mandatory at LHW, if he'd have wished to have moved there.

Joe was a class act.

In the end, things worked out well for him, destroying Lacy, and beating Kessler and Hopkins.

But he really should have done more in his career when he was younger.

He was just too great to be fighting a lot of those WBO mando's.

 

Let me solve this for everyone.....Joe is the greatest at 168 period. Fact.

His greatness at 175 is up for debate. Hopkins lost the fight. Let's move on.

 

Word:deal

Close thread.

 

Aquamarine,

It wasn't as simple as that.

Joe was beneath him.

Not to people like me, who knew how great he was, but to Hopkins and the U.S. fans and media.

He was a relatively unknown European SMW, who was defending a lightly regarded belt that the likes of the Ring magazine didn't even have rankings for.

At the time, the SMW division was classed as being weak.

In 2006, the U.S. were wowed by Joe, and they finally realised what us Brits had known for years.

Which was that when he was injury free, fighting to his full capabilities, he was a great fighter.

But before 2006, Joe wasn't respected or ranked highly.

Again, the SMW division was regarded as being weak back then, and respected sports writers like Thomas Hauser etc, had zero respect for the WBO. They were a laughing stock at SMW, after moving a guy up the rankings, AFTER HE'D DIED!

Those fights that you've listed did nothing to raise his profile in the U.S. and get fans talking about potential big fights.

Joe wasn't highly regarded in 2002.

The facts are, that Bernard ended up fighting Joe, when he was a lot older, when Joe looked great.

A guy who ducked someone at 36, would not go on to fight them at 43.

The same pattern followed with Roy.

When Roy was in his 30's, Joe hadn't done much, and Roy wasn't interested.

But when he was almost 40, and Joe had achieved great things, and he was respected globally as a great fighter, Roy was happy to fight.

Which tells me that if Joe had've had a 'Lacy' type performance earlier, those fights with Hopkins and Roy could have happened earlier.

 

To tell the truth mate you're spot on here , he would have been looked upon more favourably if he had indeed moved up but the truth is the fella earnt 20 million bucks and still had a fair career .

 

Good post.

Bernard has a huge ego.

But would he have fought a guy, who he didn't think he could beat?

I respect your opinion.

But I read interviews in 2002, where he said a fight at SMW was possible, especially if it was in Wales for huge money.

He also said that IF he went to SMW and won Joe's belt, he wouldn't defend it, because it wasn't respected.

But what I want to know, is why was Joe wanting to fight a MW back then?

He should have put everything he had into moving up to LHW back then, impressing the U.S. fans and media, and moving up the rankings etc.

Joe had it all.

The skill, the arrogance, the Italian heritage, the good looks.

He could have been a huge hit in the U.S. if he'd have truly wanted it.

 

I agree.

I doubt he has that many regrets.

He's got his health, the respect, the money and an undefeated record.

But it just frustrates me.

Because a guy of his talent and looks, would have been a dream for America.

They could have built him into a star.

 

why should I when I never claimed any such had.

you want failure look to your own posts.

haha whupped ya again Josey.

 

Hopkins did NOT lose the fight Calzaghe did not win the fight
What really happened was Calzaghe was given a gift dec he did not deserve. This was born out when Calzaghe refused a rematch with Bernard at home in Wales. Calzaghe was a FRAUD!!!!

 

Sorry due to your user name change you have me at a disadvantage when did you ever " whoop" me during a debate ? Btw you did insinuate Calzaghe got help off a Welsh ref back to his corner in a previous post but obviously you were telling POKIES as you can't back it up , NAME THE REF & NAME THE OPPONENT ? Come on , fella your an embarrassment to that user name you should be stripped of it as you're not worthy of using such a fine fighters name .

 

no, I clearly and blatantly insinuated that welsh refs have been known to carry their fighter back to their corner.

Its not my fault you introduced the name "Calzaghe" into that sentence. If you have to do that, you ought to blame yourself for adding it. don't blame others for your mistakes.

whupped em again, Josey.