The difference between Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe

Who were both FW's not so long ago. Calzaghe not so long ago moved up in weight and defeated a P4P fighter - BHOP.

The thread starter's (the biggest wanker on this forum IMO) point is that Hatton has a more fearless attitude than Calzaghe, maybe true but it doesn't make him a better fighter.

 

That's a bold claim, Jones was an amazing fighter but he's human as well, Griffin gave him a lot of trouble in their first fight and I remember reading an article in Boxing Monthly shortly after the Harding fight (I think it was Harding) describing how Jones had a lot of trouble with him.

So to claim that RJJ would give Calzaghe a drubbing to compare with the one Mayweather gave Hatton is a bold statement.

 

There was talk of Calzaghe v Jones at the time Joe beat Woodhall, apparently both guys were more than willing, I think Jones said it was Warren that ****ed something up.

Calzaghe v Hopkins was almost done when B-Hop was no1 but it was Bernard himself that pulled out of that one.

Sometimes JC could have did more to make the fights in America but some of it was not down to him aswell.... boxers are not stupid, they know a good fighter when they see one & they likely seen Calzaghe as high risk with little reward.

Ps. Lets not forget that BOTH Britain & America ranked Calzaghe as the no1 168 lber in the world, everyone knew who the man was, he didnt have to go anywhere, he was the top 168 fighter & everybody knew that & it was only Lacy that had the balls to challenge the no1 man (we saw how that turned out.)

I think Calzaghe takes Hopkins prime for prime & I think he gives prime Jones a better fight than ANYONE over in lala land ever gave him, Calzaghe is a special fighter, we should be celebrating him while he is still around, not trying to pick at him.

So many brits get us excited then fail but so far Joe has not so Id start backing him if I were you lot... its highly unlikely we are going to produce a fighter of his quality for MANY a year.


Botswana :smoke

 

I think that statement indirectly supports part of the argument presented in the OP quite nicely.

 

Joe and Ricky have had very similar careers. They both made loads of defences of a Mickey Mouse title and then both won proper world titles when they got to about 35-0.

Hatton beat a much better fighter to win his world title and has had much tougher fights since, including moving up in weight to challenge the P4P number 1. He's also won a world title in a higher weight division.

 

I agree with you but at the same time I dont. I think Hatton has benefited more from the internet age than Calzaghe. I think if your gonna look at Calzaghe's career you have to look at before the 'boxing internet boom' (when I say boom I mean the possibility of streaming/downloading files over the internet)

during 1997 - 2003. (Im not sure if this is correct but boixing declined on 'free' uk t.v. after the watson fight. Im hoping someone will correct me with my dates :think)

I think after 2003 alot of boxers have been found out and pressure has been put on boxers to fight boxers who fans deem viable. Take David Haye for instance he was quoted as saying he did his RESEARCH on various boxing sites and he realised alot of fans were saying monte barrets name as a first test in the heavyweight division.

Also during the period of 1997-2003 not much boxing was on British television only on sky sports or late on channle five for 20mins which tried to include about 20fights in 20mins (cant remember the name but I remeber being pissed if I missed it) Dont know about other but I remeber sky sports costing a fair pound or 2! During this period boxing was at a big slump in the uk...personally I cant speak for others but all I had was the ring magazine and that channel five program. All I knew were the mainstream boxers mosley, mayweather roy jones...I would of never heard of fringe contenders unless they were in big fights such as Thomas Adaemek, monte barret (u get the idea)Recently british boxing fans are now spoilt with boxing with the revelation of setanta and other forms of streaming sites.

Anyway what im trying to say is that during calzaghe's early career he wasn'y really unknown and wasn't a viable option for many american boxing fans (not including hardcore fans because they would of heard about him). Also us british fans didnt know who was really out there. I mean personally I never knew mayweather called out Naseem Hamed until months after he did it (do you see where im coming from). I mean I cant speak for all british boxing fans but I know fair number whose knowlodge about fighters has dramatically increased cause of the internet. If we knew the capabilities of boxers out there during the period of 1997-2003 us british fans and american fans would of put pressure on jones, calzaghe, toney etc to fight other british or european fighters. For instance I really believe internet boxing forums had a big impact on calzaghe choosing Kessler as his next opponent. I know people will say thats what the sanctioning bodies are there for. BUt I really believe us fans are now having a greater affect who boxers fight next, mainly because of the internet...Because we influence the non hard core who dont really care about boxing but just want 2see a tear up. For instance before the cotto fight my friends brother knows NOTHING about boxing but he was saying mayweather was dodging Margarito. I asked him where he heard this, and he said he heard from a friend who showed him a clip of margarito boxing and him calling mayweather out on youtube.

But if fans asked themselves honestly if Margarito was a british boxer during the period of 1998-2003 (when there wasn't much boxing on tv). How many people would of heard about or even been pushing his name except hardcore fans to fight the cotto's of that day and age.

Also with hatton, hatton maximised the use of the internet has anyone been on the hitmans website? he's constantly updating it and he's also mentioned himself to listening to his fans on the net. No offence to joe but to what I know he's not as 'internet friendly' as hatton or even david haye.

Im not saying this is the sole cause of the change in Calzaghe of late travelling but I do think it has had a serious affect on his career lately.


If this dont make sense my apologies I haven't read through it :tong

 

TFFFP can write his posts as articulately as he pleases.

The bottom line is, Calzaghe is perhaps (and i say perhaps because we will never see a true acid test to determine it) a little bit more talented that Hatton.

But he has less than 10% of the bollocks that Ricky Hatton showed by stepping up to Mayweather's weight, wearing the big gloves and fighting in the biggest ring ever manufactuerd - in Mayweather's new home town of Vegas at a time when the whole industry regarded Pretty Boy as the best fighter of his generation.. who was P4P1, at his peak and unbeaten...

...compared to an unproven Lacy, a guy in Kessler who's main win was on points over Anthony Mundane..and a pair of 40-somethings with plenty of defeats on their records in the last 3 years.

Kostya Tszyu was P4P no3 when Ricky stopped him inside the distance.

That alone ranks greater than ANYTHING Calzaghe has done.