He was NEVER a Calzaghe level fighter. He was 'mostly' a LH that boiled down to MW to batter LW/SW who were moving up to MW. He was a spoiler and a cheat but he had good skills of that there is no doubt. But no Roy Jones let alone a Joe C. His exit from boxing last night summed up his career. Great boxer but excuse making serial cheat.
You dont have a career that long if you are a 'cheat'. The problem is that half you idiots were born in the late 90s or 2000's so you never saw this guy at his peak and end up making stupid comments. Joe Calzaghe was a great fighter but he was protected by Frank Warrin and he himself ducked lots of challenges. He was a great Euro level fighter who stepped up very late and beat 2 fading legends and bowed out. Aside from Kessler who else did he face at their peak? Hopkins' resume is stacked and he ranks much higher than Calzaghe.
^^Couldn't have said it any better myself. The funny thing with Hopkins is his true prime was probably around the late 90's. Most people only know him from 2001 (Trinidad) and on when he was already starting to fade a bit from an athletic standpoint. His ring IQ and overall generalship allowed him to remain highly successful into the 2000's while his athleticism began to wane. I also rank Hopkins much higher than Calzaghe and essentially for the same reasons you mentioned. Had Joe not been sequestered in the UK for so long and actually took on top tier talent earlier in his career, his legacy would look much different IMO.
No point trying to explain that to the eastern euro-but nugging neo nazis who now run this forum mate.
I swear it started with the KKKovalev lovers and it has hit its peak now that Trump is president. People are not even hiding their (casual) racism anymorem
Iv no idea how you got that from the opening post which has no racism in it, the poster is British so more than likely nationalism The only post here that looks racist or xenophobic is the one critiszing calzaghes opponents as 'euro level'. That is a derogatory xenophobic comment, Euro level especially at 168 has typically been the pinnicle of the division as most top fighters are European, if you simply discard them as 'euro level' because you don't have many players in the division then that's not right What would everyone say if we called 147 a weak division and has a load of 'american level fighters' and that its useless because of that? That would also be a xenophobic comment and you arent even hiding it anymore,
Nice strawman bait but your rationale is completely flawed I'll give you an example if I may. Calling someone 'Euro Level' is not the same as revelling in Hopkins' lossess to white fighters and then using "I'll never lose to a white fighter" to justify their own hidden/casual/overt racial bias. Calling someone Euro level is making reference to long held beliefs of nationally protected fighters who seldom ventured outside of their national borders or fought sub-par opposition and then got exposed when they stepped up to a higher or world level. Lucian Bute, whilst not 'Euro' level, is classic case in point.
