The Jones-Tarver-Johnson-Woods-Dawson 175 era . . . . . . .

I don't really consider anything at 175 after moving up to HW Roy's "era" he was clearly at the very tail end of his prime when moving up to HW. At that point, Glen Johnson was 1-2-1 at LHW, losing twice to previous Jones victims. The division clearly got weaker as Jones Jr and DM got old.

It is arguable too that Johnson hit a late peak, and was a better fighter at LHW than he was at SMW.. I don't really consider it all that relevant.

 

A typical dinovelvet post, makes a childish insult whilst ducking all the relevant points :deal

It is a pleasure to receive high praise from such a distinguished poster. Yes, Cleverly and Bellew have both proven they're willing to take on the best. When these two are both champions, I doubt we'll see a situation where Jones was demanding $12m to go anywhere near Darius, and Darius himself made little effort to get to Roy.

Fantastic prediction, I didn't even think of Eubank jr and Degale moving up. That would make the LHW division as strong as it's ever been, it almost sounds too good to be true, imagine the great fights there.

 

I never said these fighters had strong resumes at LHW, what I did say was their resumes at LHW were alot more impressive than Calzaghe, who I see as one of the weakest LHW champions in modern history.

Calzaghe SD12 Hopkins, was a **** win over a good fighter, which makes it a decent win.

Hopkins UD12 Tarver, was a great win over a decent fighter, which makes it a solid win and for more greater than Calzaghe SD12 Hopkins.

When I compare wins, I dont go on boxrec and look at the opponents, I watch the fights and also compare the manner of the victory.

It has been proven by substantial evidence, intelligence and wisdom that Joe Calzaghe has been one of the worst champions in the modern history of the LHW division.

 

Would, could, should...:dead..... but never made the effort to do so:deal

It has been established, Joe Calzaghe is probably the weakest LHW champion of the last 20 years with only the Ring Paper belt as his only silverware.

 

Il give you Clev but thats a pure hate post in disguise. Degale 2 and Ward 9?

 

Good point, but Glen became a better fighter at 175, not just because the division wasn't as strong. Woods was also better at 175.

Just do a quick comparison. In my opinion, the division became strong again in around 2006/2007. But during the years I've mentioned, the 175 division was he strongest, and that's where Joe should have been fighting. Reggie Johnson, Roy, DM, Hill, Griffin, Tarver, Harding, Woods, Gonzalez and Hop in 2006.

Joe should have been in that mix. He should have moved up in 1999-2000 he could have been in some great fights. When he couldn't unify with Ottke, he should have gone. The weight wasn't an issue in anyway, and Joe was confident that he'd be too quick for those guys. He said in 2004, that he knew he had to go up, yet it took him another four years to get there.

 

LHW has long been used as a haven for supposed "has beens" from other weight classes looking to regain titles and revive their careers.

In addition to the examples you listed, ex-MW titleholder Reggie Johnson basically came out of semi-retirement in his early 30s, jumped straight up two weight classes, and flattened LHW titleholder Willie Guthrie.

After Fabrice Tiozzo was dethroned as CW champ, he slimmed down to LHW while in his mid 30s and regained a title by beating Silvio Branco.

Speaking of Branco, he had been an aging SMW contender who revived his career simply by moving to LHW.

 

Joe Calzaghe thought of LHW as anything but weak when thinking for years of moving up. Why his delusional fans try to make up lies is beyond me.

Perhaps Calzaghe fans should have trained him, obviously they know something he didn't.

LHW was not weak with Roy and DM there in their primes, in fact, it was one of the toughest.

In order to get a respected belt, you either had to beat Michalcsewski or Jones Jr, how that is a weak weight? I am not sure.

 

I would argue that a division with only two such distinguished fighters is the definition of a weak division - especially if one of those fighters generally isn't even considered a true great.

 

Dawson and Johnson weren't really in the Jones Jr era of light heavy. Jones was the man from 98 until he moved to heavyweight. No one could touch him.

Calzaghe, Tarver, Johnson just got the scraps of what "used to be".

 

Not when you consider one was the fighter of the decade of the 90's and recognized as the P4P best in the world, and one was undefeated for a long time and will most likely go down in the HOF...

To get a recognized belt in that weight, you either had to beat Roy or DM.. That is hardly weak. Plus you had guys like Woods, Johnson, Tarver, Griffin, Harding ect that were all very good at their best. I think that weight gets underrated from 98-03..

 

Oh that much is certain !