The Respect for Joe Calzaghe Thread

safe_pa · Feb 5, 2009

The haters can say what they like, it will never change my opinion. I like Joe Calzaghe and will miss seeing him fight. May he enjoy his retirement.

TheChamp1000 · Feb 5, 2009

ajay11 said: ↑

Any fighter that retires 46-0 is obviously a top class boxer but I doubt that many outside of Wales will rate him as an ATG as he slips away into the future and fades from our memories.

The simple fact is that he chose to make his mark by defeating two guys that were a decade past their best, a big mistake in my opinion as he made such a huge impression by defeating the gifted Mikkel Kessler. He may well have won over his most harshest critics had he fought and beaten the undefeated champion Chad Dawson.

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Both Marciano and Calzaghe may have finished their careers undefeated but they will never be rated above those champions that took the big name fights on a consistant basis, even if it meant there was a chance that " the 0 had to go". Another interesting fact is that while Calzaghe held the WBO super middleweight title for more than a decade it wasn't until his 41st bout against Jeff Lacy that he solidified his position at No.1 by unifying the IBF and WBO titles. Likewise, Marciano didn't become the No.1 heavyweight until he won the crown at his 43rd bout, only to retire after six defences over three years before retiring.

Another interesting fact is that Calzaghe retired without giving the dynamic, undefeated Dawson the same opportunity afforded to him by Hopkins and Jones Jr. In fact Calzaghe stayed well away from anyone who held a title, instead defending against handpicked contenders that often built up their over inflated records against moderate opposition. Apart from his win as challenger against Chris Eubank,
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(Lacy and Kessler), which is beyond comprehension when one considers that this undefeated champion only held the WBO super middleweight belt. The WBC, IBF and WBA super middleweight and all light heavyweight champions were nowhere to be seen for near on a decade.

While Marciano's last fight was against the evergreen Archie Moore, who at 39 was already a veteran of 176 fights for 148 wins, Moore came into the fight as the light heavyweight champion who had only lost 2 of his past 56 fight...and one of those was by DQ. After losing to Marciano, Archie Moore franked the form by winning his next 11 bouts before going down to a young Floyd Patterson for the vacant World Heavyweight Title.

Just as Dawson was denied his chance at taking the belt from an undefeated champ, the smart young contender Floyd Patterson, with a record of 24-1 and an olympic gold medal, would have loved a shot at Marciano had the heavyweight king stayed around for a few more fights.
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Should it also be mentioned that both Calzaghe and Marciano were decked early in their last fights before going on to defeat their big name opponent? This may have given both reason to consider giving away the game before the inevitable occured.

Finally both fighters were kept well clear off top class opposition even though they had proved themselves more than capable of taking the next step. The simple fact is that both may have been ranked alongside some of the ATG's had they taken a few more risks yet sadly that will never be so.

Bottom line is that Calzaghe must be content with his career, and why wouldn't he after such an amazing journey. His fans will forever grant him God-like status just as Marciano's supporters rate him as one of the greatest heavyweight champions to have held the crown yet they are in the minority.

Joe Louis will always be rated ahead of Marciano while Hopkins and especially Roy Jones Jr will always be rated above the Pride of Wales...........wherever that is.
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For Dawson to be seen as hard done by for not getting a shot at calzaghe I would have to see him rematch johnson and give him a shot at the title again. But bad chad dont want any of that does he? No Tarver 2 is a better fight to prove himself in

Leeroy · Feb 5, 2009

Yup. Respect. Glad I had the pleasure of watching him fight. :good

Shotgun · Feb 5, 2009

I'm a huge Calzaghe fan from day one, I will admit that his prime years were mostly wasted which is a shame. But he was also shamelessly ducked by the other beltholders like Sven Ottke. Calzaghe agreed to fight a "prime" Hopkins (whatever that means) back in 2001 or 2002 and Hopkins, after originally agreeing to terms, doubled his asking price to an unrealistic number and fought a bunch of chumps instead. Jones was never serious about fighting Joe. I think Frank Warren hurt his legacy too but the last 3 years of Joe's career was very impressive and anyone who denies that is full of it. I don't care about the Roy Jones win but the Lacy, Kessler and Hopkins (look at Tarver before and Pavlik after as a point of comparison) were great wins

Axe · Feb 5, 2009

Very good but not great will be JC's legacy.

Slider75 · Feb 5, 2009

Big respect to Joe! but i must admit, i would have loved to see him shut up the haters once for all! Now its up to Kessler to do that!

BoxingFanNo1 · Feb 5, 2009

I respect him, wish he had a couple more big fights thats all.

ajay11 · Feb 9, 2009

TheChamp1000 said: ↑

For Dawson to be seen as hard done by for not getting a shot at calzaghe I would have to see him rematch johnson and give him a shot at the title again. But bad chad dont want any of that does he? No Tarver 2 is a better fight to prove himself in
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The simple fact is that Dawson took the WBC title of an undefeated Tomasz Adamek, successfully defended it twice then took Antonio Tarver's IBF title.

Dawson has the game to give JC real trouble and his form over the past 2 years is as good, if not better than Calzaghe's.

Said it before and I'll say it again...as WBO champion
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ajay11 · Feb 9, 2009

Shotgun said: ↑

I'm a huge Calzaghe fan from day one, I will admit that his prime years were mostly wasted which is a shame. But he was also shamelessly ducked by the other beltholders like Sven Ottke. [/quote/]

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Calzaghe agreed to fight a "prime" Hopkins (whatever that means) back in 2001 or 2002 and Hopkins, after originally agreeing to terms, doubled his asking price to an unrealistic number and fought a bunch of chumps instead. Jones was never serious about fighting Joe.
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I think Frank Warren hurt his legacy too but the last 3 years of Joe's career was very impressive and anyone who denies that is full of it. I don't care about the Roy Jones win but the Lacy, Kessler and Hopkins (look at Tarver before and Pavlik after as a point of comparison) were great wins
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Beatboxer · Feb 9, 2009

Joe Calzaghe

BEST SMW OF ALL TIME
TOP 10 BRITISH FIGHTER ALL TIME

MUCH RESPECT FOR JOE CALZAGHE! THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES CHAMP!

mattress · Feb 9, 2009

ZEMO! said: ↑

My respect for "Joe the Wanker" is right on the tip of my ****.:good
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Go die you greasy little ****. The OP told assholes like you to stay the **** out...dumbass.

Well done JC. Enjoy your retirement.

"LA Earthquake" · Feb 9, 2009

Much respect. Fought 46 times and won every single fight. Great job Alzaghe, the greatest SMW of all-time. Congrats. :good

Fighting Weight · Feb 9, 2009

ajay11 said: ↑

Shotgun said: ↑

I'm a huge Calzaghe fan from day one, I will admit that his prime years were mostly wasted which is a shame. But he was also shamelessly ducked by the other beltholders like Sven Ottke. [/quote/]

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Great post.

I love the way the Slappy fans say Jones was never serious about fighting Joe back in 2000-2002 when Jones held every belt at 175 and Slappy held the WBO strap at 168, as though Jones was in some way ducking the man :rofl:rofl:rofl

It's no coincidence that Slappy only made noises about moving to 175 after Jones had been put out of the picture, that's the story of Slappys career, over the hill 'names' and laughably bad WBO mandatories.
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The Respect for Joe Calzaghe Thread

safe_pa Howlin' Mad Full Member

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The Respect for Joe Calzaghe Thread

safe_pa Howlin' Mad Full Member

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