The Sonata Of The Italian Dragon: The Improvisational Virtuosity Of Signore Calzaghe.

I bow to thee

 

Super Joe is The GOAT Super Middleweight. 46 men tried and 46 got humbled. Especially Hopkins

Haters will continue to hate this all time great.

 

Calzaghe whips Ward's ass.

 

Whose it by? Please don't tell me that weirdo Herol. The guy is obsessed which is why I banned him.

 

And then gets a split decision despite landing a record amount of leather on Andre.

 

Andre might be able to negate Joe's speed but he needs a very leninent ref to do a more successful Bika

 

Just days after the man's birthday. The disrespect! And the man's too fattened up and brittle-handed in his middle age to do a proper Deontay Wilder style "hunt down the internet troll and bash him up" job. Where I come from that's called taking liberties.

 

Calzaghe was one of the very best, we don't see many fighters like him.............

 

No question marks?

for a brilliant thread dissecting a forgotten ATG.

 

Watched the Reid fight yesterday, one his most competitive bouts.. had it 8-4 Calzaghe. Started off well, middle rounds Reid gave him food for thought, hard fought 11th round (great round in fact for both men!) & a clear 12th for Joe sealing it..

Wouldn't grumble at 7-5 tho., Reid couldn't miss with the right hand that night, interesting performance from Joe, a lower output from him & a fight in which he was mostly choosing to gun it out with Reid, set his feet more, less mobile.. when he was using footwork, lateral movement & working behind the jab he was boxing Reid's head off but Calzaghe had a tendency for machismon& it played into the strong, physical Reid's hands somewhat..

Most fighters seem to come across a guy who most view as a lesser fighter but somehow manage to push them so it's not a slur on Joe that he was pushed here.. especially considering Reid that night was juiced to high heaven & a dirty fker (tactically) too..

it was a bit similar to the Bhop fight (more of an enjoyable watch tho) I suppose, messy, made harder work than it should have been at points but always found a way to adjust & to win.

 

All time great, greatest ever at 168. Also h2h at 175 he is no slouch either

 

I was a huge calzaghe fan back in the day though I was very late to the dance as i didn't see him fight until he got on HBO outside of highlights of the lacy fight since I didn't have sho

I used to see his name on boxrec much like Sergio Martinez and think this guys got a great record but I've never seen him fight and he doesnt get much attention here.

The Kessler fight was amazing and he just took it to another level. I give him plenty of credit for Hopkins. Yes he was above his best weight and over 40 but he still had a solid run in front of him. I do think Taylor won both fights convincingly though hopkins had Taylor in more trouble down the stretch of the first fight than he ever had calzaghe in

What impressed me about the Hopkins win was how he handled Hopkins physical style and how he didnt back down. Bernard had a way of taking the play away from his opponents and forcing a fight on his terms. If Hopkins got rough inside so did joe. If Hopkins tied up joe pushed and punched. He did not let Hopkins spoil him. Not a pretty fight not a fun fight but he did what he had to

I remember having the bika fight on one of my vhs tapes of fights and it didn't get a lot of revisits

 

Hopkins was probably done at the weight against Taylor.