I think its somewhat of a compliment to Calzaghe that he is disliked by Americans so much that whenever someone he beat up is beaten he's discredited for it. I am not anti-American boxers, Hopkins is one of my favourite fighters, also I'm not a particularly patriotic fan, eg I dislike Froch, Haye, Khan and Hatton. BUT why is it that this forum lights up with the name Calzaghe whenever anything could possibly be linked to him? Look, the guy beat Lacy, Kessler, BHop, bla bla bla, but so what? Yes, he could have fought better guys in the US sooner. At the end of the day he was a great fighter, and he deserves his place in the HOF, albeit he could have been much higher if he had fought and beat tougher opposition earlier in his career. So I can see both points of view, but it seems that no one else can... are boxing fans really so single minded? Styles make fights, Kessler was badly beaten, but who knows, he might the **** out of Abraham and Taylor n suddenly hes great again. I wouldnt bet on that happening, but really.. who knows? But this blind patriotism that comes out of both Europeans and Americans on here is stupid as ****, Chad Dawson is p4p#1 and Calzaghe is a nobody, just ridiculous extremeties that people come out with which are embarrassing. If Calzaghe was American he would be god over there, if Chad Dawson was British he'd be the dog's bollocks. All based on nations, utter shite.
Nah. As in all areas of society you have your good guys and ******s. ESB does seem to attract more than it's fair share of immature pricks mind.
Yes, and he lost. Didn't you hear? Ward schooled him. Or perhaps we should call him by his real name, Andre Jones Mayweather Ward.
Top post mate. Unfortunately it's too level-headed and balanced. So I'm afraid this thread will sink like a stone.
Well, it's a knee jerk reaction sure, but it's Joe's own damn fault. He has five meaningful names on his resume. Eubank, Lacy, Kessler, Hopkins, and Jones. His fans will argue this point, but it is essentially the truth. Three of those names were clearly past prime. To Joe's credit, he absolutely destroyed prime Lacy to the point that he was never the same again. Hopkins was a close, ugly fight that should have been rematched. Jones is a win that will look better as long as Roy continues this late career renaissance. Kessler was a really important part of Joe's legacy, and he was almost made to look like he didn't belong in the ring last night. People have the right to ask the obvious question. IMO Joe deserves respect as an ATG, but it becomes clearer all the time that his resume truly sucked.
You have to seperate the boxing fans from the cheerleaders. It is easy to get caught up in the USA - Europe thing though cause there are twats on both sides
Yea I agree with this. I think there has to be a balance to how bad Kessler really was then n how good Lacy was. But compare this situation to Hopkins... no one will ever question him, me included in that, but he was beaten by Jermaine Taylor!!! But with him being American his flawless reputation remains completely intact.
There are way more threads about Americans not loving Clazaghe enough than there are threads of people hating him. I've been around the boxing boards since about 02; you should have seen the threads on Hatton; everyone who didn't think he could beat Duran and Hearns was a biased hater lol
Before this fight, Calzaghe was a very good fighter. After Ward beat Kessler, Calzaghe is still a very good fighter. He was never a "great" fighter, and most knowledgeable fans knew even before this fight that his legacy was over-rated because he never lost his 0. Kessler, along with Hopkins is considered Calzaghe's career defining win. Now we know that styles makes fights and just because Ward beat Kessler more convincingly than Calzaghe (I haven't seen the fight yet but assuming that Ward's performance was as good as people say) doesn't mean that Ward beats Calzaghe. What it does do though is make you think that maybe Kessler wasn't as good as made out? What is so special about Kessler that makes Calzaghe's victory over him so good? Hell, one major reason why Kessler is as well known as he is, is because of Calzaghe. This is supposed to be the best or second best win of Calzaghe's career? That is not what a "great" fighter's resume looks like. The major reason his legacy is rated so highly is because of that 0. He was very good, and if he came out of retirement now, he'd still whoop ass and embarass a lot of fighters such as Carl Froch, but you can't deny that apart from being undefeated, his resume is not spectacular. This is not the same thing as saying he didn't have the tools to become a great fighter either. To be considered a great you have to prove it. When Kessler is one of your best wins, it looks pretty poor compared to the true "great" fighters of this era. And yes there are a lot of Calzaghe threads around after last night but there were a lot of Kessler threads by Calzaghe fans on here who couldn't shut up about how Kessler will win this tournament, how that will enhance JC's legacy, how it will prove his greatness etc. I bet some of the people complaining that Ward/Kessler doesn't mean anything are the same ones who said that everytime Kessler wins it enhances Calzaghe's legacy.
