Was Joe Calzaghe a small super middleweight?

Anybody who isn't fat and walking around at 196 at 5'11" is pretty damn big.

 

Of course not.

He could have been a career LHW if he'd have wanted.

 

Why would Roy have dropped to SMW to fight Joe? Joe had done nothing until Lacy. He was a relatively unknown fighter in a different division, holding a belt that wasn't respected or even rated by the likes of the Ring magazine. Joe conned himself in a way. Because he was a great fighter. But look at his opposition from Eubank-Lacy. Look at all of the WBO title fights, most of which weren't even mandatories. He was too good to be fighting those guys.

The reason he gets hate, is due to his huge ego, his numerous contradictions, and his hardcore fans, some of whom will try to tell you that he always wanted the biggest fights out there, but wasn't able to land them.

 

Is he not allowed an ego? The guy was a unified world champion and number one in his division. What is it with people hating boxers with an ego? He's not flashy or crass. He was confident. The whole attitude towards sports people by the general public is laughable.

He said after the lacy fight he was now going to hopefully get the big fights he had always wanted, which he then did. What makes you think he could've got the big fights before? Can you post links of when him/his team ducked big fighters?

 

Could you post link to said interview? It would seem more likely that he didn't move up because he was a campaigning SMW looking for a unification fight.

I was joking about RJJ moving down. I don't think boxers are obliged to switch weights unlike you obviously

 

It was from an interview with The Mirror

"I'm not chasing after Roy Jones. Be honest, Roy Jones is a good fighter and I don't want tough fights"

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Boxing:+I'm+lord+of+the+Welsh+rings+says+Calzaghe.-a060444934

 

And this guy actually has fans.

 

Here's another one from 2003

"I could probably give Jones a tough fight, probably the best fight he's ever had," said Calzaghe. "But I know my capabilities and unless I got paid the crown jewels I wouldn't want to risk it."

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/i-am-the-best-says-honest-joe-6352495.html

 

Spit in the face of the fans.

 

And here's what Calzaghe said about Jones once he finally did pick up the courage to fight him, once Jones was shot to pieces of course.

"He had also spent the Jones build-up watching footage of Jones' glory years, when he was at his peak, on You Tube

Connor was sobbing 'dad, he is amazing' and I tried to reassure him 'don't worry son, Jones isn't that good anymore."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/9164514.stm

This was also after Calzaghe had said in his autobiography that Jones was finished and fighting him would be pointless.

 

What's also amazing is that some people will still argue about Calzaghe being capable of beating prime Jones, when we have it straight from horses mouth that Joe himself didn't fancy his chances.

Only a total cretin would be a Calzaghe fan.

 

Joe never said Jones would beat him.
He said it would be a tough fight. It would've been.

He also said he'd fight him if the money was right.

Its hardly a duck.

Hopkins demanding too much money to fight Joe was a duck.
Speaking of ducking. Jones ducked 2 people during his prime. Collins and DM who both would have derailed his hype train long ago.

 

So lets summarize.

"I'm not chasing after Roy Jones. I don't want tough fights"

"I could probably give Jones a tough fight. But I know my capabilities. I wouldn't want to risk it"

Which in the mind of Calzaghe fans translates to him wanting to fight Jones and being capable of beating him

 

So basically Calzaghe was a big SMW but killed himself to stay at the weight so he didn't have to run risk of facing Roy Jones as he knew (along with anyone with a understanding of boxing) that he would get outclassed, beat up and knocked out.

 

He said himself he felt stronger up at LHW.