Benn was stopped by Watson before his prime. Eubank stopped a prime but weight drained Benn. At Super Middle he beat Eubank, he beat McLellan, he beat everyone until his heart , body and soul was broken in the Mclellan fight. Robin Reid gave JC fits, if that had been Nigel Benn bouncing the right hands off him, JC would have been out.
You see thats where real knowlege allows real boxing fans to be critical of Calzaghe in a plausible way. To suggest Benn peaked between those fights is absolutely laughable and your suggestion he did based on a glimpse at his ledger illustrates the kind of low knowlege fan you are. Against Watson it was his inability to pace himself and lack of smarts that saw him play right into the experianced Watsons hands. And likewise against Eubank he also ran out of steam. Benn peaked in and around the Mclellon, Eubank (2- they fought twice- check boxrec kid) and Wharton. It was a point that his natural assets and his ring experience complimented each other perfectly. Any knowlegable fan knows that. While we're on the subject when would you say Calzaghe peaked? The truth is, he didn't really. His legacy is based on his consistancy and intelligent match making. He was consistantly an 8/10 performer and that 8/10 was enought to beat the 7/10 guys and the rest who were some what lower then that. Benns peak lasted a much shorter period of time but h2h the Mclellon bout demonstrated that Benn was a more capable performer and he may have peaked at 9/10 overall. Your obviously a little bit daft so you might not get what i'm saying but lets put it this way: If I throw a ball once and it goes 100 feet and the rest of the times it goes 60. And you throw a ball consistantly at 70. H2H I can throw the ball further. Hope this helps. :thumbsup
Calzaghe. Wheres the debate? If it was 'Who do you prefer, or who brought more excitement?' then its Benn.
If you judge success on stats yes its JC, if you judge it on winning big fights against big names then its Benn. JOnes and Hopkins were old and well past their best. Lacey and Kessler are the next best. That does not equal Barkley, McClellan, Eubank ( twice ) Watson, De Witt, Sims, Malinga , Wharton it just doesn't. Who did JC beat that Benn could not have beaten ? Benn fought people like Sanderline Williams and Robbie Sims in non title fights, they were better than the majority of JCs challengers. If you can't answer that, with the same match making Benns record would be the same. Benn won world titles abroad, defended them abroad. Its not a given that either man would win, but i would favour Benn.
People like the ones your arguing with don't know who sims and williams were riggers all they know is hbo and 46 and 0
1. Ranked on Resume, Achievements and H2H ability and skillset then it's Calzaghe. **** Jones. Hop is still a great fighter and that win trumps Benns best(Gman)IMO. And that was in America aswell and not the UK like Benn-Gman(Which apparently means a lot here). Kessler beats the Draw with Eubank. After that it's pretty close. Barkley,Dewitt,Sims,Wharton,Malinga and Williams against Lacy,Bika,Brewer,Mitchell,Reid,Eubank,Woodhall,Jones and Sheika. 2. Hopkins and Kessler. 97 Eubank would have been another close fight. Bika would have given Benn just as many problems, if not more than Malinga did in 92. A few others would have been tough for Benn stylistically, but I would go for Nigel at his best. 3. I dont understand your point. Calzaghe's own best win wasnt one of his challengers. 4. No it wouldnt have been. Benn couldnt have sustained his best over those 11 years because of his style. he would pick up losses, like he actually did, that he shoudnt have done. 5. Benn's a great champ, my 3rd favourite of all time, and in a match-up at 168 against Joe,prime for prime i think he would give Joe fits at the start with his agression and power, but If i had to put my house on an outcome it would be Calzaghe UD. But thats not what the Thread Starter was asking, he was asking who was the greatest out of the two, and thats Calzaghe. He will crack a Top 100 of all Time and Benn wont.
All i got from that was confirmation that you're a complete dickhead. U cant seem to post in a non condescending way or without dropping insults... Anyway you're flogging a dead horse trying to convince people Benn was a 'greater' fighter than Calzaghe.