Let's look at Joe Calzaghe's supposed "greatness"!

[Boxing Bob]

I'm not gonna say FIX! FIX! But some of those KO's on that piece look really fishy. Just sayin.

[DeepSleep]

People want to say Calzaghe has a great undefeated record, GREATEST SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT EVER right? Well I took a look at the ring magazines top 10 super middleweights since 1997 when Joe first became a top super middleweight by beating a 31 Chris Eubank who arguably wasn't even a top fighter anymore. It was for a vacant title.

Feel free to check my research for yourself. Here. Just go down and check the annual rankings of the year.

1998: Joes ranked #2.
Fought: Branko Sobot(unranked), Juan Ferreyra(unranked)

1999: Joes ranked #2
Fought: Robin Reid(ranked #9, NEVER REMATCHED after controversial win), Rick Thornberry(unranked),

2000: Ranked #2
Fought: David Starie(unranked), Omar Shieka(unranked), Richie Woodhall(unranked)

2001: Ranked #2
Fought: Mario Viet(unranked), Will McIntyre(unranked)

2002: Ranked #1 because Svettes challengers got worse then Joes..
Fought: Charles Brewer(ranked #6), Miguel Jimenez(unranked), Tocker Pudwill(unranked)

2003: Ranked #1
Fought: Bryon Mitchell(ranked #6)

2004: Ranked #1
Fought: Mger Mkrtchyan(unranked), Kabery Salem(unranked)

2005: Ranked #1
Fought: Mario Viet(unranked rematch), Evans Ashira(unranked)

2006: ranked #1
Fought: Jeff Lacey(#3), Sakio Bika(unranked)

2007: Ranked #1
Fought: Peter Manfredo(unranked), Mikkel Kessler(#2)

2008: Moved to Light Heavyweight
Fought: Bernard Hopkins(#1), Roy Jones Jr(unranked seriously shot legend)

So were saying somebody who fought 5 top 10 ranked opponents in 21 defenses when he was ranked 1 or 2, and only 2 of them were top 5, is an ATG? 5 years of his prime were against unranked opponents.

Hopkins is his best win who was in his 40's. It's still a great win because of what Hopkins just did but Hopkins didn't have the speed he once had. Obviously lost a step, gave Joe the fight of his life and arguably beat him on technique alone. Then Joe never rematched to settle the score once and for all.

Instead he fought Roy Jones who was out of his prime after he got KO'd by Johnson. He was seriously shot, no speed or reflexes anymore, came off a win against shot blown up Trinidad.

So LMAO, is this really what you want to call ATG?

The Truth ^^^.

The sad thing is as ugly as his technique was he did have talent and could have been a memorable fighter. Instead he chickened out and will be a footnote in history, which makes it all the more frustrating.

Their is no excuse for constantly avoiding the top fighters.

[StarshipTrooper]

don't leave the history section, brother
you sound like a good chap and your input will be appreciated as it's evident that you have a wealth of boxing knowledge


i'd also like to add that lacy was an olympian
with 209-12 am record. national championship in there as well in a non- olympic year

i can put such information into the pot without hugging lacy's nuts until candy comes out. i'm simply stating facts.

in fact, me putting those facts out there says absolutely nothing about my opinions on the fighter

That's MIB by the way.....he's usually in the lounge pwning the hell out of PB32 :grin9:

Poet

[CarlosG815]

The Truth ^^^.

The sad thing is as ugly as his technique was he did have talent and could have been a memorable fighter. Instead he chickened out and will be a footnote in history, which makes it all the more frustrating.

Their is no excuse for constantly avoiding the top fighters.

Do you know who the girl in your avatar is, or did you just find it somewhere online?

[New England]

That's MIB by the way.....he's usually in the lounge pwning the hell out of PB32 :grin9:

Poet

lol
the lounge gives me the creeps

[Joeyzagz]

Do you know who the girl in your avatar is, or did you just find it somewhere online?

That girl is 14 you sick ****. But I guess thats par for the course from a Tyson fan.

It takes an extreme discipline to achieve a perfect record like Calzaghe has. It requires not raping girls and engaging in fixed matches(Dempsey) I can understand why you hate Calzaghe.

[Jim Jeffries]

Calzaghe will probably go to the Hall of Fame but anyone touting him as some top 100 fighter or something probably isn't very bright.

Not really. When there are four beltholders who typically hold it down and you've got market splits, top five guys are hard to come by. Guys like Mitchell and Woodhall and Reid could all have been in that range and in some cases were a hair off. It doesn't change much. Calzaghe's resume strength is in being top heavy and consistent. It's weakness is in being part of a split title era and reigning in between good eras at Super Middle generally. Hopkins had a similar problem in his reign prior to the tourney at 160. Hopkins's resume has exploded in awesomeness at Light Heavy, doubling the quality wins on his record.

It's one reason why Hopkins will likely end up regarded inside the top 30 fighters of all time and Calzaghe will end up somewhere low in a top 100 or just outside in a nod to his cleaning out a class.

Both great fighters. Both will be integral to all-time debates (one across board, the other in a class). They are the ultimate example of varying degrees of greatness inside even a single era.

You gonna take that Cliff?

[CarlosG815]

That girl is 14 you sick ****. But I guess thats par for the course from a Tyson fan.

It takes an extreme discipline to achieve a perfect record like Calzaghe has. It requires not raping girls and engaging in fixed matches(Dempsey) I can understand why you hate Calzaghe.

Actually that girl dated a friend of mine, I know who she is which is why I am curious how he got that photo. She is 24 years old. She is 10 years older than what you guessed, which is about how many years removed most of Calzaghes opposition was from their prime.

Nice try Zags, but once again you are a buffoon and a fool.

And one way to ensure nobody takes you seriously is to defame a legitimate ATG and boxing icon like Dempsey just to make yourself feel better about a phony like Joe Calzaghe.

[crold1]

You gonna take that Cliff?

LOL...I like IMDAZED...we can disagree on who is the range of 80-100 (or just misses the 100 cut). When I actually do a top 100, we'll see where he lands.

[Darkstar]

I dont think anybody claims the Calzaghe is top 25 of all time. Like all fighters, in some area, he left something to be desired. The main knock against Calzaghe seems to be competition fought. While it wasnt perfect, it wasnt that bad. He went undefeated, was lineal champion in two divisions, all while using a active, action style that earned him a 70% KO rate.

Interesting enough the main names he "should have fought", he ended up fighting anyway, and won. After cleaning out contenders, the main guys around his weight were always Benard Hopkins and Roy Jones. In the case of the Hopkins fight, when they finally did fight, it was just as big of a fight(if not bigger) and just as a legit of a fight, then it would have been before. Both men now being in the P4P top 5. Little know fact, Calzaghe wanted Hopkins in 2002-2003 and made a large offer to fight. Hopkins turned it down.

"We have to get Joe to America and the right fight is Bernard Hopkins," said Showtime boxing chief Jay Larkin.
"Hopkins turned down a lot of money from us to fight Calzaghe last year, but after what Joe did to Mitchell we can up the ante and offer more."

Hopkins turned down an offer of £3m to face Calzaghe last year, and since his last significant fight - against Felix Trinidad in 2001 - his financial demands have blown lucrative bouts with Roy Jones Jr and James Toney.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/3030004.stm

Dont know what else Calzaghe could have done in that situation really. A £3m offer and was willing to travel to America to give Hopkins the advantage.

All in all, I agree with where most of the boxing historians rank Calzaghe. Bert Sugar, boxing memories, the Bleacher Report etc., all have him ranked in the top 100. Usually somewhere around 90-100 of the best ever.