Prime calzaghe literally bodybags this era of middles and supermiddles

[deathofaclown]

There it is again....that same old lie.

Provide PROOF of Joe punching hard early in his sh8t career.

You obviously know nothing about boxing so it's not worth conversing with you.

As i say, 20 KO's in his first 21 bouts + a retired with a higher KO% than some supposed big hitters.

Anyway, he was definitely a bigger puncher than Ward. Ward and his 15 KO's haha lel. He would have beaten Ward pretty easily, power or no power.

[robertzimmerman]

He wasn't even great in his own era. There's a reason why he's not as famous as other British fighters despite his undefeated record. He ducked James Toney and hid in the UK till Hopkins and RJJ were rusty. Also, he's one of the most unsportsman and hateful boxer I've ever met.

After the Eubank fight (at this stage Eubank was on his way out and well past his prime) he was asked:

Do you feel sorry for Eubank?

NO!

Cuts an old faded RJJ and then taunts him without being able to stop him in the last round, just for the cruelty of it and smug as ever in the post fight interview.

I absolutely loathe him and his stupid feather fisted boxing style. Welsh ****.

I hear you, but he didn't duck James Toney.

[Weltschmerz]

I can agree.. Calzaghe was special and GGG's resume doesn't suggest he'd win.

[robertzimmerman]

I don't mind his arrogance. But I do mind people claiming he was better than he was. He was a good fighter but let's be real. The "slap boxing" was a thing and GGG would have retired him early, Danny Jacobs would have stopped him and Eubank Jr would have swarmed him over 12. Canelo would be too slippery on the counters and the uppercuts would be jacking him all night to a decision.

The only ones I see him feasibly beating would be Saunders, Lee and Cotto.

I didn't like Joe's arrogance, or how he handled his career. I hate how he played the: "I'm a victim of circumstances" card, pretending to the media how he was desperate to fight the best, but they were avoiding him. So I can understand the criticism. But let's be real: He was a very good-great fighter on his day, and he was very awkward to fight.

I love GG, but we haven't even seen him at SMW yet. And as great as he is, he's very easy to hit. Joe was a big southpaw, coming down from 190 pounds. I think Joe's style and work rate would be hell for him. A really bad clash of styles. I would favour Joe until we've seen GG at SMW. A future fight against DeGale may tell us more.

Regarding Jacobs and Eubank, like GG, they haven't even fought at SMW yet, and I'd have favoured Joe with his great speed.

Regarding Canelo, I'm sorry, but that's got to be a joke. It's ridiculous. Canelo is significantly smaller, and he hasn't even fought at MW yet. How on earth could he be favoured over a big southpaw in Joe? Joe's size, speed and work rate would have been an absolute nightmare for Canelo.

Feasibly beating Cotto? Cotto's not even a MW.

[robertzimmerman]

I don't think we ever got to see the best Calzaghe. He was actually pretty heavy handed when he was in his 20's before lots of hand injuries, plus he still had all the speed and everything else. Even Eubank Sr. said the hardest he was ever hit was from Calzaghe in the first round.

It's a shame he wasted those years beating poor opposition. He showed when he stepped up against the likes of an undefeated Kessler that he was the real deal and he was about mid 30's then?

I think he was a great fighter who never really dared to be great. Spent too much time with Frank Warren defending the WBO belt.

I'd pick Calzaghe at his best to beat Ward. He would outwork Ward and i doubt Ward could even hurt a prime Calzaghe to discourage him. His work rate was very high and a feather fisted Ward trying to land counters wouldn't do much. Joe never tired much either, great stamina.

I pick Ward as a greater fighter overall as he was always willing to fight good opposition but head to head, i think Calzaghe would have beaten him.

A fight against Andre would have been great.

A great clash of styles.

Joe struggled with Reid, Bika and Hopkins.

I'd have given Andre a real chance.

[robertzimmerman]

You obviously know nothing about boxing so it's not worth conversing with you.

As i say, 20 KO's in his first 21 bouts + a retired with a higher KO% than some supposed big hitters.

Anyway, he was definitely a bigger puncher than Ward. Ward and his 15 KO's haha lel. He would have beaten Ward pretty easily, power or no power.

Joe could punch when he was younger, but those statistics are very misleading. The majority of those stoppages were accumulative TKO's, and some of them were awful stoppages.

He would never have beaten Andre Ward pretty easily.

[!! Shawn]

I don't think we ever got to see the best Calzaghe. He was actually pretty heavy handed when he was in his 20's before lots of hand injuries, plus he still had all the speed and everything else. Even Eubank Sr. said the hardest he was ever hit was from Calzaghe in the first round.

It's a shame he wasted those years beating poor opposition. He showed when he stepped up against the likes of an undefeated Kessler that he was the real deal and he was about mid 30's then?

I think he was a great fighter who never really dared to be great. Spent too much time with Frank Warren defending the WBO belt.

I'd pick Calzaghe at his best to beat Ward. He would outwork Ward and i doubt Ward could even hurt a prime Calzaghe to discourage him. His work rate was very high and a feather fisted Ward trying to land counters wouldn't do much. Joe never tired much either, great stamina.

I pick Ward as a greater fighter overall as he was always willing to fight good opposition but head to head, i think Calzaghe would have beaten him.

To be fair, there weren't really any other belts available. Sven Ottke, that magnificent champion known so well for taking so many risks held onto two of the belts for most of Joe's 168lb reign.

Its no coincidence that Joes first unification fight came right after Sven lost his titles.

Joe just came along at a bad time where he was unable to garner more belts, and nobody really built a name big enough to elevate him in the weight class until Lacy came along.

[IronDanHamza]

Joe Calzaghe didn't "body bag" anybody.

It wouldn't shock me if Badou Jack beat Joe Calzaghe.

And Jack isn't much better than average.

[robertzimmerman]

To be fair, there weren't really any other belts available. Sven Ottke, that magnificent champion known so well for taking so many risks held onto two of the belts for most of Joe's 168lb reign.

Its no coincidence that Joes first unification fight came right after Sven lost his titles.

Joe just came along at a bad time where he was unable to garner more belts, and nobody really built a name big enough to elevate him in the weight class until Lacy came along.

I agree with you, there weren't any other belts available, and it's a shame he couldn't get the Ottke fight. But the simple solution to that issue was to move up to LHW. Why struggle to make weight in a relatively weak division, knowing that you can't unify, why there's better, more recognisable names in the division above? Joe's walking around weight was around 190 pounds. He could have moved up to LHW at any point.

[Combat Talk Radio]

I didn't like Joe's arrogance, or how he handled his career. I hate how he played the: "I'm a victim of circumstances" card, pretending to the media how he was desperate to fight the best, but they were avoiding him. So I can understand the criticism. But let's be real: He was a very good-great fighter on his day, and he was very awkward to fight.

I love GG, but we haven't even seen him at SMW yet. And as great as he is, he's very easy to hit. Joe was a big southpaw, coming down from 190 pounds. I think Joe's style and work rate would be hell for him. A really bad clash of styles. I would favour Joe until we've seen GG at SMW. A future fight against DeGale may tell us more.

Regarding Jacobs and Eubank, like GG, they haven't even fought at SMW yet, and I'd have favoured Joe with his great speed.

Regarding Canelo, I'm sorry, but that's got to be a joke. It's ridiculous. Canelo is significantly smaller, and he hasn't even fought at MW yet. How on earth could he be favoured over a big southpaw in Joe? Joe's size, speed and work rate would have been an absolute nightmare for Canelo.

Feasibly beating Cotto? Cotto's not even a MW.

Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that Calzaghe was more skilled than what we saw countless times? B-Hop clearly beat him and the world knew it.

Every fight is a slapfest from Calzaghe. I find it mighty funny that people made Joe out to be some legendary great when he open handed most every fight and fought the most dangerous fighters WELL past the sell date.

I mean look at this: