Calzaghe legacy?

[THe TRiNiTY]

Truthfully, he's a very quality fighter that simply needed better competition. He didn't test himself enough in my opinion.

He has a few decent wins, I think that helps his case. He essentially unified the division at 168 and won the only title that matters. Did the same at 175 pounds. He managed to remain undefeated. You have to give him credit for that. However, even if you want to make the claim that the divisions were lackluster, than he should have moved up sooner. Just for the challenge. That's what the best fighters do.

Nonetheless, I think he gets too much credit for some, not enough credit from others.

[Miburo]

Didn't step up soon enough, few elite names near their prime. Did the best he could with who was put in front of him (still should've lost to Hopkins by a point though ). Still HOF most likely, long career campaign at 168.

[adamk1304]

I believe he was a great fighter, but I have to agree that his talent was wasted to some extent, particularly in the period between the Eubank and Lacy fights. He should have left Frank Warren much earlier than he did.

[AnimalToast]

Some people are mad he is rated higher than some Americans.

[Dave Rado]

Originally Posted by mosoofi

Calzaghe claims to be a legend gloating he retired on the top, but to me he wasted his talent. Staying undefeated doesn't neccesarily mean your the greatest. In a 40 odd fight career he fought 5 meaningfull oponents thats all:

B-hop, RJJ, Kessler, Lacy and Eubank. Apart from that the rest were duds.

Very good fighter, but not great in my opinion!

RJJ wasn't a meaningful fight - he was shot. But some of the earlier ones you ignored were, like prime Reid, Brewer and Mitchell. And the Lacy fight was meaningful, despite Lacy falling to pieces after that fight. Coming into the fight, Calzaghe was a huge underdog, and he gave an absolute master-class that night.

Dominating even a very weak division for as long as he did is no mean feat. Most ATGs had bad nights and lost to inferior fighters - Lewis lost to McCall and Rahman, Duran lost to Kirklaind Laing - but Calzaghe didn't lose over a long career, despite fighting for most of some of his fights with a broken hand, and being seriously de-motivated for others. His resume up to the Lacy fight was comparable to Hopkins' resume up to the Trinidad fight. Hopkins has a much better resume than Calzaghe from that point on, but people are always saying how many defences Hopkins had at Middleweight, even though Trinidad was the first defence he had ever had against an elite fighter.

Calzaghe is not a legend except in purely British terms. In purely British terms he's top 5 of all time. In world terms he's a borderline ATG (which means he'll be ranked around 100 in the ATG lists), but he will be ranked much lower than BHop and Jones.

Cliff Rold, who is one of the most respected boxing historians, ranks him as an ATG - see here.

[daggum]

Originally Posted by Dave Rado

RJJ wasn't a meaningful fight - he was shot. But some of the earlier ones you ignored were, like prime Reid, Brewer and Mitchell. And the Lacy fight was meaningful, despite Lacy falling to pieces after that fight. Coming into the fight, Calzaghe was a huge underdog, and he gave an absolute master-class that night.

Dominating even a very weak division for as long as he did is no mean feat. Most ATGs had bad nights and lost to inferior fighters - Lewis lost to McCall and Rahman, Duran lost to Kirklaind Laing - but Calzaghe didn't lose over a long career, despite fighting for most of some of his fights with a broken hand, and being seriously de-motivated for others. His resume up to the Lacy fight was comparable to Hopkins' resume up to the Trinidad fight. Hopkins has a much better resume than Calzaghe from that point on, but people are always saying how many defences Hopkins had at Middleweight, even though Trinidad was the first defence he had ever had against an elite fighter.

Calzaghe is not a legend except in purely British terms. In purely British terms he's top 5 of all time. In world terms he's a borderline ATG (which means he'll be ranked around 100 in the ATG lists), but he will be ranked much lower than BHop and Jones.

Cliff Rold, who is one of the most respected boxing historians, ranks him as an ATG - see here.

lacy was not a huge favorite at all. i know a lot of people like to say that but it's not true. he was a slight favorite at best depending on the place you bet. calzaghe was a slight favorite at some places as well. oh well i guess it just sounds better to say he was a huge underdog. just like it sounds better to say he was a huge puncher when in reality he can't punch his way out of a wet paper bag.

[BattlingNelson]

Originally Posted by daggum

lacy was not a huge favorite at all. i know a lot of people like to say that but it's not true. he was a slight favorite at best depending on the place you bet. calzaghe was a slight favorite at some places as well. oh well i guess it just sounds better to say he was a huge underdog. just like it sounds better to say he was a huge puncher when in reality he can't punch his way out of a wet paper bag.

Hey Daggum. Who do you think won. Hopkins or Calzaghe?

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Originally Posted by daggum

lacy was not a huge favorite at all. i know a lot of people like to say that but it's not true. he was a slight favorite at best depending on the place you bet. calzaghe was a slight favorite at some places as well. oh well i guess it just sounds better to say he was a huge underdog. just like it sounds better to say he was a huge puncher when in reality he can't punch his way out of a wet paper bag.

He was a clear favourite in America and not just with the bookies. You can kinda excuse that cos often they arent on the pulse. They had Trinidad and Pavlik as huge favourites over Hopkins. But when the majority of yank boxing writers and experts pick Lacy to desytroy Joe, its quite sad.

[bojangles1987]

He did the same thing B-Hop did, stay in a division and destroy it. He is the greatest super middleweight ever, and deserves his respect for being so.

[the niggest]

Calzaghe doesn't have a legacy outside of the UK.