When was Calzaghe's prime?

Thanks, yeah the brewer performance was very exciting and very good. Hopkins was absolutely pheonominal in his early 30's also but most of his big fights came in his mid to late 30's like joe. Think roy jones made a good point about joe, as most people in the past critiscised calzaghe's resume, but it isn't always about who you beat but how you beat them. He didn't just beat lacy and kessler, and many other decent names on his resume he beat them with style and almost always very one sided.

2006-2007, imo.

Yea I saw a slight decline in the Kessler fight too.....still a great performance though and further decline on Saturday. We'll never see another Lacy performance! As for Joe's peak, he was superb against Brewer too.

I have actually followed joe's career for a long time, I personally believe his prime was actually missed, I think like most fighters it was his early 30's in terms of combination of speed power and experience. It just happens that this was a time when he went through major injury problems with his back and hands and had many potential fights (twice with glen johnson) called off. As well as this it coincided with his divorce with his wife, who apparently absolutely cleaned him out financially. So I think we may have seen the back end of his prime against lacy as he was fresh and hadn't been very active. But I honestly think calzaghe in his early 30's would have stopped lacy in 9-10 rnds. I saw a slight decline in speed in the kessler fight but like other great fighters he has adapted his style. Thats my take on it Everything you say makes sense. No reason for Cal to be any different than anybody else. Good post. ________ Gay arab

I have actually followed joe's career for a long time, I personally believe his prime was actually missed, I think like most fighters it was his early 30's in terms of combination of speed power and experience. It just happens that this was a time when he went through major injury problems with his back and hands and had many potential fights (twice with glen johnson) called off. As well as this it coincided with his divorce with his wife, who apparently absolutely cleaned him out financially. So I think we may have seen the back end of his prime against lacy as he was fresh and hadn't been very active. But I honestly think calzaghe in his early 30's would have stopped lacy in 9-10 rnds. I saw a slight decline in speed in the kessler fight but like other great fighters he has adapted his style. Thats my take on it

People were afraid of his punches then, and that makes a difference in a fight. Joe had 19 KOs in the first two rounds, including several against undefeated fighters, but none since Bryan Mitchell in 2003. Tell me Blackirish, do you not like Joe Calzaghe for some reason? If so, what do you have against him? Ive always liked Calzaghe, and he was one of the first people I followed when I started getting into boxing. This is a worthwhile question, isnt it? Also, I think its very possible for Calzaghe to have had two primes. In terms of skills and speed, it feels like its clearly around the Kessler and Lacy times. but in terms of him as a puncher, it might be him around a different time...in just another style. good thinkin yall. but overall, I still kind of stick with him around the Kessler fight. cause think of it this way...back in the day, Winky Wright was actually a pretty big puncher, and had a higher workrate...but the 33ish Wright that didnt have a lot of power was clearly the more effective fighter. sometimes, fighters substitute their power for speed and defence, and it works out better for them. is that a fair comparison?

It's hard. Personally I think that Calzaghe that was knocking over the Mger Mgertchians, Mario Veits and the like would beat the Calzaghe of today, he even had hand issues then but he could still bang and his overall game was pretty much the same as now. He had more power he might have been slightly more reckless but he had significant pop, perhaps that was why. He was a puncher. I'm a massive JC fan but I am surprised that his power has declined this much. Yeh its hard i gues but the jc with power is his prime because of his age also.

It's hard. Personally I think that Calzaghe that was knocking over the Mger Mgertchians, Mario Veits and the like would beat the Calzaghe of today, he even had hand issues then but he could still bang and his overall game was pretty much the same as now. He had more power he might have been slightly more reckless but he had significant pop, perhaps that was why. He was a puncher. I'm a massive JC fan but I am surprised that his power has declined this much.

I's a hard question to answer. Probably his prime was the Lacy/ Kessler era, but it might be that it goes back further because he didn't really have a really tough fight for a while before that. Then you have to consider that this is a guy who beat Chris Eubank while very young, and the fight was a huge step up in class. Eubank wasn't shot, as you will see if you watch the fight. He also had other good performances and wins around that time too. It was the middle years that were fallow. I actually think the Joe that fought Eubank would give todays Joe plenty of problems. Same chin, perhaps even greater heart, faster, mor energy but plenty of power. I'd love to see it. Who knows? Maybe Joe was prime from then until now. Maybe he had two primes. It's so hard to say. Two primes isn't actually as odd as it sounds. I know JC lost interest in fighting at one point and was only doing it for the money, and during that time he didn't look too good. He regained interest, thankfully, and then became brilliant again.

I's a hard question to answer. Probably his prime was the Lacy/ Kessler era, but it might be that it goes back further because he didn't really have a really tough fight for a while before that. Then you have to consider that this is a guy who beat Chris Eubank while very young, and the fight was a huge step up in class. Eubank wasn't shot, as you will see if you watch the fight. He also had other good performances and wins around that time too. It was the middle years that were fallow. I actually think the Joe that fought Eubank would give todays Joe plenty of problems. Same chin, perhaps even greater heart, faster, mor energy but plenty of power. I'd love to see it. Who knows? Maybe Joe was prime from then until now. Maybe he had two primes. It's so hard to say. ________ AMATEUR XXX TUBE

Can people please remember he was boxing since he was 7 Age nine, actually.

The Bika fight.

His prime was the eubank fight in terms of power but his new style is very gd protects his hands but hes a lighter puncher now. The only difference is the calzaghe now cant blow people away at all so he realise on his skill,speed and technique but make no mistake his prime wasnt lacey it was more determination and skill in that fight then anything. Can people please remember he was boxing since he was 7 so his prime to come at the age of 34 is pretty stupid.

A lot of people seem to talk about JCs lack of punch power now compared to his younger days. What i have also noticed is JC never mentions that he doesnt punch as hard now compared to when he was younger because of his bad hands! On stepping up to light heavy he said he would be punching harder than ever.

easily the eubank fight. he had more speed than he has now and LOADS more power as he had yet to injure his hand. he was also quite smart in the ring, certainly smarter than he looked against BHOP

so hes not too far from his prime then...only about a year removed, at most. I just have a hard time believing that a more prime Calzaghe was the one that fought Mitchell or Reid, like some people have been saying...cause just because he hit harder doesnt mean he was better. It's impossible to gauge Calzaghe from the Reid performance, he was not only injured (elbow) but attempting to recover from food poisoning, or so the story goes. No, for me, his prime in terms of speed, movement, and straight up smartness, was around 2006. He could have beaten anyone the night he fought Lacy.

so hes not too far from his prime then...only about a year removed, at most. I just have a hard time believing that a more prime Calzaghe was the one that fought Mitchell or Reid, like some people have been saying...cause just because he hit harder doesnt mean he was better.

He's hasn't been a dangerous puncher for several years now. The first fight I noticed any serious decline in Joe's speed was the fight with Hopkins. Watch the Lacy fight, then the Hopkins fight - notice the difference? It happens to most fighters in their mid-thirties. There can be a serious decline between age 34 and age 36 with most athletes. With most boxers speed goes before power, but with Joe it's been the opposite, because of his hand injuries. He was lighter for the Lacy fight though. The heavier weight coupled with the difficult style of Hopkins could have made him look significantly slower. If I was Joe I'd head back to 168 for the final fight. Which leads me to Jones. He is a cheeky bitch for asking for 2 fights, one in Wales, the other in America. Roy doesn't seem to understand that the boot is on the other foot now. Calzaghe calls the shots and Roy will never in a million years get 2 fights out of Joe right before retirement.

Prime = 2006, the Lacy beatdown era. As for his punching power, he lost it a few years before that, maybe 2004, 2005.

I agree, his prime was about a year ago. Lacy and Kessler were brilliant performances. The only thing is he had more power before, with fragile hands and heading into late thirties, he's slipping slowly, and is right to have one more fight. He said himself in an interview with a mens mag in the UK, Calzaghe now, would whoop Calzaghe 5 years ago. He's exaggerating but right. I think he's always had it in him to raise him game. Early example being Eubank. I just wish the doc's could sort his hands out, if he got back to knock out power again, he really would be untouchable.