To a large extent I agree with this. Although I think Joe is a great fighter, I do not think he has faced the quality of opposition to be put up there as the best of his era. He is in the pocket not far off with a handful of guys for sure, but I think it is a little bit ludicrous to say he is the best of this era.
100% agree
If Joe Calzaghe beats Roy Jones Jr. on Sept. 20th, then proceeds to beat Kelly Pavlik @ 168, would you then concede that he is a great fighter?
Y.E.S. :boxing:
i feel sorry for calzaghe fans that actually think he was a shot vs roy jones... theres no way calzaghe can beat roy jones unless he was in whales...calzaghe has no idea what he getting him self into... roy might be just another man..but hes a master..
This sounds eerily familiar.
i feel sorry for Tarver fans that actually think he was a shot vs roy jones... theres no way Tarver can beat roy jones unless he was in Tampa...Tarver has no idea what he getting him self into... roy might be just another man..but hes a master
I think JC has a legitimate claim as being the best (this will always be subjective though) MW-LHW of this generation should he beat Jones. Calzaghe, Jones, Hopkins and Toney are clearly the best fighters in this weight range during this generation and having wins over 2 of his 3 contemporaries will be huge along with being undefeated and having a record amount of successful title defenses against many quality opponents that get underrated so as too not give JC credit for the victories.
I see Calzaghe fighting Jones, Pavlik and possibly the Tarver/Dawson winner, unless Joe breaks his hand again. One more hand fracture and I think he will retire for good.
:rofl: so hes better than de la hoya, trinidad, floyd, pac man, morales, barrera, lennox, james toney, kostya tszyu, sweet pea, jcc, holyfield, ike quartey, shane mosley, castillo, corrales, hopkins, roy jones jr........
calzaghes career is from 1993-2008 so by saying that you are suggesting he is better than all these fighters......
disgusting in some ways ...but hilarious you would actually say that he is the best of his era if he beats a washed up roy :haha:
somehow beating two 40+ year olds in a row after 10 years hiding behind a paper belt fighting nobodies qualifies you as great?!
To a large extent I agree with this. Although I think Joe is a great fighter, I do not think he has faced the quality of opposition to be put up there as the best of his era. He is in the pocket not far off with a handful of guys for sure, but I think it is a little bit ludicrous to say he is the best of this era.
Good thread!
Calzaghe haters will never give Joe credit no matter what he does. And they will treat Pavlik with the same contempt they have poor Jeff Lacy, after he loses to Joe.
Some people seem to have a mental barrier blocking them from the truth, which is: Joe Calzaghe is a great fighter. Why is that so hard to accept?
This post is a great example of an idiot.
Most "Calzaghe Haters" just want him to live up to his potential and be honest with himself and the fans about his career choices. Us "Calzaghe Haters" know that when Joe sits down next to Enzo at a press conference and says "I've done what I wanted to do in boxing, I have nothing left to prove" we feel that what Joe can accomplish he hasn't yet attained and doesn't seem to want to work for.
Thats why he keeps flip flopping on his decision to retire, he said himself Jones was shot and the boxing world isn't going to let him get away with his legacy intact if old B-Hop and Jones are what he brings to the table.
I'm glad Joe has decided to keep fighting and is still thinking about calling out Pavlik, he heard the fans and the insiders call for it and he wants to deliver.
I am pretty new to this forum were posters talking about Lacy the same way they are about Pavlik before Calzaghe took him to school ?
If Calzaghe beats RJJ - People will say he was past his best he would never have beaten him in his prime !!!!
If he then comes back down and beats Pavlik - People will say Pavlik was way overhyped !!!!
For the record I think Pavlik is the real deal but I would like to see him fight a Winky Wright/Kessler to see how he comes off ?
Yes, some posters were, but by no means all, just as Pavlik too has his critics. Lacy was a massive favourite for the Calzaghe fight, though in retrospect it is pretty hard to see how this could have been, because Lacy never beat anyone that good and had even looked fairly poor against some of his opposition. There is no doubt that Pavlik is a more proven fighter than lacy ever was. That did not stop, for example, a large majority of the staff of this site picking Lacy to not only beat Calzaghe, but destroy him.
I am pretty new to this forum were posters talking about Lacy the same way they are about Pavlik before Calzaghe took him to school ?
If Calzaghe beats RJJ - People will say he was past his best he would never have beaten him in his prime !!!!
If he then comes back down and beats Pavlik - People will say Pavlik was way overhyped !!!!
For the record I think Pavlik is the real deal but I would like to see him fight a Winky Wright/Kessler to see how he comes off ?
There is no doubt in my mind that if Calzaghe beats Pavlik, then a great many will simply deride Pavlik just like Jeff Lacy. However, posters like this aren't true boxing fans and we shouldn't take them seriously.
There are a lot of good posters here who don't rate Calzaghe for the understandable reason that they don't think he has beaten any top opposition. These posters are wrong about this, but they do genuinely believe it so in that sense their opinion is valid. Failing to give full credit to boxers we are not a fan of (often because of nationality) is endemic in boxing fans and I don't think we should get on our high horse about it too much. In some ways it is natural. I fully expect that posters like this, who there are large numbers of on these boards, to finally give Calzaghe the respect he deserves.
All bias aside, and from a purely boxing perspective, I think that the notion that Calzaghe has to beat Pavlik to become great is ludicrous. Pavlik might turn out to be the best boxer of all time for all I know, but the fact is that right now he is a MW champion with one defence who has beaten good but not great opposition. At the current time he has achieved less than or the same as fighters like Byron Mitchell, Charles Brewer, Robin Reid and even Richie Woodhall, though probably beat better competition in doing so. Pavlik's 'greatness' is mostly predicated on the notion that he will likely do more in the future, which he might well do, but he hasn't done it yet, so if we are honest we can't objectively elevate beating him into some sort of career defining fight for Joe. At the same time though, i do think that beating him would at least to a degree prove that Joe is what his fans say he is, a boxer who is a pretty large cut above even the better fighters around his weight class.
good post badg!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and to answer the original question. I already have respect for Calzaghe as a fighter. If he beats Jones, then Pavlik.. So be it. Again, I respect the guy, I just don't respect some of his goofy ass fans that claim he'll turn a fight with Pavlik into a remix of the Lacy fight. Ball gargling at it's finest.
correctamotherfuckinmundo!
There is no doubt in my mind that if Calzaghe beats Pavlik, then a great many will simply deride Pavlik just like Jeff Lacy. However, posters like this aren't true boxing fans and we shouldn't take them seriously.
There are a lot of good posters here who don't rate Calzaghe for the understandable reason that they don't think he has beaten any top opposition. These posters are wrong about this, but they do genuinely believe it so in that sense their opinion is valid. Failing to give full credit to boxers we are not a fan of (often because of nationality) is endemic in boxing fans and I don't think we should get on our high horse about it too much. In some ways it is natural. I fully expect that posters like this, who there are large numbers of on these boards, to finally give Calzaghe the respect he deserves.
All bias aside, and from a purely boxing perspective, I think that the notion that Calzaghe has to beat Pavlik to become great is ludicrous. Pavlik might turn out to be the best boxer of all time for all I know, but the fact is that right now he is a MW champion with one defence who has beaten good but not great opposition. At the current time he has achieved less than or the same as fighters like Byron Mitchell, Charles Brewer, Robin Reid and even Richie Woodhall, though probably beat better competition in doing so. Pavlik's 'greatness' is mostly predicated on the notion that he will likely do more in the future, which he might well do, but he hasn't done it yet, so if we are honest we can't objectively elevate beating him into some sort of career defining fight for Joe. At the same time though, i do think that beating him would at least to a degree prove that Joe is what his fans say he is, a boxer who is a pretty large cut above even the better fighters around his weight class.
It will be a candidate for mine for sure, although in fairness there are probably hundreds of others saying the same thing, and our sigs are only allowed 500 characters.
If Calzaghe wins I'm considering simply changing mine to "Ha ha ha ha!" or possibly even just "I am surrounded by imbeciles".
HAHA. I feel pretty confident Calzaghe will win a UD. Even though I bet 5k on Jones. I mean, 4 to 1 odds is 4 to 1 odds. I wouldn't pass that up for real money, damn sure not for "e" money.
Well, I think one thing's for sure. If Calzaghe does beat RJJ, this will be one of the most "sig'd" quotes of all time.
It will be a candidate for mine for sure, although in fairness there are probably hundreds of others saying the same thing, and our sigs are only allowed 500 characters.
If Calzaghe wins I'm considering simply changing mine to "Ha ha ha ha!" or possibly even just "I am surrounded by imbeciles".
seriously no. just wrong. so wrong. just cause a guy is from the same place you come from doesn't mean he's the best. your hero fights like a girl. how does that make you feel?
A girl has beaten 45 professional male fighters. How does that make you feel?