How good is Joe Calzaghe?

Joe has had an impressive career. And his resume at first glance is very special. But is Calzaghe really that good? This should be a good discussion... c'mon now... he beat a shot rjj.

what i meant was... ATG

fights the deciding fight, this time against the odds. you could say the Lacy or Kessler fights were that though the Lacy one in particular

when they talk about all the people calzaghe beat the only big names they bring up is lacy, kessler, hopkins and now jones... lacy and kessler haven't beaten anyone big... I don't think beating them makes calzaghe an all time greatest. Hopkins and Roy Jones... Come on now.. you actually think beating guys way outta there primes matter ? if Calzaghe had balls and woulve fought these guys in there prime he'd lose. He barely beat Hopkins...which in my opinion was a draw or Hopkins won. I understand Calzaghe fans are brainwashed by the hype... but calzaghe isn't an all time greatest. He's GOOD. but not ATM.

I'm just asking the question. I'm don't have an opinion on this right now, just interested in what other people have to say.

i'm not convinced that his skills are all that good (very good obviously, but not special), but he has something... his boxing brain, his physical attributes, his heart... and a pretty good record too (despite what certain ignorant people say) he's a great fighter who's had a great career But he will will lose to Chad Dawson :) Yeah gotta give him specially the boxing brain, taking the right fights when the time was right was crucial for JC. I think Hopkins and Jones were specially dumb for doing the exact opposite. With Jones' skills Zaghe would make it into one of the greatest of all times, definitely! Maybe only Ali, Robbinson, Leonard, Foreman and Louis would rival him if he had Roy skills. Because with Roy skills he would have beat prime version of Hopkins (and accordingly have looked to fight him earlier) and everyone else. He would have moved up in weight too. The most specially thing about Joe Calzaghe is his boxing brain and timing. I wonder if Roy suspected he had lost to Joe Calzaghe (in more than 1 way) the moment he agreed to fight him at age 39 and being shot like he was (and i think he knows he is) since 03. I think Dawson would put many new problems to JC like fighting fast and active for 12 rounds. JC wins over Bernard and Jones remind me of Cotto's over Shane Mosley and Zab Judah. The moment Cotto met someone who could fight 12 rounds he was DONE. The difference here is at WW in America you are forced to fight high level competition on regular basis to stay relevant and Cotto had to eventually fight Margarito, while in his prime, whereas Joe Calzaghe managed to get away with fighting his best opponents both past their primes. He is Marciano good in my book and he will be until he fights the deciding fight, this time against the odds.

Joe has had an impressive career. And his resume at first glance is very special. But is Calzaghe really that good? This should be a good discussion... Calzaghe is a very good fighter and has a decent resume. He has proved himself to be one of Britains finest. I do feel though he would have lost to Hopkins and Jones in their primes.

beat an old rjj/b-hop. he would have lost 5-8 years ago, and I'm a bitter cunt. Am not saying he wouldnt have lost but i wouldnt have ruled out a Joe C win even in RJJ's prime..

He was relatively unknown before the Lacy fight (at least outside the UK), but hardcore fans knew of him back then and knew he was good. I never thought he was as good as he is until he totally demolished Lacy (a green fighter who was a champion before his time), tho. I always thought he was good, but not great. He's proven me wrong. I picked Lacy and Kessler and in both fights Joe showed he has the stamina, speed, accuracy, and ability to be one of the best Supermiddleweights and Lightheavyweights of all time (and that list includes RJJ). I don't know if I'd rank him above the roy of 1997-2003, but he's a close second. Calzaghe has nothing left to prove, IMHO, and can retire a happy, unbeaten fighter. Most will call for a Chad Dawson fight, but I don't really think Joe wants to end his career against a young bull (even though I'd pick him to win).

A great fighter. One of the top 3 British of all time in any weight. He career could have been even better, had he not been unlucky with numerous injuries and not milked by Frank Warren early on he could have faced bigger fights earlier. But that takes nothing away from him and what he's doing now. But he has beaten everyone he has boxed and that is all he can do. 46-0. He is an old fashioned fighter. He doesn't have an entourage of yes men and various coachs and experts, he doesn't need that. He has and needs only his dad working his backside off. No rubbish, no flashness just good old solid boxing. He has amazing mental strength and confidence, lots of nerve and bottle and an iron chin. He can take a punch, he has great speed, has proven he can get up off the floor and win. He has great workrate, stamina and an awkward southpaw style that both confuses and causes problems for the other fighter. And he has a very underrated boxing brain and the ability to change tactics during the fight, in fact just fight off his natural instincts and judge how to win that way. It's proven that it works. And one more thing that people miss or overlook - Joe Calzaghe is a killer. He is a quiet man outside the ring but inside he is a killer, he is ruthless.

He beat everyone at Super Middleweight and he beat a couple of big names at light heavy. He fought a lot of mandatories, he fought a lot of former titleholders. His record at Super middleweight is at least as good as Hopkins' record at Middleweight (up until Taylor) and his two fights at light heavy have been successful money fights agsinst the biggest names around the weight.

not a great poll... i would vote for both options if i could

IMO he's proved himself to most, he had me sold on him after the Kessler fight. He has alot of Good fighters on his resume Eubank, Reid, Sheika, Woodhall, Veit, Mitchell, Brewer, Salem, Bika, Lacy, Kessler, Hopkins and RJJ. That's off the top of my head i'm sure I could find some more.

beat an old rjj/b-hop. he would have lost 5-8 years ago, and I'm a bitter cunt.

Ask Roy Jones http://www.hbo.com/boxing/img/events/2008/1108_calzaghe_jones/victory_wh/760x316_6.jpg ohhhhh shit, what a legend!! Speaking of legends how Terry Norris beat the great Sugar Ray Leonard. What a win.

i'm not convinced that his skills are all that good (very good obviously, but not special), but he has something... his boxing brain, his physical attributes, his heart... and a pretty good record too (despite what certain ignorant people say) he's a great fighter who's had a great career

It doesn't matter who you are fighting, to get to 46-0 is impressive. Joe faced his fair share of mandatories in his years as WBO champion, people who had earned their shot. Joe Calzaghe is *probably* the best British fighter to ever lace em up, in the modern age at least.

Ask Roy Jones http://www.hbo.com/boxing/img/events/2008/1108_calzaghe_jones/victory_wh/760x316_6.jpg