Calzaghe legacy?

He was champion for 3 defenses and beat some mediocre contenders beforehand, he will get into the HOF but he is no ATG.

Yeah. Untill Kessler returns and whoops Wards ass. :) :lol1:. Well he's in the running, that much is true.

Probable Hall of Famer. Greatest SMW of all time - a title he'll probably hold for another year. Yeah. Untill Kessler returns and whoops Wards ass. :)

Probable Hall of Famer. Greatest SMW of all time - a title he'll probably hold for another year.

All of his fans will gloat that he was the best at 168 and 175. But Ali was the best at Heavyweight, and still fought everyone. And that was an era where everyone punched like a sledgehammer. Calzaghe didn't fight Dawson (a fight he could have easily won). Didn't rematch Hopkins (a fight people wanted to see). Didn't fight Froch (another fight he could have easily won) etc... Than there's the whole "Why didn't he fight Hopkins, Jones, etc when they were all in their primes" thing. An argument that cannot be overlooked. It was an ok legacy that could have easily been much better and much more legendary. But in the years to come, he ain't gonna be shyt (well at least not internationally).

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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 :lol1:). Still HOF most likely, long career campaign at 168.

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.

he's only even relevant or brought up when someone clowns on roy for whatever other reason. he's a meme, a punctuation mark for a cheap joke. that's joe's legacy.

Beat a Faded Eubank in 1997 to get his first belt. Who lost his next two fights and retired. Stayed in Wales for the next 11 years. Along the way facing a very over-rated Lacy in 2006 for his second belt. Lacy was last seen being steam rolled by a faded Jermaine Taylor and shot to bits RJJ. Had his first meaningful fight in 2007 against Mikkel Kessler. Moved up and faced two passed it pensioners who were at the combined age of 83. Sorry, the only people here that rate Joe are people from Wales

Supermiddleweight was a shit division at the time he ruled it anyway, so the point is moot. Guys Calzaghe could've fought but didn't are obviously Johnson, Tarver after he KOd Jones, and Dawson when he was on top. Not saying he wouldn't have won those fights. But he never risked it and his legacy gets criticized because of it.

who at 168 did he not fight????he cleaned out the division man..please educste me if im wrong There you go. At your request.

He should have fought better opposition, he had the talent to beat anyone. He was part of that Warren era where he shielded his fighters from top opposition. We will never know how good he really was. I would have loved to see Calzaghe vs a younger RJJ or even Sven Ottke.

Who the **** is this "Calzaghe" everyone is talking about? Could someone please bring up some of his fights with GREAT fighters in their prime? Hopefully it'll refresh my memory.