thoughts on calzaghe?

very good boxer,agile with a great motor

Great fighter but not a great because he never dared or had the drive to be great, or maybe he was a bit mismanaged earlier in his career too. Shame really, he showed he was a really top fighter on the rare occasions he fought good fighters like undefeated Kessler. I think he could’ve and would’ve beaten a lot of top guys, almost all of them, but it means nothing unless you actually do it. It’s quite strange really, he was a 2 weight champ, retired 46-0 and you could still actually say he underachieved in some ways. We probably never even got to see the best of Calzaghe either. He was already mid 30’s with shot hands when he fought the likes of Kessler. He spent his prime beating fringe contenders.

His resume feels kinda Rocky Marciano-ish in that the biggest name guys came in his last fights when they were old/past prime. He does got some nicer & wider distribution of wins & its hard to argue with a guy who's got ANY names on his record that never took an L & boxed til he was past prime too doe so fair play to him. I guess as a US guy in a less UK-centric era it was hard to follow Joe to have a lot of respect for his accomplishments. If I was more in tune with UK boxing back then I think I'd probably have a better opinion of Joe. Yeah his resume is underwhelming, but he still beat some solid guys that he doesn't get credit for. He beat Richie Woodhall who was a solid former champ, Byron Mitchell beat Sven Ottke but didn't get the decision, he was a bit like Randall Bailey I would say, solid fighter could punch like a mule but a bit limited. Eubank past prime was solid considering JC inexperience at the time...but those are all still c-level wins, I guess you could say at least he destroyed them. His best wins came when he himself was maybe past best. Lacy, Bika, Kessler, Hopkins, Jones...apart from Hopkins which could have gone either way, again they were all clear and pretty one sided...its a shame he wasnt in som me more testing fights. Glen Johnson, Tarver, Jermain Taylor would have all been nice

Im not giving no credit for that BS Jones Jr win though. Its comical how Calzaghe fans try to milk that shyt. Everyone knows Prime Roy wuda mopped the floor with Joe lol Eh Jones wasnt completely gone but he certainly wasn't at his peak at that point.

He was a brilliant fighter and in my opinion only prime RJJ would have beaten him. I would take joe to beat Ward on points. His win against Eubank is underrated and he also beat a prime Kessler comfortably after changing his gameplan early in the fight. His win against Hopkins was another very good win. The Lacy fight was a masterclass.

Who's chin is atg between them Wat point are tryna make

Im not giving no credit for that BS Jones Jr win though. Its comical how Calzaghe fans try to milk that shyt. Everyone knows Prime Roy wuda mopped the floor with Joe lol Who's chin is atg between them

The greatest 168 lbs Super middleweight champion of all-time. However, obviously not an all-time great because of a weak resume and a lack of opposition.

The greatest 168 lbs Super middleweight champion of all-time.

Im not giving no credit for that BS Jones Jr win though. Its comical how Calzaghe fans try to milk that shyt. Everyone knows Prime Roy wuda mopped the floor with Joe lol Yea that win means nothing.

He is clearly one of the best 68pders, but ATG? Maybe if your counting the top 100.

He beat a BHop still at his peak ability wise. He was the Ring and lineal champ at LHW at the time. It was a great win for Calzaghe. Im not giving no credit for that BS Jones Jr win though. Its comical how Calzaghe fans try to milk that shyt. Everyone knows Prime Roy wuda mopped the floor with Joe lol

Based on this thread, overrated.

One of the greatest and most beautiful boxers to ever live.

Looking at what Hopkins did afterwards Joe deserves more credit for that win. Imo He beat a BHop still at his peak ability wise. He was the Ring and lineal champ at LHW at the time. It was a great win for Calzaghe.

Best 168er in my opinion. Reckon he edges Ward as Kovalev won their first fight by 2 points (in my opinion) so I can see Calzaghe finding a way to get the win. I think he's an ATG as he's a level above most Hall of Famers. Hopkins skipped 168 entirely so I'm not having anybody claim BHop would beat him at 168. Calzaghe doesn't get enough credit for beating Bhop at 175. Bhop was like 43 but had just beaten Tarver for Ring 175lbs title and then defended against Winky. Calzaghe beat Bhop, who over the next 6 years went on to; beat Pavlik at 170, draw and beat Jean Pascal, lose to Chad Dawson, beat undefeated Tavoris Cloud, unified against Shumenov before losing to Krusher Kovalev. Any one of those names would add further to Calzaghe's legacy had he stuck around. Bhop was the best at 175 (excepting Dawson) between Calzaghe's retirement and the rise of Kovalev/Ward/Stevenson.

Looking at what Hopkins did afterwards Joe deserves more credit for that win. Imo

He was unbeaten. He beat BH. BH lost 8 times. But BH is considered greater. Think about that for a while.

He was a fantastic fighter, a personal favourite. Too many iffy title defenses for my liking but in terms of ability there weren't many that superceded him. His hand speed was great as was his chin, that gas tank could last him days too. His tactical versatility was the best bar none when he was active. He could completely switch up his gameplan round by round and do it effectively. He was pretty exciting even when he was only decisioning people. Just a fighter I really appreciate. He had his limitations but he worked around them so well, he put on some complete masterclasses.

He's much better than his resume suggests. He beat solid names during his career but waited too long for the marquee fights.