Did you like joe calzaghe?

def didnt like him at first...but he grew on me a bit...although his wins over roy and hopkins meant very little to me and did nothing to make me dislike him less

Almost positive that Calzaghe was never P4P #1. Ok. P4p is subjective obviously, but, as I recall it, Boxingscenes Cliff Rold had him at the top when Floyd Maywether retired/was inactive in 2008.

He was superprotected during most of his reign. Imagine how he and Ottke where champions at the same time. Racking up roughly the same number of defenses and yet they failed to meet. That's a damn shame. The thing about Calzaghe is that promotor Warren protected Joe far to much and it wasn't untill Jeff Lacy was dominated that they realized Calzaghe was something special. Lacy was probably Calzaghe's best win considering Kessler fought with a broken hand and entered the ring without sparring. The Hopkins fight was also quite controversial and quite a few (not me) felt Joe got a gift. Roy Jones was just a moneygrab. I first took note of him when he fought on the Nielsen-Tyson undercard in Copenhagen and thought that this was a potential superstar and why the hell was he a hidden object. Oh well. Great fighter though. Was p4p no. 1 a short time. He made it to the IBHOF. Almost positive that Calzaghe was never P4P #1.

Decent fighter. Far from great. Absolutely shocking resume.

I loved Eubank as a kid. Such a unique character and personality, I think he really missed a trick not going over to America after reaching superstar status in the UK, I think he could have became a massive star. Fan friendly style and a great talker- albeit in his own eccentric way. I got a love hate feeling with eubank. I wanted him to beat benn. I wanted Michael Watson to beat eubank. I wanted Calzaghe to beat eubank. But by the end I wanted eubanks to beat everyone like Carl thompson. But I love eubanks now and I never hated him, rather he wasn't my favourite.

He said it If I can find the interview, I will post it. He said it was the heaviest he had been hit and it put him on his back. Ok, yes but I agree with everything you said about earlier in his career he was a hard hitter and I remember that also.

I didn't realize, seen that fight and all so I probably should have. Eubank is an ATG entertainer himself. I loved Eubank as a kid. Such a unique character and personality, I think he really missed a trick not going over to America after reaching superstar status in the UK, I think he could have became a massive star. Fan friendly style and a great talker- albeit in his own eccentric way.

Never a huge fan, he laid the blueprint for holding a belt hostage while avoiding everyone. The list of his title defences is embarassing, Tocker Pudwill, Manfredo etc. For years he claimed he was afraid of flying so wouldn't travel outside the UK. Then miraculously once Hopkins and Jones were past it, he was happy to travel to Vegas to fight them. A decent boxer tho and he had a successful career but i don't really class him as a great fighter because his CV is so abysmal for the amount of time he was boxing. He was in a pretty weak era for SMW as well.

Yes, was my favourite Boxer of the 00s. I got banned off ESB the night he beat Jeff Lacy, I was legit the only person on there who picked him to win. That place was 99% American in them days. Yeah people forget how hyped up Lacy was at the time. Lacy was nearly a 1/2 favourite in UK bookies, was probably even shorter over in the states. I had a few quid on Joe always felt he was capable of beating the very best in the division despite fighting sub-par opposition for so many years.

Never heard eubanks say it was hardest he'd been hit I thought he was more off balance.? but he's been nailed by Benn. He said it If I can find the interview, I will post it. He said it was the heaviest he had been hit and it put him on his back.

Sadly it was down hand injuries, the slapping Here in England he was known as a hard puncher for his first 20 fights or so. He wants something like 18 or 19 of his first 20 fights by KO. Eubank had an iron chin and he said he’d never been hit as hard as when Joe hit him in the first round and dropped him. Sent him across the ring. Sadly his hands deteriorated not long after that and he developed a more slapping style. Never heard eubanks say it was hardest he'd been hit I thought he was more off balance.? but he's been nailed by Benn.

He was superprotected during most of his reign. Imagine how he and Ottke where champions at the same time. Racking up roughly the same number of defenses and yet they failed to meet. That's a damn shame. The thing about Calzaghe is that promotor Warren protected Joe far to much and it wasn't untill Jeff Lacy was dominated that they realized Calzaghe was something special. Lacy was probably Calzaghe's best win considering Kessler fought with a broken hand and entered the ring without sparring. The Hopkins fight was also quite controversial and quite a few (not me) felt Joe got a gift. Roy Jones was just a moneygrab. I first took note of him when he fought on the Nielsen-Tyson undercard in Copenhagen and thought that this was a potential superstar and why the hell was he a hidden object. Oh well. Great fighter though. Was p4p no. 1 a short time. He made it to the IBHOF.

I liked Slappy Joe but if I'm honest what turns most off about Joe...the slappin'...was something I appreciated because there's this olden LHW from the early 30s called Maxie Rosenbloom who'd done very well, but, I an't never actually seen no film of the dude. Maybe now some has surfaced, it'd been a very long time since I've looked. Anyway, Maxie was a ballerina and fought with his gloves open, earned him the nickname Slapsie Maxie. Slappy Joe come out and bam, there you go, best analog for Slapsie has to be Slappy. You can't be like "dat how Maxie fought" but you can at least appreciate what being a slappy prick can bring in boxing and get elements of Maxie out of Joe. Sadly it was down hand injuries, the slapping Here in England he was known as a hard puncher for his first 20 fights or so. He wants something like 18 or 19 of his first 20 fights by KO. Eubank had an iron chin and he said he’d never been hit as hard as when Joe hit him in the first round and dropped him. Sent him across the ring. Sadly his hands deteriorated not long after that and he developed a more slapping style.

I liked watching Joe fight. He made his style work for him and was able to adjust. I think his best fight was against Kessler. A fight that he was losing the first few rounds, he kicked another gear and adjusted to get the win.

Very much so.

Were you a fan of his boxing style and think he was a good boxer? no i was not

I did. shame we never got to see him in big fights in his physical prime and before his hands were shot. We didn’t see his bigger unifications until he was mid 30’s. i always felt he was a great fighter but despite being undefeated and winning world titles etc.. you could still almost say he underachieved by spending his prime fighting guys who couldn’t lace his boots. whether that was his fault or bad management, I don’t know. Hopkins did price himself out years earlier though. He agreed to fight and then come back asking for double.

Yes, good boxer and person. He wasn't a bully. what always confused me was is how he got so good with.just his dad training him? I mean no disrespect to his dad but wasn't he a musician, and when did he get to learn to box to a decent level and train a champion?

Never met him but he was a pretty damned good fighter.

Big big fan of Calzaghe, one of the most entertaining boxers inside the ring. Constant pressure, bewildering his opponents and always seemed to be able to find that next gear if the opponent like Kessler were winning rounds. Always able to step on the gas pedal. It was such a pleasure to watch him box. I wish he had fought Pavlik, but he was super feared at that time and not a big enough name at that particular point. At the end of the day, Joe was a master, and will always be remembered as one of the best.