Is Hatton One of the Top 30 Fighters of the Last Decade?

[Guest]

The n word comes from the old Greek word "niger" meaning dark. The word became a racial slur when the spelling changed and it took on a condescending, derogatory meaning. Similarly, the word "limey" had innocent enough beginnings, but came into later use as a derogatory and insulting term.

I don't get why everything comes down to prejudice with you. The fact is British boxing is a joke because Frank Warren runs the show. No one will deny that. That's why Calzaghe's resume is pitiful. I respect Calzaghe's boxing skills, but not his resume.

Hatton fought nothing but handpicked opponents (even Tsyzu) his entire time with Warren. Even after leaving Warren they handpicked Maussa and Urango, but I give him credit for taking on Collazo and now Castillo, though I think he should be fighting better fighters.

Amir Khan is being brought up the same way as Hatton and Calzaghe. Warren wouldn't put Maccarinelli in with Haye.

It has nothing to do with nationality. It has to do with what they've done and how people like yourself overvalue what they've done...

[me2007]

a Mayweather fan talking about handpicked opponents..bwuahahha

[Steelhammer86]

The fact is British boxing is a joke because Frank Warren runs the show. No one will deny that. That's why Calzaghe's resume is pitiful. I respect Calzaghe's boxing skills, but not his resume.
Hatton fought nothing but handpicked opponents (even Tsyzu) his entire time with Warren.
Amir Khan is being brought up the same way as Hatton and Calzaghe. Warren wouldn't put Maccarinelli in with Haye.

But take a closer look at boxing matchups everwhere, there's opponents being "handpicked" for almost everyone. I agree with you on one thing though - Manfredo was a poor choice for a Calzaghe opponent (since we all knew the outcome beforehand, what was the point of having that fight?) But I see the same thing with Calvin Brock's and Hasim Rahman's next mismatches. American boxers like JD Chapman and Kelly Pavlik have built their records on a steady diet of tomato cans. It's a problem in all of boxing, and it reduces the popularity of our sport.

[Left2body]

But take a closer look at boxing matchups everwhere, there's opponents being "handpicked" for almost everyone. I agree with you on one thing though - Manfredo was a poor choice for a Calzaghe opponent (since we all knew the outcome beforehand, what was the point of having that fight?) But I see the same thing with Calvin Brock's and Hasim Rahman's next mismatches. American boxers like JD Chapman and Kelly Pavlik have built their records on a steady diet of tomato cans. It's a problem in all of boxing, and it reduces the popularity of our sport.

You can't compare Pavlik or many other fighters because Calz is 35yrs old. I agree with S$N in that I believe Calz is extremely talented but his resume really sucks. He should've had much bigger fights by this stage in his career.

We have all been HIGHLY critical towards RJJ for his resume, and he fought JT, Hopkins when they were undefeated. Why should we not be critical of Calz for only having Lacey on his resume? Calz should not get a free pass just because we dont want to hurt British feelings.

[.Mik.]

We have all been HIGHLY critical towards RJJ for his resume, and he fought JT, Hopkins when they were undefeated. Why should we not be critical of Calz for only having Lacey on his resume? Calz should not get a free pass just because we dont want to hurt British feelings.

RJJ still gets mentioned as being one of the absolute best boxers of all time though. Calzaghe doesnt and he hasnt been knocked spark out twice yet.

[Left2body]

RJJ still gets mentioned as being one of the absolute best boxers of all time though. Calzaghe doesnt and he hasnt been knocked spark out twice yet.

I dont think anyone mentions him as an ATG but a great fighter yes. RJJ didn't fight enough of the top guys to be considered ATG. However he still had much better resume than Calz.

The KO's of RJJ are not nearly as significant because of the point at which they happend in his career. It was while fighting 2 divisions up from where he started and after coming back down from heavy weight.

The same way SRL's, Durans or Ali's careers marred by losses they had at the tail end of there careers.

But the fact remains RJJ will forever be criticized for not fighting many top MW's and SMW's. This is even more true fro Calz.

[Steelhammer86]

The IBO boxing website has some interesting statistics that help shed some light on the quality of boxers opponents. The have statistics for each boxer against "top 50" ranked opponents.

These numbers imply that Roy Jones Jr does not deserve the criticism he's received, because he's defeated more "top 50" ranked opponents - 32 - than any other active fighter. James Toney has 29 wins against "top 50" opponents.

Record against boxers ranked in the top 50:

Mayweather 22-0
Calzaghe 22-0
Hatton 19-0
Wladimir K 14-3
Shannon Briggs 2-3 (worst of any titleholder)

I'm not saying this is a foolproof way of determining the quality of opponents each fighter has faced, but it does shed some light on certain people's records.

[Left2body]

The IBO boxing website has some interesting statistics that help shed some light on the quality of boxers opponents. The have statistics for each boxer against "top 50" ranked opponents.

These numbers imply that Roy Jones Jr does not deserve the criticism he's received, because he's defeated more "top 50" ranked opponents - 32 - than anyone else.

Record against boxers ranked in the top 50:

Mayweather 22-0
Calzaghe 22-0
Hatton 19-0
Wladimir K 14-3
Shannon Briggs 2-3 (worst of any titleholder)

I'm not saying this is a foolproof way of determining the quality of opponents each fighter has faced, but it does shed some light on certain people's records.

I wasn't talking about deserve or not. I'm simply showing that an AMERICAN fighter still gets criticized and that just because Calz is British it doesn't exempt him from resume criticisim.

Oh and BTW RJJ criticisim is not because he doesn't have a good resume. RJJ has an excellent resume. His critics concentrate more on the opponents he didn't fight.

[Technical_Skill]

RJJ still gets mentioned as being one of the absolute best boxers of all time though. Calzaghe doesnt and he hasnt been knocked spark out twice yet.

Calzaghe never won Olympic Sliver (gold really)

Won titles from 160 to 200+ Lbs

Beat hopkins and Toney, two other greats

Never lost a round of boxing for about 2 years

[Dimebar]

Both Jones and Calzaghe have terrific resumes and (unlike Eubank) fought everyone there was to fight with the exceptions of tall southpaws like Nunn and Liles who weren't worth it and the German's who wouldn't leave Germany.