Pound for Pound, who was better, Calzaghe or De La Hoya?

[Easy-E]

LOL. Do you guys hounestly think that if De La Hoya was the same size as Joe he would win?

Oscar would gas badly and Joe will beat him to the punch EVERY time.

Have you ever watched a De La Hoya fight when he was in his prime??
He had excellent stamina and great speed and power...

[Clegg]

De la Hoya. He definetley has flaws but the performances against the very best fighters were always high quality. DLH had very fast hands at his best, a great chin and had a power at the lower weights that was very impressive. I think going up to middleweight was a step too far, but that doesn't make him a lesser fighter.

Calzaghe beating old Hopkins wouldn't be that much more of an achievement than when de la Hoya beat old Chavez.

The guy who went up against the best and proved his quality> the guy who looked like he might be great but never really proved it.

[J_CON]

De la Hoya by a long shot.

[Steak]

give me a break. I like Calzaghe, always have, but people forget how good of a career De La Hoya has had. His record BEFORE Welterweight is a match for Calzaghe's record, maybe even better.
Jim Bradhal, Jorge Paez, John Molina, 43-1 Rafael Ruelas, 32-0-1 Genero Hernandez, 30-1-2 Leija, past his prime Chavez, 41-0 Miguel Angel Gonzalez(considered Tszyu's best win, Oscar beat him first)
and Oscar dominated them. there was no controversial fights whasoever in that list.

add that to Oscar's career at 154 and 147lbs+the fact that Oscar actually moved up to those weights classes while starting at lower ones...and Oscar wins by a LOT.

how its possible that 26+ people have voted Calzaghe is kind of...amazing.

[frankpaganini]

well..................................

Oscar De La Hoya.

no doubt in my mind.

[OldSkool]

Unfortunately ther is nothing to discuss here. De La Hoya by a long way

[joecrappy]

What do you mean, pound for pound?

If you are going buy jumping weight classes, it's obviously Oscar.

And if you are going by the better technical fighter, it's still De La Hoya.

Olympic Gold Medalist...Zag couldn't do that in his dreams.

[Thread Stealer]

Have you ever watched a De La Hoya fight when he was in his prime??
He had excellent stamina and great speed and power...

De La Hoya had inconsistent stamina.

He finished strong in some fights like Molina, Quartey, and Whitaker for instance, but tired and didn't finish strong in others. He took a rest due to some fatigue and concern about his eye against Gonzalez and basically stayed away in rounds 10 and 11, but had a good 12th. He fatigued against Trinidad, and both times against Mosley.

The inconsistent stamina is probably due to the fact that Oscar is not the most relaxed guy in there. He seems rather tense. I remember after one fight, him saying he was too tense at times. That tendency probably cost him in some big fights.

[Thread Stealer]

Oscar lost to any prime pound for pound fighter he fought, his stamina has always been questionable and he's a certified crossdresser.

Calzaghe.

But how many prime pound for pound fighters has Calzaghe fought?

The closest is Kessler.

The Fishnet was a better fighter in his prime than Kessler.

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

Its tough cus De La Hoya being Americas sweetheart has faced really well known opposition pretty much throughout his career. And some of those fighters he's beat and lets not forget LOST to are headed rightly or wrongly (because they too hail from the land of the free, and have had the same HBO treatment) for the hall of fame, so in that sense its not much of a debate. Oscar wins hands down.

But Calzaghe has faced adversity throughout his career, injuries and the fact that he's Welsh, not being much of draw for the RJJ's and B-hop's of his prime, he's never likely to be considered in this debate. But I'm not sure the story would have been the same if Calzaghe was American because he is an undeniably more skilled boxer and better athlete, and it has to be said, has a WINNERS determination of the likes Oscar will never have now that he's Golden Boys CEO raking it in from his name and promotions alone.

Its always tough comparing a elite European fighters careers with American/Mexican elites as in terms of P4P greatness they get a head start as they get to capture the minds of millions of americans from early on in their career and get handed the better fights to establish themselves a P4P greats.

There were other foreign fighters of Calz time that moved to America and tried their chances here. They may not have won all the big fights but they had the chance to be big. Calz chose to stay in Wells, so it's hard to say he didn't have the opportunity.