When was Calzaghe's prime?

[FRKO]

so hes not too far from his prime then...only about a year removed, at most.

I just have a hard time believing that a more prime Calzaghe was the one that fought Mitchell or Reid, like some people have been saying...cause just because he hit harder doesnt mean he was better.

It's impossible to gauge Calzaghe from the Reid performance, he was not only injured (elbow) but attempting to recover from food poisoning, or so the story goes. No, for me, his prime in terms of speed, movement, and straight up smartness, was around 2006. He could have beaten anyone the night he fought Lacy.

[hemichromis]

easily the eubank fight. he had more speed than he has now and LOADS more power as he had yet to injure his hand. he was also quite smart in the ring, certainly smarter than he looked against BHOP

[hugh grant]

A lot of people seem to talk about JCs lack of punch power now compared to his younger days. What i have also noticed is JC never mentions that he doesnt punch as hard now compared to when he was younger because of his bad hands!

On stepping up to light heavy he said he would be punching harder than ever.

[sterling]

His prime was the eubank fight in terms of power but his new style is very gd protects his hands but hes a lighter puncher now.
The only difference is the calzaghe now cant blow people away at all so he realise on his skill,speed and technique but make no mistake his prime wasnt lacey it was more determination and skill in that fight then anything.
Can people please remember he was boxing since he was 7 so his prime to come at the age of 34 is pretty ******.

[hardmanbrit]

The Bika fight.

[abadger]

I's a hard question to answer. Probably his prime was the Lacy/ Kessler era, but it might be that it goes back further because he didn't really have a really tough fight for a while before that.

Then you have to consider that this is a guy who beat Chris Eubank while very young, and the fight was a huge step up in class. Eubank wasn't shot, as you will see if you watch the fight. He also had other good performances and wins around that time too. It was the middle years that were fallow.

I actually think the Joe that fought Eubank would give todays Joe plenty of problems. Same chin, perhaps even greater heart, faster, mor energy but plenty of power. I'd love to see it.

Who knows? Maybe Joe was prime from then until now. Maybe he had two primes. It's so hard to say.
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AMATEUR XXX TUBE

[sparked_85]

It's hard.

Personally I think that Calzaghe that was knocking over the Mger Mgertchians, Mario Veits and the like would beat the Calzaghe of today, he even had hand issues then but he could still **** and his overall game was pretty much the same as now. He had more power he might have been slightly more reckless but he had significant pop, perhaps that was why. He was a puncher.

I'm a massive JC fan but I am surprised that his power has declined this much.

[sterling]

It's hard.

Personally I think that Calzaghe that was knocking over the Mger Mgertchians, Mario Veits and the like would beat the Calzaghe of today, he even had hand issues then but he could still **** and his overall game was pretty much the same as now. He had more power he might have been slightly more reckless but he had significant pop, perhaps that was why. He was a puncher.

I'm a massive JC fan but I am surprised that his power has declined this much.

Yeh its hard i gues but the jc with power is his prime because of his age also.

[Steak]

People were afraid of his punches then, and that makes a difference in a fight.

Joe had 19 KOs in the first two rounds, including several against undefeated fighters, but none since Bryan Mitchell in 2003.

Tell me Blackirish, do you not like Joe Calzaghe for some reason? If so, what do you have against him?

Ive always liked Calzaghe, and he was one of the first people I followed when I started getting into boxing.
This is a worthwhile question, isnt it?

Also, I think its very possible for Calzaghe to have had two primes. In terms of skills and speed, it feels like its clearly around the Kessler and Lacy times. but in terms of him as a puncher, it might be him around a different time...in just another style. good thinkin yall.

but overall, I still kind of stick with him around the Kessler fight. cause think of it this way...back in the day, Winky Wright was actually a pretty big puncher, and had a higher workrate...but the 33ish Wright that didnt have a lot of power was clearly the more effective fighter. sometimes, fighters substitute their power for speed and defence, and it works out better for them.

is that a fair comparison?

[sunny31]

I have actually followed joe's career for a long time, I personally believe his prime was actually missed, I think like most fighters it was his early 30's in terms of combination of speed power and experience. It just happens that this was a time when he went through major injury problems with his back and hands and had many potential fights (twice with glen johnson) called off.

As well as this it coincided with his divorce with his wife, who apparently absolutely cleaned him out financially. So I think we may have seen the back end of his prime against lacy as he was fresh and hadn't been very active. But I honestly think calzaghe in his early 30's would have stopped lacy in 9-10 rnds. I saw a slight decline in speed in the kessler fight but like other great fighters he has adapted his style.

Thats my take on it