Does joe slap to protect his hands or does he just have poor punching technique?

[RAESAAD]

First of all, i ain't a calzaghe hater and im not sexually obsessed with him either ...

Secondly, look at joes older fights, he was never a devastating puncher, but his technique was much better and he threw punches like a boxer should, only recently has he been throwing " slaps " .. i just want to know if people think this is because of the numerous hand injuries, or just down to the fact he cant punch for ****.

The last thing i want to say is everything else calzaghe does, is ****ing amazing, his footwork, speed, accuracy, punch volume, boxing ability and pure athletic ability cant be disputed .. he just punches like a five year old and i think we need to clear it up ...

I think the reason he slaps is because of his speed and rather use it to produce precise solid punches 2,3 or 4 at a time is somewhat skaps but lands 5,6 and 7 in a single flurry. His workrate wins over judges and keeps hte opponent on his heals......whether the punches hurt or not he gets stoppages simply by not giving his opponent a chane to fire back and from an accumilation over a long 12 round fight. Like him or not....what he does works....simple as that. He's 45-0 for christs sakes and has beaten pretty much all the top guys at 168 over the last decade. Roy and him should have fought years ago tho.

[Mike Tyson77]

Has he ever lost a pro fight?????????????

[robjr]

must be that his punching technique sucks... cuz there is no way that would protect yer hands..

[Degsy]

None of the above. Joe slaps because he has a vagina.

This is a very disappointing post and not up to your usual standard; I'm not going to red you for it, its very clear if you bothered to watch his early fights that he could hit quite hard from Amateurs (ask Chris Byrd) onwards; there are very few people that have managed to put Eubank on his arse.

[Kris Silver]

When faced with the evidence of a pro boxer being a the top level for 11 years, having never lost, knocked down Eubank, has some impressive KO's the does visible damage to even later opponents, it's dramatcially unlikely they cannot "punch properly".

A far more evidence based, logical reason is his damaged hands, he does sometimes hit with the palm ok, and does more so at certain times, particularly later in his career, it's clearly to not break his hands in the fight yet again, pretty hard but important thing to avoid doing for a boxer.

The extents some people will go to, to try and justify the previous explanation is quite ridiculous to the point of deserving no credit whatsoever. There's criticising Wales for building him upto something he isn't because of a lack of celebrities, lol, what a ludicrous and desperate comment further showing deep bias, by crediting any ****** point that may help your minority view point.

You then have a comparison of Joe Calzaghe being unbeaten in the SMW division for 11 years, probs the best in the division ever, to the smartest kid with down syndrome. One assumes your not serious but to go to such distasteful, extreme extents just demonstrates desperation in backing up your unlikely bias view point.

Not only because all evidence and odds are highly stacked against such a silly view a top p4p boxer cannot punch. Say he doesn't punch usually, as well as some others at the top maybe ok. But when you say he cannot punch at all, you underline even more your bias, and dismissive attitude of Joe Calzaghe.

[Dynamite Kid]

First of all, i ain't a calzaghe hater and im not sexually obsessed with him either ...

Secondly, look at joes older fights, he was never a devastating puncher, but his technique was much better and he threw punches like a boxer should, only recently has he been throwing " slaps " .. i just want to know if people think this is because of the numerous hand injuries, or just down to the fact he cant punch for ****.

The last thing i want to say is everything else calzaghe does, is ****ing amazing, his footwork, speed, accuracy, punch volume, boxing ability and pure athletic ability cant be disputed .. he just punches like a five year old and i think we need to clear it up ...

Calzaghe has always slapped even when he did'nt have hand trouble watch the Branco Sobot fight directlyl after the Eubank fight it is a masterclass of the girl flurry that he put on Manfredo Jnr

[Vladimir303]

Joe Calzaghe has Carlos Maussa Syndrome. The boy has no rhytm.....it has nothing to do with his fragile hands.

[Drunk Punch]

Well if the consensus is that he slaps... then he's the best damn slapper in the world! Maybe best slapper of all time.

[squealpiggy]

Believe me, there's nothing I've said about Joe I wouldn't say to his face. The dude is a great Super Middleweight, but that's as far as it goes. Being the best Super Middleweight in the history of boxing is like being the smartest kid with Down's syndrome...it's an accomplishment, but not really.

That's absurd. The 168 pound division is currently probably the deepest in boxing and one of the most accomplished. Welterweight and Lightweight has more talent in the top three guys but the average ability at 168 lbs is very high. If you want a weak division look at Junior Mid or Middleweight.

The thing is that Calzaghe throws about a million slaps but out of every two or three "he ain't got no power he throws pitty pat shots" there's one big body shot or hard left hand. Calzaghe is an unorthodox fighter but he's an effective one and he has real power. He used to be known as a big one-punch guy which he isn't any more but he is still a hard puncher through accumulation and he still has the ability to KO with single shots but it's a more risky proposition given his fragile hands.

[Dynamite Kid]

Well if the consensus is that he slaps... then he's the best damn slapper in the world! Maybe best slapper of all time.

i thought the thread was asking does he have bad punching technique did he slap before he had hand trouble not does he punch/slap hard