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While Zag's resume is filled w/ a wealth of elite fighters... regardless of stance, right?
/sarcasm
You can debate and suggest Calzaghe is really good, you like his cum, and you'd bear his children.... But never bring up his resume as it will generally result in you being laughed at.Comment
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Faster, smarter, stronger, more accurate, better boxing....pretty much everything.
Hopkins was a savage in the ring. I'm tired of people that likely have seen little to no old school hopkins fights judge the man based on his performances at age 40+ (Taylor (40), Tarver (41), Wright (42), Calzaghe (43)). All of these fights were past his prime.Comment
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It's a shame B-Hop gambled like he did with Taylor and Joe. It makes for an interesting story when his career is reflected upon by experts though. If he had just fought Taylor at a higher weight where he could've sustained a higher work rate, and if he got at Calzaghe before getting old during that fight he has a ridiculous P4P legacy. It's going to eat at him that he missed out on those 2 accolades because of miscalculation on his physical condition in both cases.Comment
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How do you determine any of these? I'd say prime for prime Hopkins had arguably faster hand speed. He didn't throw a wealth of combinations and flurries as Joe does/did, but that doesn't make him slower.
How does Calzaghe have more power than Hopkins? Neither held gigantic 1-punch power, but outside of a few crazed nuthuggers I'm not sure who would agree with you on that nonsense.
Zag has more stamina? Hopkins stamina while younger was ridiculous. You're living in the present way too much if you're trying to talk about primes.Comment
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calzaghe did NOT have more power and it's laughable that he had more stamina than hopkins, someone who trained like a machine year round and in all 55 fights didn't get tired a single round until he was 42 and 43, against Wright and Calzaghe he got tired.
Smarter, yes, hopkins is a guy that studied his opponents very well and made a career on his ring smarts, whereas calzaghe's career long game plan was to go by instincts and make adjustments as the fight went on. Joe never studied any films of his opponents or very little if he did.
I will give you speed for calzaghe just for ****s & giggles even though I think hopkins hand speed was faster in his prime, he never had the high workrate of calzaghe but that doesn't make calzaghe faster by any means.
Anyways, I'm cool w/arguing with you any further about this, your name is on the top of the "calzaghe nutthugging list" that was made several weeks back. Further, there was a thread made shortly after their fight about who would win prime vs prime and the majority picked hopkins, so I'm not in the minority in my way of thinking.Last edited by ИATAS; 05-17-2008, 04:39 PM.Comment
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I think posting and reading this forum has had me and many other Calzaghe fans here half convinced that Joe Calzaghe doesn't measure up to the US holy trinity of Roy Jones Jr, James Toney and Bernard Hopkins.
Well guess what, I've been watching a load of fights featuring all four of these fighters over the last couple of days, and that opinion is bull****. Joe Calzaghe is a match for those three in every way shape and form.
Prime for prime he would defeat all three of them. I am tired of kowtowing to the majority opinion on here and compromising my own reading of these fighters games.
I heartily suggest to those of you who dismiss Calzaghe to go away and watch some of his fights again, and subject his game to the same kind of analysis you give to your favourites. I suggest the Kessler fight. Calzaghe posseses speed and unpredictability only marginally inferior to Jones, his power is fine, his chin incredible, he is incredible at adjusting, excellent defensively and can box, brawl and counterpunch.
Prime for prime he would KO Jones, decision Hopkins and IMO absolutely own James Toney, who would have absolutely no answer to Calzaghe's work rate.
You can start calling me delusional, but I have just realised that I am not. The only delusional thing I have been doing is ignoring the evidence of my own eyes and trying to make my observations fit in with the predominantly US opinion on these boards. I'm not doing it anymore.Comment
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One of the problems with thinking Calzaghe could have beat the greats like Jones, Hopkins and Toney in their primes is that Calzaghe hasn't fought any greats in their primes so there is no real measurement there. Now don't lynch me here because I don't blame Joe, I think his handlers did a poor job of doing what it takes to get big names earlier on.
Kessler, Jeff lacy and Hopkins are the biggest wins for Joe imo, lacy being the most impressive of the three.
Kessler was a great, great win, but kessler is not a all time great (he could become one, but as of now, he has not proved himself to be close to being one). Hopkins was 43 and Jeff Lacy, again imo calzaghe's best performance of his career.
Hopkins, Jones and Toney have all fought, and beaten, hall of famers and legends.Comment
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