Why Joe Calzaghe's Career is a Joke

[pfcwintergreen]

There were fights at 160, 168 and 175, why didn't Calzaghe move up instead of getting gift decisions against smaller fighters like Reid?

There were good fighters and there were great fighters, good fighters like Liles, Nunn, Hill, Darius, Tiozzo AND great fighters like Jones Jr, Toney, Hopkins (When he wasn't 44), McCallum.

Benn and Eubank were available that they were far past their best losing to average fighters, only the Eubank fight happened which according to calzaghe was his toughest fight. RJJ and Toney moved up, something that calzaghe never did, how tough huh?

So you are calling Calzaghe a joke for dominating only 1 division. Your standard for non-"joke" boxers is truly herculean...its so absurdly demanding that its actually comical in itself.

In your little mind there must be a two little bins in which you place all active boxers, one (capacity 3) for "God-Like Legends" and one (unlimited capacity) for "Jokes".

[.Mik.]

So you are calling Calzaghe a joke for dominating only 1 division. Your standard for non-"joke" boxers is truly herculean...its so absurdly demanding that its actually comical in itself.

In your little mind there must be a two little bins in which you place all active boxers, one (capacity 3) for "God-Like Legends" and one (unlimited capacity) for "Jokes".

Some sense.

I have no problem with the guy not believing that Calzaghe deserves a place as a top 10 of all time, maybe even top 50 although I'd argue that he was. My issue has been with this horrid use of the word 'joke'. I tried to get him to name 3 crap fighters who Calzaghe has been defeated by...thus rendering his career a joke. Yet my standards for being a 'joke' are no less, nor more restrictive than his for being 'great'.

[abadger]

Some sense.

I have no problem with the guy not believing that Calzaghe deserves a place as a top 10 of all time, maybe even top 50 although I'd argue that he was. My issue has been with this horrid use of the word 'joke'. I tried to get him to name 3 crap fighters who Calzaghe has been defeated by...thus rendering his career a joke. Yet my standards for being a 'joke' are no less, nor more restrictive than his for being 'great'.

I saw that post, it entertained me, because it was true.

You know though, we really should stop posting in this guy's threads.

[DeepSleep]

Why do people need to take such extremes with Calzaghe. Calzaghe is not a bum. Anyone who can beat Hopkins is not a bum. Also say what you want the guy wins his fights. Problem is he fought horrible competition in his backyard his whole career. The competition is partly his fault, but to be honest there isn't a huge colection of talent at 168. Calzaghe is a good fighter but is a class below the other greats in similar weight classes ex.(Hopkins, Jones Jr., Hagler, M.Spinks etc). The main issue most people have with Calzaghe is he hid from the other Super Middle Weights until a low risk fight was available then pounced instead of taking on much more difficult challengers. Good boxers defend WBO belts not all time greats.

[them_apples]

Calzaghe is definitely not a bum, but I half heartedly agree with this post..his 0-45 record is somewhat of a joke, almost all those fights were against mediocre opposition.

I still props him for beating a 43 year old Bernard, although over the hill..was still a tough mother...

I probably would have routed for Hopkins if he was younger..since he was sort of winning untill he ran out of gas.

I think Calzaghe should face Pavlik just to clear things up and show that he can fight a less - over the hill fighter. Jones is to old, he will lose.

[.Mik.]

Why do people need to take such extremes with Calzaghe. Calzaghe is not a bum. Anyone who can beat Hopkins is not a bum. Also say what you want the guy wins his fights. Problem is he fought horrible competition in his backyard his whole career. The competition is partly his fault, but to be honest there isn't a huge colection of talent at 168. Calzaghe is a good fighter but is a class below the other greats in similar weight classes ex.(Hopkins, Jones Jr., Hagler, M.Spinks etc). The main issue most people have with Calzaghe is he hid from the other Super Middle Weights until a low risk fight was available then pounced instead of taking on much more difficult challengers. Good boxers defend WBO belts not all time greats.

Calzaghe is definitely not a bum, but I half heartedly agree with this post..his 0-45 record is somewhat of a joke, almost all those fights were against mediocre opposition.

I still props him for beating a 43 year old Bernard, although over the hill..was still a tough mother...

I probably would have routed for Hopkins if he was younger..since he was sort of winning untill he ran out of gas.

I think Calzaghe should face Pavlik just to clear things up and show that he can fight a less - over the hill fighter. Jones is to old, he will lose.

See...this is the problem guys. Almost his whole career (with a few indefensible exceptions), Calzaghe has fought mandatories and top 10 guys in his division (but for early fights obviously)...these arent 'mediocre' fighters, nor are they 'joke' fighters. To be a champion thats what you've got to do. The fights against top guys and other champions like Eubank, Lacy, Kessler and Hopkins dont come around all the time. Hence why very few people have more than a few of these fights on their resume. Just because these guys are unknown in America, doesnt mean that they arent top guys in Europe. America's 'contenders' are no greater than Europe's 'contenders', just because you lot of heard of them. People like Veit are B-list fighters, but thats if you consider anyone down from 'Champion' to be a B-list fighter. And if you do, lots of the American contenders you wanted Calzaghe to face are also B-List fighters.

How many truly top guys at the correct weight class have Hopkins or Jones fought? Chances are that out of the 4 or 5 that you can like, a couple have beaten them (Taylor, Tarver, Johnson...Jones, Calzaghe). Yes, I'd say that they have each fought maybe one or two more high-level opponents than Calzaghe. But they both have 3 or 4 more losses on their record than Calzaghe too, one with a loss TO Calzaghe. And before anyone criticises the likes of Kessler, ask yourself what odds you would give Kessler against Taylor, or Johnson, or Tarver...cos I think that it'd be a pickem.

[abadger]

See...this is the problem guys. Almost his whole career (with a few indefensible exceptions), Calzaghe has fought mandatories and top 10 guys in his division (but for early fights obviously)...these arent 'mediocre' fighters, nor are they 'joke' fighters. To be a champion thats what you've got to do. The fights against top guys and other champions like Eubank, Lacy, Kessler and Hopkins dont come around all the time. Hence why very few people have more than a few of these fights on their resume. Just because these guys are unknown in America, doesnt mean that they arent top guys in Europe. America's 'contenders' are no greater than Europe's 'contenders', just because you lot of heard of them. People like Veit are B-list fighters, but thats if you consider anyone down from 'Champion' to be a B-list fighter. And if you do, lots of the American contenders you wanted Calzaghe to face are also B-List fighters.

How many truly top guys at the correct weight class have Hopkins or Jones fought? Chances are that out of the 4 or 5 that you can like, a couple have beaten them (Taylor, Tarver, Johnson...Jones, Calzaghe). Yes, I'd say that they have each fought maybe one or two more high-level opponents than Calzaghe. But they both have 3 or 4 more losses on their record than Calzaghe too, one with a loss TO Calzaghe. And before anyone criticises the likes of Kessler, ask yourself what odds you would give Kessler against Taylor, or Johnson, or Tarver...cos I think that it'd be a pickem.

Excellent post. One of the best I've seen on this subject.

[CardioMonster]

The main issue most people have with Calzaghe is he hid from the other Super Middle Weights until a low risk fight was available then pounced instead of taking on much more difficult challengers. Good boxers defend WBO belts not all time greats.

Who exactly did he hide from and when?

[1g5a22]

like this one..

[C.Y.]

Turned pro in 1993

Went 22-0 against mediocre opposition and in 1997 faced a Shot eubank who way past his best after his wars with nigel benn and watson (twice each) and Eubank lost to Collins twice before those fights showed he was shot to pieces. Calzaghe won the vacant WBO (Warren Boxing Organisation) Title in the process beating a shot Eubank claiming till this day "It was one the toughest fights of my career".

Then Calzaghe went on facing bums to pad his record and in the process faced 2 or 3 mandatories in his whole career.

two fights after the Eubank bout he faced Robin Reid, who wasnt rated at all back then, and didnt win ONE significant fight, Reid's biggest win was against Hacine Cherifi a guy who got KO'd by a Welterweight Trinidad and feather fisted Felix Sturm. Not to mention Reid struggled against this guy...Calzaghe got a GIFT decision against Reid, No way in ****ing black hell Calzaghe won more than 4 rounds in that fight, he used a injured hand as an excuse, those people who watched this fight can tell you Reid won it but was robbed, ill upload it on youtube and post it here soon.

After getting the gift decision against Reid, Calzaghe was 26-0 and fought bums of the month till he was 40-0, thats 14 opponents to pad calzaghe record in the process, most people picked lacy to beat him because a 40-0 calzaghe who has been boxing for 13 years was known to be one of the most protected fighters as in 13 years he hadnt done **** in boxing except defend against hand picked opponents while defending his Warren Boxing Organisation belt. He was pretty much an unknown, He beat Lacy who was overhyped to the max, Lacy IMO lost to Omar Sheikha, and his biggest was before that was probably the same **** fighter in Reid who calzaghe got a gift against. So stay at home calzaghe after padding his record to the most and beating a fighter who biggest win was a shot **** reid. Now the best win was against Kessler, and Kessler's biggest win is Anthony Mundine, Yes unfortunately this is the same Anthony Mundine who is a victim of the feather fisted Sven Ottke's 5 KO's. Its sad to see that kessler is his best win when kessler hasnt done **** yet and is considering retirement.

The best name on his resume is Bernard Hopkins, who calzaghe got knocked down against and struggled to beat, I mean it was a 44 year old senior citizen past his prime Bernard Hopkins and Calzaghe struggled to beat him, thats another gift. Unfortunately this wasn't the bernard who was more aggresive, threw more punches, and had some power, yet he still dropped Calzaghe.

Bare in mind Calzaghe also got hurt against nobodies called Byron Mitchell and Kabary Salem.

So to sum it up Calzaghe's career is pretty much a joke and he padded his record, Warren is more to blame as he protected his fighter, I mean a guy is pro since 1993 and you havent heard of him until he beats Lacy in 2006, thats 13 years, defenses against bums while protecting the WBO belt, and maybe 2 or 3 mandatories. Cherry picking at its finest...

I know the truth will hurt his fans but in a few years from when calzaghe retires it will be the way it is...a joke of a career

i thought he lost to bhop