Your Take On Joe Calzaghe's Fight Game?

[Kris Silver]

Agree with most of the above. Only points I'd add is can you really say he's not capable of hard punches, he is. He hurt Lacy's face, and hurt Kessler in one round, he admitted it himself. Also, he was capable of more power awhile back, and most agreed he had real KO power, to KD Eubank in 1 Round when a big hitter Benn couldn't over several fights speaks for itself, and Eubank backed it up. Even today Calzaghe's capable of more power, it's his brittle hands that determine how hard he can hit without hurting himself more i.e breaking em as he has before, not his arms.

Other key attributes for me would be his boxing brain, ring generalship. He is a warrior in there, very clever, has the skills to out box, out smart, and mix his tactics up. Something you don't see that often to such a degree.

Who can beat him at SMW, no one, without a shadow of a doubt. Who can beat him at LHW, in terms of actually favouring someone against him, no one. I think Johnson would come closest, gave RJJ trouble and would Calzaghes style. I'd give Calzage 55-45 against Johnson. Tarver and Dawson 60-40, RJJ not far behind.

[RichCCFC]

He has many unique gifts which make him a great fighter. Amazing speed, work rate, chin, heart and boxing brain.

His technique is poor but what if you was a fighter who relied on a great punch to win fights and all of a sudden your brittle hands wouldn't let you do that? He has found a new way of winning without putting much power into his shots and that should be appreciated.

[abadger]

Agree with most of the above. Only points I'd add is can you really say he's not capable of hard punches, he is. He hurt Lacy's face, and hurt Kessler in one round, he admitted it himself. Also, he was capable of more power awhile back, and most agreed he had real KO power, to KD Eubank in 1 Round when a big hitter Benn couldn't over several fights speaks for itself, and Eubank backed it up. Even today Calzaghe's capable of more power, it's his brittle hands that determine how hard he can hit without hurting himself more i.e breaking em as he has before, not his arms.

Other key attributes for me would be his boxing brain, ring generalship. He is a warrior in there, very clever, has the skills to out box, out smart, and mix his tactics up. Something you don't see that often to such a degree.

Who can beat him at SMW, no one, without a shadow of a doubt. Who can beat him at LHW, in terms of actually favouring someone against him, no one. I think Johnson would come closest, gave RJJ trouble and would Calzaghes style. I'd give Calzage 55-45 against Johnson. Tarver and Dawson 60-40, RJJ not far behind.

I've seen you post favourably about Johnson before, and I have to say for once I disagree, I think he's overrated. Back in the day at SMW with Joe he was a losing fighter with 6 out of 11 losses and no particularly impressive wins. Unquestionably he was better at LHW, but I think he was the beneficiary of fighting the aging and overrated US crew, none of whom, at that point, were anything like the fighters they were supposed to be.

I'm not saying Johnson is ****, but I think his major advantage over those guys was hungriness and workrate, like a much less skilled Calzaghe, I think Calzaghe would waste him, now or in the past.

[joshyp18]

With his workrate, you have to knock him out to beat him. I can't think of another fighter I can say that about right now. Whether that's fair or not(the slapping question) can be argued, but he gets results. That being said, I think Kelly Pavlik would have around a 40% chance of beating him; it would be a competitive fight. I don't agree that he's unbeatable at that weight.

i cant see anyone beating him at the minute. i cant see pavlik beating calzaghe because he wouldnt ko him and he would not win a decision over jc. he should fight pavlik tho would be better one (more competitive) than roy jones jr would give him.

[joshyp18]

Agree with most of the above. Only points I'd add is can you really say he's not capable of hard punches, he is. He hurt Lacy's face, and hurt Kessler in one round, he admitted it himself. Also, he was capable of more power awhile back, and most agreed he had real KO power, to KD Eubank in 1 Round when a big hitter Benn couldn't over several fights speaks for itself, and Eubank backed it up. Even today Calzaghe's capable of more power, it's his brittle hands that determine how hard he can hit without hurting himself more i.e breaking em as he has before, not his arms.

Other key attributes for me would be his boxing brain, ring generalship. He is a warrior in there, very clever, has the skills to out box, out smart, and mix his tactics up. Something you don't see that often to such a degree.

Who can beat him at SMW, no one, without a shadow of a doubt. Who can beat him at LHW, in terms of actually favouring someone against him, no one. I think Johnson would come closest, gave RJJ trouble and would Calzaghes style. I'd give Calzage 55-45 against Johnson. Tarver and Dawson 60-40, RJJ not far behind.

i think if he gets caught by tarver he could be in trouble like rjj

[abadger]

He has many unique gifts which make him a great fighter. Amazing speed, work rate, chin, heart and boxing brain.

His technique is poor but what if you was a fighter who relied on a great punch to win fights and all of a sudden your brittle hands wouldn't let you do that? He has found a new way of winning without putting much power into his shots and that should be appreciated.

I agree Calzaghe's punching technique is poor, but that wasn't always so. I think other aspects of his game are technically excellent, footwork, movement, distance etc.

[Degsy]

I think most of the good points have been covered pretty well by other posters, there also seems to be a lack of trolling at the moment (I won't hold my breath though...its only a matter of time before the citizens of ******sville log on)

Aside from his speed, skill and his unorthadox style (very cleverly described as 'like jazz' by one boxing trainer, when asked for a music anology), its his chin that stands out (if you'll pardon the inaccurate pun). Yes he has been knocked down, but I've never seem anyone compose themself so quickly after being dropped - this tends to be ignored when unknowledgeable posters bring out the tautological 'boxer x knocked him over, so boxer y would ko him' argument.

[Kris Silver]

I have trouble with giving Dawson a better chance against Calzaghe over Johnson, because in my and many's eyes, Johnson beat Dawson.

Dawson doesn't quite have the technique, eagerness, grittiness, or relentlessness that Johnson does, which showed in that fight. Johnson was and is older, but chased all night, and won the majority of the rounds late on, against a younger guy.

That would give Calzaghe problems as he's often mixing up his game, accelerating away from his opponent R4 onwards. Johnson would be a different matter with close later rounds. Dawson showed he takes the foot off the pedal late on, and Calzaghe would exploit that imo, along with a kind of toughness I think he lacks and Johnson has stacks of.

I don't give Tarver better than a 40% chance because I think Calzaghe can be clever, with good reactions, timing, speed and chin all stronger than RJJ certainly now meaning he'd deal with some big Tarver shots. Others he'd get coming in admittedly, but Calzaghe would expect it more then, and plan accordingly. No ones hurt him majorly before, can't see Tarver doing it. He'd take a couple well, adapt, and reel away from a strong Tarver, in a fashion not disimillar to Calz-Kessler. Leaving a confused Tarver unable to do much, a bit like with Calz who as abadger said, can be like an aggressive Hops.

[abadger]

I think most of the good points have been covered pretty well by other posters, there also seems to be a lack of trolling at the moment (I won't hold my breath though...its only a matter of time before the citizens of ******sville log on)

Aside from his speed, skill and his unorthadox style (very cleverly described as 'like jazz' by one boxing trainer, when asked for a music anology), its his chin that stands out (if you'll pardon the inaccurate pun). Yes he has been knocked down, but I've never seem anyone compose themself so quickly after being dropped - this tends to be ignored when unknowledgeable posters bring out the tautological 'boxer x knocked him over, so boxer y would ko him' argument.

Yes. I think Calzaghe's chin is the single thing that enables all the rest of his game. He is able, to a quite surprising degree, to ignore what his opponent throws at him and therefore impose his will on his opponent. The 'like jazz' thing also is extremely accurate.

[abadger]

I have trouble with giving Dawson a better chance against Calzaghe over Johnson, because in my and many's eyes, Johnson beat Dawson.

Dawson doesn't quite have the technique, eagerness, grittiness, or relentlessness that Johnson does, which showed in that fight. Johnson was and is older, but chased all night, and won the majority of the rounds late on, against a younger guy.

That would give Calzaghe problems as he's often mixing up his game, accelerating away from his opponent R4 onwards. Johnson would be a different matter with close later rounds. Dawson showed he takes the foot off the pedal late on, and Calzaghe would exploit that imo, along with a kind of toughness I think he lacks and Johnson has stacks of.

I don't give Tarver better than a 40% chance because I think Calzaghe can be clever, with good reactions, timing, speed and chin all stronger than RJJ certainly now meaning he'd deal with some big Tarver shots. Others he'd get coming in admittedly, but Calzaghe would expect it more then, and plan accordingly. No ones hurt him majorly before, can't see Tarver doing it. He'd take a couple well, adapt, and reel away from a strong Tarver, in a fashion not disimillar to Calz-Kessler. Leaving a confused Tarver unable to do much, a bit like with Calz who as abadger said, can be like an aggressive Hops.

Yes, I have to admit with my assessment of Dawson I am kind of ignoring all the points you raise and just taking him at his best. I think being outspeeded would be a new experience for Calzaghe, but you are absolutely right that Dawson doesn't seem to posess that mental and physical toughness that would take him down the stretch against Joe.

With Johnson, I know a lot of people think he beat Dawson, but I'm not one of them, I think Chad won quite comfortably and that most of Johnson's work in that fight was pretty ineffective. Johnson definitely has the workrate to compete with Joe (amazing at his age), but I think his attack is extremely one dimensional and Joe would make him look pretty ordinary. I also don't think he has the power to trouble Joe seriously.

I agree with your assesment of Tarver, but I'd make him a more dangerous opponent than Johnson, just based on him being a big tall southpaw, really.