When did Calzaghe past his prime??

[Flawless]

Was he in his prime when he fought Kessler because that was a great fight or was it when he come to America, or was it before??

[S.G.]

i'd already noticed him losing speed and snap when he fought Jeff Lacy...

i'd say against Mario Veit (the 2nd time) was the last time he was truly at his best

[-----------]

Was he in his prime when he fought Kessler because that was a great fight or was it when he come to America, or was it before??

It's anyones guess.


People will have different opinions on this.


END OF THREAD

[Flawless]

It's anyones guess.


People will have different opinions on this.

I thought he was in his prime when he fought Kessler that was a true boxing display. I could tell when he fought Hopkins he was past it a bit

[S.G.]

I thought he was in his prime when he fought Kessler that was a true boxing display.

he was past his physical prime when he fought Kessler though

[abadger]

Calzaghe was prime between 2001 and 2006. I think his handspeed and power probably started falling off in 2004 around the time he fought Veit for the second time and Kabary Salem. Against Salem in particular he found he could no longer just bully his opponent the way he had sometimes done.

He compensated for this by utilising his boxing skill more, and this actually made him a better boxer and he was at his peak or slightly after it, with declined physical ability but an excellent boxing game when he fought Lacy. Against Kesler you could see he was falling off physically a bit more and against Hopkins for the first time you saw his reflexes and footspeed looked to be going.

[Mr. Philadel]

Isn't his prime is NOW?!? he's just been fighting better opponents as of late in Kessler and B-Hop, thats why he's looked how he's looked, but personally I think he looked sharp against Kessler. I think he primed in that fight, but the die hard Calzaghe dudes must know better than I and I......maybe it was the Lacy thumpin'

[1g5a22]

what makes joe so great is his workrate and adaptability to different styles,his prime was his early thirties and he is undoubtedly on the slide due to brittle hands but what makes him so good is he is still putting in those truly great performances albeit mixed with lacklustre ones i.e lacy(superb),bika(uninspired),kessler(a masterclass),hopkins(confident and caught up in the bravado),but he gets the job done,which is why this prime **** is utter bull**** and why i favour calzaghe over jones in many departments,absolute legend,we should treasure him because we will mis him when he hangs em up....

now lets await a little originality and the insults, im primed and ready to go

[Pugilistic™]

His performance against Kessler was top notch.

I feel he was at his best from 2005 till now.

His performance against Hopkins is misleading because Hopkins makes everyone look bad. The move up in weight might of even affected him. His performance against Jones will identify if Calzaghe is still in his prime or now past it.

[abadger]

Isn't his prime is NOW?!? he's just been fighting better opponents as of late in Kessler and B-Hop, thats why he's looked how he's looked, but personally I think he looked sharp against Kessler. I think he primed in that fight, but the die hard Calzaghe dudes must know better than I and I......maybe it was the Lacy thumpin'

He was excellent against Kessler, but honestly, when you see the difference in the power and speed of his punches in that fight comapred to what he could do early in his career it's pretty obvious he has lost some physical ability. Against Lacy and Kessler he was much more about using skill to beat them rather than really fighting, which is what he always used to try to do.

Its basically the same scenario as Hopkins, best wins and best actual skill come late in his career, but he's not the physical fighter he used to be. He also looked to have lost a lot when he fought B-Hop.