Calzaghe SMW greatest of all time?

[Deadbirds]

I voted yes. To be honest anyone who even considered voting no doesn't know how to rate fighters.

I guess Sven Ottke was the second best all time fighter at this weight class !
Lol !!
And Virgel Hill, Henry Maske,Dariusz Michalczewski are the kings of the light heavyweights !
Lol !!
See the pattern or what they all have in common ! Someone such as your expert self could point this out !!!

[BennyST]

With all the time he's spent in the division, he aint done ****. He beat an overrated Kessler and Lacy and lost to Hopkins. That's not "greatest" credentials.

He didn't fight B-Hop at SMW. That was a lightHW fight. No standing on his SMW record whether you think he lost it or not. There is no one else that has achieved anything remotely close to what he has there. Unified the titles, has the longest title reign there, went undefeated there, beat some very good fighters across his career there, so yes, he is the best ever at that weight.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't have lost fights there to other fighters of other times, but in terms of what he achieved at the time he was champion he did go undefeated and had a great title reign. No one else has done that much there. There is no one else you can even really argue being better than him and achieving more at that weight class.

[Dan...]

I voted yes. To be honest anyone who even considered voting no doesn't know how to rate fighters.

I guess Sven Ottke was the second best all time fighter at this weight class !
Lol !!
And Virgel Hill, Henry Maske,Dariusz Michalczewski are the kings of the light heavyweights !
Lol !!
See the pattern or what they all have in common ! Someone such as your expert self could point this out !!!

No, Sven Ottke is not the second best 168 pounder of all time. The only things that Calzaghe and Ottke have in common is that they are undefeated and European.

Ottke just sat at home with his corrupt judges and got gift after gift against above average fighters or scraping his way to decisions against ordinary fighters.

Calzaghe has unified the division and beaten two young, prime and hungry champions along the way. He has also compiled a resume with some other respectable names on it.

I am not saying that Calzaghe is not overrated, because he is. I am not saying he would beat a prime Toney or Roy Jones at 168, because he wouldn't. What I am saying is that nobody has ever fought at 168 for long enough or against the quality of opposition necessary to be considered greater in the division that he is.

It really is not even a debatable concept.

[BennyST]

I guess Sven Ottke was the second best all time fighter at this weight class !
Lol !!
And Virgel Hill, Henry Maske,Dariusz Michalczewski are the kings of the light heavyweights !
Lol !!
See the pattern or what they all have in common ! Someone such as your expert self could point this out !!!

Sven Ottke was beaten many times but given a number of terrible decisions. The best fighters he beat were guys that on Calzonie's resume are considered just ok fighters. He also didn't have a massive title reign or beat any up and coming undefeated fighters himself that were meant to beat him. Virgel Hill was a good LHW but he was beaten a number of times, significantly by an old Hearns, great as he was. Michaelzewski is considered one of the best LHW champs.

Don't let your hate blind you mate. He may not be able to beat every fighter that has fought there but he is the best fighter ever due to what he achieved there which no one else has done. Others could have such as Toney or Jones but they didn't and that, quite simply, makes Calzonie better at this weight. It's pretty simple really and bringing up that pathetic argument with Ottke and the others doesn't make any sense.

Hopkins lost to Jones Jr at MW but Hopkins is still the better MW fighter in history. Or do you have Jones Jr higher than Hopkins as a MW in your All Time MW rankings?

[theghost#1]

Is joe SMW king who is undefeated and has a record of 44-0-32 is greatest SMW of all time?

All you have to do is ask yourself if not Calzaghe, then who else?

[The_Italian]

he's not the best at 168 of all time...

wins over hopkins, lacy, and manfredo jr arent exactly going to put him as the best ever at 168.

granted its not that old of a division but still...

if beating a 43 year old hopkins is your best claim to "best at 168 of all time" then you need to find some more fighters to beat...

even if he beats jones what does it prove???

it proves he beat two top hall of fame fighters who are WELL past their prime...not top prime opponents...just ones past it.

calzaghe isnt a bad fighter at all...very entertaining actually...but for the "all time great" status he has to fight the best competition overall...and i dont see that right now...

he still has a few years left to prove he's the best.

[KILLA RIGHT]

Yes he is if not then who?

[daggum]

are you telling me supermiddle is a real divison? i always thought it was a catch weight for people too scared to fight at middle or lightheavy. this is a revelation.

[hammerhiem]

Of all time? not even close.

I give credit where credit is due to Cal but in order to be an ATG you need a strong division and SMW has been weak for 15 years.

he is the best SMW of his era but no way all time.

[Thread Stealer]

he's not the best at 168 of all time...

wins over hopkins, lacy, and manfredo jr arent exactly going to put him as the best ever at 168.

granted its not that old of a division but still...

if beating a 43 year old hopkins is your best claim to "best at 168 of all time" then you need to find some more fighters to beat...

even if he beats jones what does it prove???

it proves he beat two top hall of fame fighters who are WELL past their prime...not top prime opponents...just ones past it.

calzaghe isnt a bad fighter at all...very entertaining actually...but for the "all time great" status he has to fight the best competition overall...and i dont see that right now...

he still has a few years left to prove he's the best.

Calzaghe's fights with Jones and Hopkins have nothing to do with his standing at super middleweight.

Calzaghe is the most achieved fighter at super middleweight since the division's inception in the 1980s, but Roy Jones was better circa 1994-96 at the weight, and plenty of fighters throughout history have fought around the 168 lb. range before there was a super middleweight division.

Ezzard Charles, Lloyd Marshall, Archie Moore, Harry Greb, Billy Conn, etc..