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Originally posted by F•R•K•O
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Who me? I actually said he has an excellent chin. You seem to choose to look only a small part of the picture though, sl333py. I try to take a look at the whole career and base my opinions on that.
Amateur record: 128-2
Hasn't lost a fight in almost 19 years. 1990 was the last time, and that loss was apparently controversial to the point of the judges who scored it being fired.
ABA champion for three consecutive years in three different weight classes. This hadn't been done for around 100 years, IIRC. Beating Calzaghe, even as an amateur, was a pretty big accomplishment.
21 title defenses as a pro.
11 years as super middleweight champ.
Unified all belts.
Gained The Ring belt on his first venture up to a higher weight class and did it on Hopkins' terms and choice of venue in the USA.
Suffered only four knockdown in his entire career. None of the knockdowns affected his performance. On the contrary, they made him fight better. Think of them as an alarm clock. They woke him up!
46-0-0 as a pro. Top 3 P4P.
Joe Calzaghe may not have faced the stiffest competition every time he fought, and for that, you can put a large portion of the blame on Frank Warren. But let's face it, who has faced the best every time? Nobody in the history of prizefighting! Hopkins? Jones? They faced a lot of below average fighters, too. It's not such a bad thing. At the very least they could be seen as "stay busy" fights and a way to pay the bills.
I'm a firm believer in the old saying "styles make fights". If we can say Joe faced 46 different styles, regardless of the level of competition, he has beaten all of them. The majority of his opponents were beaten soundly, and he has had very few difficult fights.
Add into the picture the fact that he was told as a 14 years-old boy that he would never be able to fight again due to hand injuries, and you can safely say Joe Calzaghe has done pretty damn well for himself.
Love him or hate him, he possesses something that the average fighter does not. You are entitled to hate him all you want, that's cool with me, but his achievements in boxing are rare. It's unfair to judge any fighter on his last few wins. Hopkins is old, yes, but he is still an awesome fighter (one of my all-time favorites), and let's not forget he backed out of the fight with Joe in 2002. It's no fault of Joe's for not fighting Hopkins sooner. Hopkins is old? That's Hopkins' own fault! He should have fought Joe when he was in his prime, and he had a chance to do exactly that, but he didn't take it. It's a shame, really. Could have been a much better fight than the pile of crap we saw a while back.
As for Jones, again, I think it's unfair to try and define his career by this win. Joe merely wanted the name on his resume and has made no secret of it. Personally, I judge him by his overall accomplishments from amateur to pro, which, in my opinion, are pretty outstanding.
No nuthugging here. Joe's just a great fighter and a rare breed. It's hard for me to disrespect him!
Carry on though.
Amateur record: 128-2
Hasn't lost a fight in almost 19 years. 1990 was the last time, and that loss was apparently controversial to the point of the judges who scored it being fired.
ABA champion for three consecutive years in three different weight classes. This hadn't been done for around 100 years, IIRC. Beating Calzaghe, even as an amateur, was a pretty big accomplishment.
21 title defenses as a pro.
11 years as super middleweight champ.
Unified all belts.
Gained The Ring belt on his first venture up to a higher weight class and did it on Hopkins' terms and choice of venue in the USA.
Suffered only four knockdown in his entire career. None of the knockdowns affected his performance. On the contrary, they made him fight better. Think of them as an alarm clock. They woke him up!
46-0-0 as a pro. Top 3 P4P.
Joe Calzaghe may not have faced the stiffest competition every time he fought, and for that, you can put a large portion of the blame on Frank Warren. But let's face it, who has faced the best every time? Nobody in the history of prizefighting! Hopkins? Jones? They faced a lot of below average fighters, too. It's not such a bad thing. At the very least they could be seen as "stay busy" fights and a way to pay the bills.
I'm a firm believer in the old saying "styles make fights". If we can say Joe faced 46 different styles, regardless of the level of competition, he has beaten all of them. The majority of his opponents were beaten soundly, and he has had very few difficult fights.
Add into the picture the fact that he was told as a 14 years-old boy that he would never be able to fight again due to hand injuries, and you can safely say Joe Calzaghe has done pretty damn well for himself.
Love him or hate him, he possesses something that the average fighter does not. You are entitled to hate him all you want, that's cool with me, but his achievements in boxing are rare. It's unfair to judge any fighter on his last few wins. Hopkins is old, yes, but he is still an awesome fighter (one of my all-time favorites), and let's not forget he backed out of the fight with Joe in 2002. It's no fault of Joe's for not fighting Hopkins sooner. Hopkins is old? That's Hopkins' own fault! He should have fought Joe when he was in his prime, and he had a chance to do exactly that, but he didn't take it. It's a shame, really. Could have been a much better fight than the pile of crap we saw a while back.
As for Jones, again, I think it's unfair to try and define his career by this win. Joe merely wanted the name on his resume and has made no secret of it. Personally, I judge him by his overall accomplishments from amateur to pro, which, in my opinion, are pretty outstanding.
No nuthugging here. Joe's just a great fighter and a rare breed. It's hard for me to disrespect him!
Carry on though.
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