Joe Calzaghe was not on the level of.....Jones, Hopkins, Toney

[bsrizpac]

bsrizpac, you come across as very rude and twitchy.

are you a ****sexual?

No I'm not a Calzaghe fan, therefore I am openly heterosexual.

[bsrizpac]

The only fighter you list who has ever been better than Calzaghe is Roy Jones Jr. Bernard Hopkins is on the same level and James Toney is a hugely overrated because of his technical skill.

The most incorrect thing you say is that Calzaghe cannot adapt, in fact he may be the best at adapting out of the fighters you list. Throughout his career Calzaghe has shown the ability to adapt between fights and crucially, during fights. The best mid-fight example would be his change of style against Kessler and the best between-fight example would be the point where his hands became too fragile to land bombs anymore.

The level of competition Calzaghe faced is not what it should have been, but in all fairness the level of competition at 168 during this period was not high either, with the only top level opposition being Ottke who refused to fight Calzaghe. It can't be denied that Calzaghe attempted to get Hopkins in the ring with him in 2002, but was blatently ducked when Hopkins turned around on a verbal agreement. No doubt however that Calzaghe should have moved to 175 to chase a Jones Jr fight. Getting a fight with Jones Jr and getting a fight with Jones Jr for a reasonable payday was difficult though. The rest of the competition at 175 was fairly weak as well.

Calzaghe is more than anything a victim of timing, considering that he came into the professional game at the end of the British boom (Eubank-Benn) and he turned professional into a period of weak opposition in both the divisions he could compete in, save two notable exceptions.

No one can really say whether a fight with Jones Jr was ever possible, although people like bsrizpac have decided based on a complex series of issues like hatred of Calzaghe's style, nationalistic pride and sub-conscious xenophobia. I'm not even claiming Calzaghe would have beat any of the four boxers you list in their prime, but he deserves to be in that group.

If you think Hopkins ducked Calzaghe then I hope you agree that Joe ducked Glen johnson, not once but twice.

Lets see if your logic is consistent....

[P4P Opinion]

LMAO. Poor Joe.

Sob. I like the line about style, nationalistic pride and xenophobia. Really really ****ing funny. Yes, I've never liked anyone from the UK before you idiot. Good call.

Attn: Calzaghe ballslobbers- I know you guys are like slow and **** but this is a parody thread.

Prove me wrong bsrizpac. Which fighters of any note could Calzaghe have fought at 168? Excluding Ottke who he did attempt to fight.

Admit it, you do hate his style! It's not my favourite either. Funnily enough, the reason I like Calzaghe has nothing to do with his style and only a little to do with him being British. The reason I like him is that people said he was finished, people said he wasn't very good and he continues to win. I've been a fan of his since the Mitchell fight.

As for my comments about nationalistic pride and xenophobia, well yes I do think you have some elements of both, maybe that you aren't even aware of. If you'd been balanced in your criticism of Calzaghe, if you'd ever conceded that we simply don't know about some speculation over his career or if you'd ever even fallen into a neutral position over a Calzaghe issue I'd concede that you were just a boxing fan making a point. Maybe there are other reasons you simply will never even come close to falling on his side, but that's all I can conclude for now.

No, I wasn't aware this was a 'parody' thread, because I haven't seen the boxsmash (or whatever his name is) thread and the views in the first post are so in sync with all your other views. I wasn't about to read through an 11 page thread where I could virtually predict every post.

[Scary]

Prove me wrong bsrizpac. Which fighters of any note could Calzaghe have fought at 168? Excluding Ottke who he did attempt to fight.

Admit it, you do hate his style! It's not my favourite either. Funnily enough, the reason I like Calzaghe has nothing to do with his style and only a little to do with him being British. The reason I like him is that people said he was finished, people said he wasn't very good and he continues to win. I've been a fan of his since the Mitchell fight.

As for my comments about nationalistic pride and xenophobia, well yes I do think you have some elements of both, maybe that you aren't even aware of. If you'd been balanced in your criticism of Calzaghe, if you'd ever conceded that we simply don't know about some speculation over his career or if you'd ever even fallen into a neutral position over a Calzaghe issue I'd concede that you were just a boxing fan making a point. Maybe there are other reasons you simply will never even come close to falling on his side, but that's all I can conclude for now.

No, I wasn't aware this was a 'parody' thread, because I haven't seen the boxsmash (or whatever his name is) thread and the views in the first post are so in sync with all your other views. I wasn't about to read through an 11 page thread where I could virtually predict every post.

Good post.

[P4P Opinion]

If you think Hopkins ducked Calzaghe then I hope you agree that Joe ducked Glen johnson, not once but twice.

Lets see if your logic is consistent....

Quite possibly. I really don't know though, just like you don't. The difference in the two examples is that it is factual that Hopkins verbally agreed upon a fight and a fee only to demand double money the next day. Maybe Calzaghe did duck Johnson, but I have no evidence to confirm it.

[IMDAZED]

How about Antwun Echols? Why didn't Joe fight him? Instead of Brewer?

But that's neither here nor there. I don't really care who shoulda, coulda, etc. Your record is what your record is - and Joe Calzaghe's record is not on Bernard Hopkins' level, nor Roy Jones, nor James Toney. Pull out the names, tell me WHEN they fought, at what weight and let's compare. Ten best opponents for each: GO FOR IT.

[bsrizpac]

Quite possibly. I really don't know though, just like you don't. The difference in the two examples is that it is factual that Hopkins verbally agreed upon a fight and a fee only to demand double money the next day. Maybe Calzaghe did duck Johnson, but I have no evidence to confirm it.

LOL. The difference between the fights were:

There was a verbal agreement over a phone, what the nature of this agreement was we don't know - there were conflicting reports

Joe and Glen were signed and ready to go. Not once but twice.

You have excuses for Joe just like I have reasons why Bernard didn't go along with the phone offer. Now, didn't you admit that you weren't even watching boxing back then? For a guy who says all that you sure do say with a lot of force that Bernard ABSOLUTELY ducked Joe.

As for your xenophobia comments, that's just your own insecurity shining through. I could honestly care less. As for "maybe if you'd taken Calzaghes side or been neutral about him" comments- just silly because I have. I have little time or patience to justify those moments to fanboys.

Realize that the guy supporting your posts on this thread- Scary is a shameless moronic nationalistic fanboy.

And seriously, you have Haye beating Wlad but you call me a nationalistic guy? LOL

[IMDAZED]

I'm convinced most Joe C. fans weren't really watching boxing before 2003, and certainly not before 2000. Or they wouldn't even say half the **** they do.

[Maxshayne]

Good fighter, very good fighter Joe but he was no great. To beat Joe you need good countering and to break up his pace, Joe looked his best against old shot or never were garbage fighters fighters who shut down when he applied his slapping.

All three of these fighters have good speed, footwork and can adapt! Joe was only suited for uneducated pressure and throwing a billion slap shots to gain olympic points victories against marginal competition and never looked good against a legitimate challenger.

Prime Jones and Hopkins would beat Calzage by close decision in my opinion.(i had Hopkins winning winning their fight by the way).Prime Calzage would beat prime James Toney by close decision in my opinion.


James Toney always had problems with skilled boxers especially fast ones.

[bsrizpac]

I'm convinced most Joe C. fans weren't really watching boxing before 2003, and certainly not before 2000. Or they wouldn't even say half the **** they do.

I think a lot of them have admitted that already or outed themselves several times.

But hey, we all know these things: that's why it's funny as hell to see them tard off about anyone else's boxing knowledge.

I'll take my ring experience over most Joe's fans "google search of stuff from 10 years ago that I never watched" any day.

To Joe Crybabies: Note, I did not say all Joe fans- of course there are obviously people who like Joe who have been watching boxing for a while. Please keep your panties unbunched.