Probably after 21 title defenses (Including Pudwill, Thornberry, Ashira, Mc Intyre, Veit x2, Starrie, salem, sobot and manfredo) winning all of the belts at 168 (In probably the worst division in boxing at the time), then moving up and beating top 5 p4p Hopkins (43 years old, controversial decision).
Full disclosure, I'm not a Calzaghe fan and I think his fans hype him up mostly because he's a European fighter (and I know some of his fans feel like this is the main reason he's hated on, and I can understand how they can interpret it that way).
Often, too much emphasis is on Joe's "0." There's fighters like Ali and Duran who don't have perfect records, but there is no doubt that they are ATGs (at least there shouldn't be any doubt, but these days I'm not surprised by outrageous statements anymore). An undefeated record shouldn't automatically get you ATG status, IMO, mainly because I don't think perfect necessarily = great.
Sure, it can be tough defending your title 20 times, but what's the level of adversity involved? What are the real tangible risks involved? Overcoming real adversity and risk is what I think should qualify for greatness not just statistics. Statistics can support your claim, but although there's fans that can rattle off stats like Rain Man, it should be more about the great moments that you can easily re-live in your brain. And even if you get the W, HOW did you get that W?
Of course, there are those special athletes who everyone knows are among the greatest from early on in their pro careers. Other greats take time to get recognition. Calzaghe is fresh in his fan's minds. But let's wait to see what people are saying 10, 15, 20 years down the line. Those who gave us truly great memories stand the test of time.
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