Who has fought better opposition, Floyd or Calzaghe?

[Steak]

Okay my bad I was wrong about De La Hoya so that's minus 1 out 0f 4 Lineal/Ring Champions that I said.

But BlackIrish you were wrong about Baldomir not being #1WW when Floyd fought him.

being linear doesnt necessarily make your the best of the division. all it means is you beat the alleged lineage champion, a lineage that's been broken several times.

yea basically what he said.

maybe you think Im nitpicking, but its just the truth. no one actually thought Baldomir was the best at 147 even though he was the 'lineal' champ.

Im not really going to argue about it since its kind of an iffy subject, but being lineal doesnt automatically mean youre the best.

Im sure Ive used this example before, but Zsolt Erdie should be the LHW lineal champ right now. I dont think anyone in their right mind would consider him the best in the division, and if someone were to defeat him, it would be more of a 'about time' win than a 'wow thats impressive and should be included in his legacy!' win.

neither Corrales or Castillo were lineal champs when Floyd beat them, but does it matter? they were VERY highly rated at the time in their division and were big wins, we all know that.

imo, being #1 in the division means more than being the 'lineal champ' in the division.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

In name, no. But given Hopkins' age, the closeness of the bout and then compared to Corrales, who was in his prime and ranked higher than Floyd p4p PLUS got his a** beat from pillar to post...yes.

Hopkins at 43 is still a far superior fighter to Corrales at any point in his career.

[elgaringo]

not sure,bhop and rjj are two of maybe 5 best fighters in the past decade....

Compare their best 3. Rjj, Bhop, Kessler. and Floyds:- Oscar, Hatton and Castillo! Draw your own conclusion!!! I dont think theres much in it.

[IMDAZED]

Hopkins at 43 is still a far superior fighter to Corrales at any point in his career.

That's debatable. So was the decision in the Calzaghe-Hopkins bout. Don't forget Corrales was a top 5 pound for pounder. Corrales-Mayweather wasn't debatable though.

[elgaringo]

Hopkins at 43 is still a far superior fighter to Corrales at any point in his career.

cant believe I overlooked corrales. Put him in place of castillo or hatton me thinks

[Steak]

Prime Reid was a tough, tough guy. He had a great amateur pedigree, good technique, a rock solid chin and plenty of guts. He gave Calzaghe all kinds of problems, just as he would have troubled Eubank or Benn.

In the end he was a hair's breadth away from being a top name. The Ottke robbery kind of took something out of him. Had he been given the win I'm sure the extra boost of confidence would have seen him achieve greater things.

hmmm lets not go overboard. Ottke robbery aside, the Reid that fought Calzaghe was no better than Hacine Cherifi(who he arguably lost to) Branco(who he lost to) or Thulani Maligna(Who he also lost to)


a win worth noting, yes. just...dont go over too far with it, lol.

he did give Calzaghe a surprising amount of trouble. Im thinking Calzaghe had an off night(everyone does occasionally), but I had him losing that fight very narrowly.

Hopkins at 43 is still a far superior fighter to Corrales at any point in his career.

hmm, well the Hopkins win was controversial while Mayweather dominated every single second of the fight...I dont know, personally, I count that kind of stuff a little.
close one, though

[Dirk Diggler UK]

That's debatable. So was the decision in the Calzaghe-Hopkins bout. Don't forget Corrales was a top 5 pound for pounder. Corrales-Mayweather wasn't debatable though.

Debatable? Sorry but Corrales has never been in Hopkins' league. I wouldnt even say he was as good as Kessler. Dont forget he was also weight drained and had a court date the next week for beating his missus. Great performance by Floyd but better than beating Bernard Hopkins? Errr....no.

[IMDAZED]

Debatable? Sorry but Corrales has never been in Hopkins' league. I wouldnt even say he was as good as Kessler. Dont forget he was also weight drained and had a court date the next week for beating his missus. Great performance by Floyd but better than beating Bernard Hopkins? Errr....no.

I'd say Kessler was never in Corrales' league. Heck, has Kessler even been rated pound for pound before?

And yes, the Corrales at that time was an animal. Good enough to be ranked higher than Floyd p4p. Yes, it's debatable. What's not is who won convincingly.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

hmm, well the Hopkins win was controversial while Mayweather dominated every single second of the fight...I dont know, personally, I count that kind of stuff a little.
close one, though

Yep but Hopkins and Corrales clearly arent the same calibre of opponent. Maybe if Floyd fought someone of Hopkins' caibre, the decision might also be close.

[Steak]

Yep but Hopkins and Corrales clearly arent the same calibre of opponent. Maybe if Floyd fought someone of Hopkins' caibre, the decision might also be close.

thats fair, I can agree with that.

the thing is...Corrales+Castillo definitely>a 43 year old Hopkins. Hopkins is still solid at that age, but nets not go overboard. Hopkins is still a hell of a fighter, but lets not forget his losses to Taylor and his close ugly fight against a blown up Winky Wright that got outhustled by Williams in his next fight.
DLH+Hatton>Kessler
Genaro Hernandez>Eubank(at that point)
Jesus chavez=Robin Reid
Judah>Roy Jones(at that point)
Gatti=Bika
Corley=Woodhall
Baldomir=Lacy

etc...and Im being fairly generous to Calzaghe you know.