Joe Calzaghe: Overrated or underrated?

[A-Wolf]

And you just keep seeing it. Over and over they try and invoke Hopkins. Worst thing to do lol.

[Ephesians]

i think he is both over and underrated.he was clearly a very good fighter.he has a decent resume.his best wins being hopkins,kessler,lacy,bika.the tricky thing with him is that it wouldnt be fair to say he ducked guys like jones jr,hops,and toney as their was never any call over here for them to fight him.i thought he would lose to both lacy and kessler.i say he is under because i feel he would be competitive with anybody of the last 20 years while i say he is over because his resume is soft

Very objective analysis of Joe C.

[Mr.Fantastic]

On one side of the world, you have people saying Calzaghe ducked RJJ, Toney and B-Hop in their primes but on the other side, it's that Calzaghe never got a chance to fight them because of negotiations falling apart & whatnot. Is Slappy Joe's 46-0 record justified or padded?


Discuss accordingly.


P.S.: He ended up fighting RJJ and Hopkins at the end of his career (as well as dismantling Jeff Lacy & beating Mikkel Kessler), but take that as you will.

Really?

[Tarl of Bristol]

Folks tend to bring up that Joe Calzaghe ducked fights over in US when that wasn't the case. The main reason he didn't want to fight in US was because of he was very wary of the judges. After the debacle of the scoring in his fight with Hopkins, he was proven right. He schooled Bernard and those judges called it a lot closer than it was.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

How the hell is Calzaghe one of the best boxers of the last 30 years?

Since 1984 Calzaghe is one of the best boxers?

Hes not even one of the best since 1994 let alone 1984.

He is one of the best, since 84.. If you took top 50 of past 30 years, he is on it...
I think he is better than say Virgil hill tarver, starling, hatton, tszyu, meldrick, etc

[IronDanHamza]

Folks tend to bring up that Joe Calzaghe ducked fights over in US when that wasn't the case. The main reason he didn't want to fight in US was because of he was very wary of the judges. After the debacle of the scoring in his fight with Hopkins, he was proven right. He schooled Bernard and those judges called it a lot closer than it was.

Well, originally he was "afraid of flying" until Hopkins was in his mid forties and Roy Jones was shot to pieces

[IronDanHamza]

He is one of the best, since 84.. If you took top 50 of past 30 years, he is on it...
I think he is better than say Virgil hill tarver, starling, hatton, tszyu, meldrick, etc

Top 50 is "one of the best"?

He might be Top 50 from the last 30 years. Possibly, not really thought about it but he would be nearer the bottom of that list if he were to be on it.

So I don't see how that's "one of the best".

[DiegoFuego]

He's a good fighter, no doubt, but I would never call Calzaghe a great fighter. His best win was over 43-year-old Hopkins, and he got dropped during that fight. A lot of people thought Hopkins won (I don't). I just don't see what makes him great. It's not like Floyd, who has beaten many names. Calzaghe has a few scalps of old men and Kessler, who has been beaten much worse by other fighters.

[RubenSonny]

Kessler is often regarded as one of his very best wins and Kessler is one of the most overrated fighters of recent memory.

[Mr.Fantastic]

Well, originally he was "afraid of flying" until Hopkins was in his mid forties and Roy Jones was shot to pieces

Why were the standards not the same for Jones/Hopkins to fly to his part of the world to fight? Why does everyone have to come to the US? Boxing is a worldwide sport. Takes the meaning out of "world champion" don't it?