Joe Cazalghe vs. Sergey Kovalev at 175

[junior gong]

Nothin to do with being unbeatable.

Calzaghe never fought anyone as good as Kovalev anywhere close to their prime.

If/when he lands he's in trouble.

Kovalev better than prime Kessler? Wowser!

[IronDanHamza]

Kovalev better than prime Kessler? Wowser!

Absolutely.

Especially at LHW.

And if Kovalev landed like Kessler did he's in trouble.

[dan_cov]

I legitimately do think Joe Calzaghe is the most overrated fighter of my lifetime. I just don't understand how people can be around the sport so long and still think hes a great masterful boxer.

He had the most carefully managed career I've ever seen. The guy ducked Tarver, Pavlik, prime Jones, prime Bernard, Michaelewski, Johnson.

The guys resume is so lacking that his fans start naming Woodhall & Brewer like they're great wins, its comical. Jeff Lacy too lol

The only wins he has that are noteworthy is Kessler - good win, B-Hop - great win though I did have him losing that fight 115-112. And Reid if you had him winning that again I never.

This guy spent about 12 years defending his Frank Warren special title in the Cardiff Ice rink before he stepped up, he did for a few fights then ran into retirement rather than giving B-Hop a rematch or fighting Froch.

[sunny31]

Some serious overestimation of Kovalev by some respectable posters (not Daggum). I will bite my tongue for now as all will be revealed in time. The only disappointing thing is Calzaghe is not around anymore to shut people up, because the Kessler talk was very similar to this pre Calzaghe - Kessler. 'He is a monster', 'Calzaghe will never fight him', 'Kessler throws straighter, harder, with more accuracy, it's a KO waiting to happen'.

Similar talk, news flash Kovalev is not the second coming of Jesus, he did his homework, had a good game plan, had the size and ability to carry it out. He did this against a fighter who has already been beaten and dominated by Dawson in a similarish manner just a bit more convincing, not surprising considering all factors. Styles make fights, we will see what Kovalev does against different styles at this level. He looks like a tough man to beat after that performance, but I am not going to get overexcited because he showed some ring craft, some versatility and that he can think a little. This guy had an impressive amateur career it's hardly surprising to me that he can box and possesses some flair.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

I legitimately do think Joe Calzaghe is the most overrated fighter of my lifetime. I just don't understand how people can be around the sport so long and still think hes a great masterful boxer.

He had the most carefully managed career I've ever seen. The guy ducked Tarver, Pavlik, prime Jones, prime Bernard, Michaelewski, Johnson.

The guys resume is so lacking that his fans start naming Woodhall & Brewer like they're great wins, its comical. Jeff Lacy too lol

The only wins he has that are noteworthy is Kessler - good win, B-Hop - great win though I did have him losing that fight 115-112. And Reid if you had him winning that again I never.

This guy spent about 12 years defending his Frank Warren special title in the Cardiff Ice rink before he stepped up, he did for a few fights then ran into retirement rather than giving B-Hop a rematch or fighting Froch.

Most people here don't rate him and write the same tired stuff that you do about him so I don't get how he can be the most overrated fighter of your lifetime.

Ducked Prime Bernard? Even though he signed to fight him? When would he have even ducked Michaelewski or Tarver? You're literally just throwing out random names from divisions around his weight and saying he ducked them.

Calzaghe's career was predominantly poor because he could never land that career defining fight. To be honest, I never rated him all that highly until the Lacy fight. I thought he'd win that fight but never expected that performance. He unified his division and moved up to win the LHW title. Not a bad ending. What gain would there be from sticking around to fight Froch who was literally a fringe world level unknown fighter at the time?

No one seems to have any kind of perspective on Calzaghe. He's either **** or an ATG. One of the most polarising boxers on here.

[bojangles1987]

I legitimately do think Joe Calzaghe is the most overrated fighter of my lifetime. I just don't understand how people can be around the sport so long and still think hes a great masterful boxer.

He had the most carefully managed career I've ever seen. The guy ducked Tarver, Pavlik, prime Jones, prime Bernard, Michaelewski, Johnson.

The guys resume is so lacking that his fans start naming Woodhall & Brewer like they're great wins, its comical. Jeff Lacy too lol

The only wins he has that are noteworthy is Kessler - good win, B-Hop - great win though I did have him losing that fight 115-112. And Reid if you had him winning that again I never.

This guy spent about 12 years defending his Frank Warren special title in the Cardiff Ice rink before he stepped up, he did for a few fights then ran into retirement rather than giving B-Hop a rematch or fighting Froch.

And Kessler gave him a pretty good fight despite an injured hand, or at least I think he had an injured hand in that fight.

[bojangles1987]

Most people here don't rate him and write the same tired stuff that you do about him so I don't get how he can be the most overrated fighter of your lifetime.

Ducked Prime Bernard? Even though he signed to fight him? When would he have even ducked Michaelewski or Tarver? You're literally just throwing out random names from divisions around his weight and saying he ducked them.

Calzaghe's career was predominantly poor because he could never land that career defining fight. To be honest, I never rated him all that highly until the Lacy fight. I thought he'd win that fight but never expected that performance. He unified his division and moved up to win the LHW title. Not a bad ending. What gain would there be from sticking around to fight Froch who was literally a fringe world level unknown fighter at the time?

No one seems to have any kind of perspective on Calzaghe. He's either **** or an ATG. One of the most polarising boxers on here.

That's the benefit and curse of the 0. People see it and either assume he was amazing or protected garbage. No one seeks to learn the in between.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Revisionist history

After about 4 close rounds, Kessler got completely undressed and embarrassed by Calzaghe. He almost got stopped by a body shot but the referee jumped in to separate them for no reason and allowed Kessler to recover.

Calzaghe coasted in the final round and gave it away because he was so much in cruise control.

That fight was not close.

[dan_cov]

Most people here don't rate him and write the same tired stuff that you do about him so I don't get how he can be the most overrated fighter of your lifetime.

Ducked Prime Bernard? Even though he signed to fight him? When would he have even ducked Michaelewski or Tarver? You're literally just throwing out random names from divisions around his weight and saying he ducked them.

Calzaghe's career was predominantly poor because he could never land that career defining fight. To be honest, I never rated him all that highly until the Lacy fight. I thought he'd win that fight but never expected that performance. He unified his division and moved up to win the LHW title. Not a bad ending. What gain would there be from sticking around to fight Froch who was literally a fringe world level unknown fighter at the time?

No one seems to have any kind of perspective on Calzaghe. He's either **** or an ATG. One of the most polarising boxers on here.

He did fight him at a grand old age of 43 or 44, hardly prime. Even then he bit off more than he could chew and realised B-Hop had way more in the tank than he thought.
Tarver offered him the fight multiple times its well documented, Joe turned it down numerous times to fight bums like Byron Mitchell & Mger Mkrtchyan he then hid behind the ''you lost to Bernard'' excuse. I think they was even going to move up and the fight was in negotiations at one point.

He could of had many career defining fights but was protected by Frank Warren and spent years and years cherrypicking whilst avoiding and pulling out of fights with Glen Johnson (three times wasn't it?) to fight utter bums and ducking everyone with a pulse until he felt they was ripe for the taking.
He can have a pass for Froch but not the others and he'd only just retired hadn't he when Froch won a world title?

His career was practically what Chris John did only he stuck around too long. He'd of been fine if he had Warren guiding him.

[IronDanHamza]

Most people here don't rate him and write the same tired stuff that you do about him so I don't get how he can be the most overrated fighter of your lifetime.

Ducked Prime Bernard? Even though he signed to fight him? When would he have even ducked Michaelewski or Tarver? You're literally just throwing out random names from divisions around his weight and saying he ducked them.

Calzaghe's career was predominantly poor because he could never land that career defining fight. To be honest, I never rated him all that highly until the Lacy fight. I thought he'd win that fight but never expected that performance. He unified his division and moved up to win the LHW title. Not a bad ending. What gain would there be from sticking around to fight Froch who was literally a fringe world level unknown fighter at the time?

No one seems to have any kind of perspective on Calzaghe. He's either **** or an ATG. One of the most polarising boxers on here.

He's not **** he's just all that good.

Boarderline HOF level.

I mean, he's in the HOF and he got in on the first ballot. That's astounding to me considering how piss poor his resume is.