Could Calzaghe have got to 50-0?

[robertzimmerman]

isn't that the exact opposite of the point of boxing? at least according to the rules.

Yeah, but that's how it was for him. He often fooled the judges and the fans who watched him live. As great as he was, he was often scrappy. Some of the slow motion shots of the Manfredo stoppage are horrific. I'm sure you've seen them.

Back on topic, he could have gotten to 50 with the right opponents had his hands have been in better condition.

[-Kev-]

He could have beaten the slow top 10 guys like Diaconu and Cloud, and weaker lower top 10 contenders like Mack and Murat

Maybe if he fought the older top 10 Light Heavyweights like Johnson and Tarver he could have outworked them, maybe. But he was dropped by both Hopkins and Jones so it would have been interesting to see what fresher Light Heavies like Dawson and Pascal would have done, or even what the older Johnson and Tarver could have done

[soul_survivor]

In my honest opinion, he'd have beaten Kelly as easy as Bernard did. But he wouldn't fight him.

Why not? It's not risky in anyway and carries a huge financial benefit for Calzaghe.

I'd have picked Joe, but it would have been a tough fight stylistically. The Bika fight was ugly and this could have looked similar.

Johnson would have just plodded forward throwing a lopping right hand, that's it. Bika was a better fighter than Johnson, smarter too and Calzaghe still won 8 or 9 rounds against him. Johnson would have been overwhelmed with punches and needed a KO to win. A KO that would never come.

Joe says he retired due to his hands, and due to not having any desire to carry on. But if his hands had been healthier and he'd have had a desire to get to 50, then most definitely. But in my opinion, he wouldn't have taken any risky fights that may have prevented him from getting there. So there wouldn't have been a Hopkins rematch, and there's no way he would have gone on to fight a guy like Dawson. The fights would had to have been selected wisely.

Yeah, those hands really got to him but I'm just saying, imagine if that never happened.

Plus, I dunno where this risk aversion idea comes from, Calzaghe fought Eubank, Lacy, Bika, Kessler and Hopkins. He also fought numerous top contenders, just because those names were not known in the US is irrelevant. America has never had a proud history at smw at and the best names have always been British or European in general.

[soul_survivor]

He could have beaten the slow top 10 guys like Diaconu and Cloud, and weaker lower top 10 contenders like Mack and Murat

Maybe if he fought the older top 10 Light Heavyweights like Johnson and Tarver he could have outworked them, maybe. But he was dropped by both Hopkins and Jones so it would have been interesting to see what fresher Light Heavies like Dawson and Pascal would have done, or even what the older Johnson and Tarver could have done

Pascal in the early rounds would definitely have been a tough one. He oculd hit hard and was athletic but he never possessed the fitness levels of Calzaghe, nor did he ever have teh skills.

Dawson was getting way overrated at the time cos following Mayweathers retirement, he said Dawson was probably p4p one of the best fighters on the planet. That got a certain type of boxing fan sucking Dawson off. But outside of his physical size, Dawson never had any guts.

If Dawson couldn't dominate a guy physically, he didn't know what to do and Calzaghe was a tough bastard, he isn't letting Dawson dominate him because of size. Plus, Dawson barely got past Hopkins, in an ugly, uneventful fight where Dawson didn't even look like he wanted to be in the ring.

[robertzimmerman]

soul_survivor,

Why not? It's not risky in anyway and carries a huge financial benefit for Calzaghe.

He had the opportunity to fight Kelly instead of Roy in 2008. It would have been a big fight. Just before he split with Frank W, Frank urged him to fight Kelly instead of Roy, telling him that Roy was damaged goods and a fight with Kelly would earn him more money. But he wasn't interested. He was determined to fight Roy. He and Roy had an agreement where everything was split 50/50. But the PPV was poor.

Kelly and his manager kept pushing for the fight. But Joe said Kelly didn't excite him and he'd done nothing to warrant a fight. He said it in numerous interviews to the media. But in one of the interviews, he admitted something bizarre. After he'd said that Kelly had done nothing to warrant a fight with him, he then admitted that they'd (he and Frank) tried to fight him after he'd fought Jeff Lacy in 2006. Yet at that point, Kelly was an unknown, NABF champ who'd done nothing. So the questions are:

1. Why did he want to fight an unknown NABF champ?

2. If Kelly didn't excite him in 2008, how did he excite him and warrant a fight with him in 2006?

Johnson would have just plodded forward throwing a lopping right hand, that's it. Bika was a better fighter than Johnson, smarter too and Calzaghe still won 8 or 9 rounds against him. Johnson would have been overwhelmed with punches and needed a KO to win. A KO that would never come.

I'd definitely have favoured Joe to have beaten him. But Joe couldn't have hurt him or deterred him from going forward. Glen would have pressured him and taken shots to have landed his own. I think Joe would have had a hard night. As great as Joe was, he was always relatively easy to hit, and he could be lured into a tear up.

Yeah, those hands really got to him but I'm just saying, imagine if that never happened.

The closer he'd have gotten to 50, the least amount of risks he'd have taken.

Plus, I dunno where this risk aversion idea comes from, Calzaghe fought Eubank, Lacy, Bika, Kessler and Hopkins. He also fought numerous top contenders, just because those names were not known in the US is irrelevant. America has never had a proud history at smw at and the best names have always been British or European in general.

When asked by the media of potentially fighting Chad Dawson or Antonio Tarver, he gave the same response that he'd given when asked about Kelly Pavlik. He said they didn't excite him and they'd done nothing to warrant a fight with him. Which would have been fair enough, if he hadn't have fought guys like Bika and Manfredo etc. If guys like Dawson didn't excite him, then how did those guys? It's also worth noting that Joe never fought a top class southpaw in his career.

[HWChampion]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACgTJhEdj5M

[Sparked_26]

Joe really should have fought Kelly Pavlik.

He would have absolutely battered him.

[MokMok V2]

It's possible.

But it's best he ended his career at his own terms.

[ShoulderRoll]

If he could have found four more legends, then waited until they got old to fight them, then yes. He certainly could have gotten to 50-0.

[Sparked_26]

I am trying to remember the lay of the land at the time.

I think Dawson was the one guy mentioned. Nobody really cares that they never saw that. But Pavlik at one time made perfect sense and would have put money in his pocket.

And you never know whether a Froch fight might have turned into Froch/Groves scenario. 80,000 people at Wembley and all that.

Not sure Joe really maximised his earning potential. I know we shouldn't care about that but he probably should.