Joe calzaghe v Jeff Lacy- How great a win was it?

[*TonyMontana*]

As to whether this schooling hurt Lacy's future efforts, no one can be sure of that at all. What we can be sure of is the conditions heading into the fight. This fight made Calzaghe a much bigger star because most expected Lacy to run over him. Lacy himself called Joe a slapper and insisted he would run through him. I must say that old Joe's "slaps" must be hard enough to keep an opponent honest because of all the talk about this, no one ever went in and walked through him. Considering what was on the line and the huge risk it was perceived to be at the time along with the rumor I've heard that Calzaghe had a sever panic attack right before the fight and then went into it anyway, just shows what Calzaghe is made of, which is plenty of talent and a lot of balls. Plus he made it fun to watch all twelve rounds. It's hard to beat the slapper on entertainment value.

Yeah he touches on that in his book
Said he told his dad to call it off
Then he had a shower and stepped out feeling like superman haha

[Elotero]

It's barely a good win let alone a great one.

Jeff Lacy is a literal bum.

Never beaten a fighter in the Top 10.

Won a vacant title off an unranked nobody.

Had a close fight with a shot Omar Sheika.

Left Hook was doing damage on the regular on Showtime. He was active and getting in exciting firefights every time. Like a more skilled James Kirkland. Undefeated KO artist does not make one a literal bum.

I think the shoulder tear vs tsipko was the beginning of the end.

Omar Sheika like most boxers is way underrated here. He was in 2 FOTYs ffs

Masterclass from Joe.

[Cutthroat]

very close fight for joe lol, christ talk about exaggerating

Calzaghe-Bika was very close, Joe was eating clean punches to the chin all night and getting stunned. He failed to separate himself from Bika like Ward and even Stevenson.

RJJ hadn't had a KO in 6 years, dropped Calzaghe early.
Hopkins hasn't KO'd a fighter since 2004, DLH, dropped Calzaghe.

You think a fighter with a chin like that is going to have any chance against Ward, Kovalev, Beterbiev, Bivol, Barrera, Smith etc.? Yes, even Ward hits harder than these guys. Even GGG demolishes him

[robertzimmerman]

Just rewatched this fight. i remember the build up for this fight, noone gave joe a prayer, jeff lacy was meant to be the second coming of mike tyson, and he put on a boxing clinic, joe looked sensational that night.

Ive seen polarising opinions, with some shrugging it off as lacy being overrated. Jeff lacy obviously didnt turn out to be a world beater after the fight, but was it because jeff lacy was not that good in the first place or could it be argued that after a schooling like that, no fighter is ever the same?

So what are peoples opinions about the fight? How highly do you rate it as a win? Does lacys poor achievements afterwards take the shine off the victory or is it unfair to penalise joe for this, when at the time lacy was seen as such a formidable opponent? And for wider discussion, can the credibility of a win on a fighters record diminish based on future performances of said loser?

EDIT: And check out some of the pre fight predictions on this when bearing in mind how jeff lacy was rated at the time!

http://www.boxingscene.com/boxingsce...calzaghe--3266

It was a sensational performance by Joe.

His coming out party towards the U.S. fans and media.

Maybe it wasn't his greatest win, but definitely his greatest performance.

I have to say though that in my honest opinion, Jeff was overrated, and the reason Joe was such a big underdog, was because he was still relatively unknown in the U.S. at the time.

[robertzimmerman]

agreed and i said this before the kovalev fight, ward is absolutely nowhere near a mayweather/roy jones level. Not even close. Obviously ward is a world level fighter but people made out hes like a once in a generation talent cause he won the average six. Was getting outboxed by kovalev who isnt really some pure boxer, most people presumed kovalev could only ko him cause ward was meant to be so skillful. Had people saying ward would beat calzaghe ffs, if that isnt overhyping a fighter i dont know what is.

Andre Ward is an A class fighter.

Kovalev is a good boxer, with underrated skills.

Andre Ward could definitely have beaten Joe.

[robertzimmerman]

So why make Lacy favourite? It was a great win!

Probably because nobody really knew anything about Joe.

He had about 6 fights on Showtime in the late 90's-early 00's, but he only impressed in half of them.

[robertzimmerman]

There were fighters who brought more skill, but they didn't bring the Pride of Newbridge's activity. He gave the crowd action every time out. Definitely one of my favorite fighters to watch ever. His fight with Charles Brewer was a great little scrap. Liked his fight with Kessler a lot, too. And the Jones fight was classic with the clowning and putting his head Roy's chest. Was just too funny.

These kind of comments really make me scratch my head.


What on earth was funny about seeing Joe clowning with Roy, when:

1. He would never have dared to have signed a contract to face him when he was prime.

2. He'd said before the fight that he thought Roy had been shot since 2004.


Don't praise that behaviour.

It's disgraceful.

He was a scavenger just like Hopkins was.

[Madison Boxing]

Calzaghe-Bika was very close, Joe was eating clean punches to the chin all night and getting stunned. He failed to separate himself from Bika like Ward and even Stevenson.

RJJ hadn't had a KO in 6 years, dropped Calzaghe early.
Hopkins hasn't KO'd a fighter since 2004, DLH, dropped Calzaghe.

You think a fighter with a chin like that is going to have any chance against Ward, Kovalev, Beterbiev, Bivol, Barrera, Smith etc.? Yes, even Ward hits harder than these guys. Even GGG demolishes him

he beat bika 117-110, 116-111, and joe beat him before them two clowns did.

Joe would have beaten every fighter that youve listed, im a huge fan of GGG but joe would have boxed rings around him at 168.

Ward would have had no chance with his punch output, for every shot ward threw, joe would have thrown 3.

Kovalev and beterbiev may have put joe on the deck but joe would have got straight back up and dominated the fight.

Not even going to talk about smith and barrera in the ring with joe.

Joe was too clever in the ring for any of them guys, was 46-0 for a reason, and thats because he couldnt be beat.

ROy jones couldnt land a glove on him, joe landed more shots on hopkins than anyone else had in his career. He beat prime kessler clearly.

Shame he doesnt get the appreciation that he deserves on this forum.

[mathed]

Just rewatched this fight. i remember the build up for this fight, noone gave joe a prayer, jeff lacy was meant to be the second coming of mike tyson, and he put on a boxing clinic, joe looked sensational that night.

Ive seen polarising opinions, with some shrugging it off as lacy being overrated. Jeff lacy obviously didnt turn out to be a world beater after the fight, but was it because jeff lacy was not that good in the first place or could it be argued that after a schooling like that, no fighter is ever the same?

So what are peoples opinions about the fight? How highly do you rate it as a win? Does lacys poor achievements afterwards take the shine off the victory or is it unfair to penalise joe for this, when at the time lacy was seen as such a formidable opponent? And for wider discussion, can the credibility of a win on a fighters record diminish based on future performances of said loser?

EDIT: And check out some of the pre fight predictions on this when bearing in mind how jeff lacy was rated at the time!

http://www.boxingscene.com/boxingsce...calzaghe--3266

That fight was a virtuoso performance! I still remember the night of that fight. My roomate had some people over to play poker and we had the fight on because Lacy was being hyped up so much for his KO's. My roomate was getting everyone to bet on the fight and out of 10 people, I was the only one to bet on Calzaghe.

So, yeah, heading into that fight, Calzaghe was a BIG underdog according to viewers; who cares what the bookies thought. But Zags just tore that man to pieces, beating him all around the ring. He beat him so bad, he ruined Lacy for good. After the fight, Lacy was a broken man.

[robertzimmerman]

yeah he embarassed roy that night. roy couldnt lay a glove on him after the 1st round. Roy was a great fighter but joe was something else in terms of ring iq.

Have a word with yourself.

He embarrassed a 40 year old Roy, who'd already been bullied and knocked cold by Glen Johnson, over 4 years earlier.

Wow!

Roy was on another level to Joe when he was prime, which is why Joe was content to stay at SMW defending his lightly regarded WBO belt.