what was joe calzaghes greatest win....

[daggum]

Kessler was easily his best win, and it was an absolute performance by Joe.

Hopkins he beat basically by being more active. Same with Roy. Those wins hold very little water, he wasn't impressive in either of those fights and waited until both were old.

Joe was a heck of a boxer, but he is a huge underachiever IMO. He should fought Americans earlier in his career, he ducked out of fights with glenn Johnson twice with "injuries".

Joe made sure to stay away from a lot of fighters in their prime. But you can't take Kessler away from him, he shined in that fight, too bad he didn't try to do it more often.

what does being more active have to do with landing clean punches? he was missing more therefore he deserves to win? that doesnt make too much sense. hopkins made him miss and landed the cleaner shots. i thought that was the point of boxing?

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Eh... considering what Hopkins did AFTER losing to Calzaghe, I don't think its fair to write it off as "Hopkins was past it" especially considering his next fight was an absolute masterclass performance against Pavlik. Followed up 2 years later with what should have been 2 wins over Jean Pascal, starting a 4 year run of having titles at light heavyweight.

Also, Calzaghe was no spring Chicken either at age 36 with a style that lent itself much less toward Longevity than Hopkins did.

With that Said, Kessler was probably his most important win.

There is lots of hate and misconceptions about Calzaghe though.

Also he somehow has this reputation as a feather fisted slapper, yet somehow he ended his career with a 70% KO ratio.

He was an unconventional southpaw with fast hands, an incredibly high workrate, and an ability to improvise and do whatever was needed to win.

You know, you make a really great point. When was Hopkins' prime anyway? At like 38? He did plenty after the Calzaghe fight. So I shouldn't say past it. And the fact that Joe was 36 against Hopkins and Jones gets overlooked A LOT. They say Roy was 39- yes. A whole 3 years older than Joe. And he slapped because his hands were brittle. All these that call him slappy wouldn't be hitting hard either if they'd had the problems he's had. Lots of guys stop scoring KOs after 30 anyway. Take a look at the last big two fighters in the sport. Not one real KO since 2009. Yet, let's just curse Joe right and left. The man is definitely underrated. One of my favorites to watch.

[GhostofDempsey]

He definitely underachieved.

He should have moved up to LHW much earlier than 2008.

Yet you don't hold Ward to the same standard that he should have moved to LHW sooner.

[robertzimmerman]

You know, you make a really great point. When was Hopkins' prime anyway? At like 38? He did plenty after the Calzaghe fight. So I shouldn't say past it. And the fact that Joe was 36 against Hopkins and Jones gets overlooked A LOT. They say Roy was 39- yes. A whole 3 years older than Joe. And he slapped because his hands were brittle. All these that call him slappy wouldn't be hitting hard either if they'd had the problems he's had. Lots of guys stop scoring KOs after 30 anyway. Take a look at the last big two fighters in the sport. Not one real KO since 2009. Yet, let's just curse Joe right and left. The man is definitely underrated. One of my favorites to watch.

The fact that Joe was 36 doesn't get overlooked. The fact is: he was still an elite level fighter at that point, coming off of a win over Kessler.

Roy was 9 weeks from his 40th birthday, and was no longer a top level fighter. Also: Joe wrote in his 2007 autobiography that Roy had been shot since 2004, which is the only reason why Tarver and Johnson were able to beat him. He also said that a fight would be pointless.

[robertzimmerman]

Yet you don't hold Ward to the same standard that he should have moved to LHW sooner.

No, because the circumstances were different.

Andre hardly fought in 3 years due to injuries and promotional issues. But when they were resolved, he had a few tune ups and then took on a guy who's considered one of the most dangerous P4P fighters in the sport.

In 2003-2004, Joe decided to remain at SMW, even though he knew Ottke wouldn't unify and there were no other big fights on the horizon at the time. He was more than happy to fight guys like Salem and Mkrtchyan etc, and we know that, because over the years, he's repeatedly bragged of his number of WBO title defences. Out of those defences, only about 6 of those were mandatories. He was a great fighter, but he had no real ambition. He wouldn't go to the U.S. and he wouldn't go to LHW, even though it was a stronger division, he supposedly wanted a big career defining fight, and he was literally starving himself to make weight.

[SHO_RULEZ]

When you consider the hype, the buildup to the fight, it has to be JEFF LACEY . Lacey was destroying everybody, and he was issuing out these WWE wrestling type threats ("promos") at Calzaghe . I'm coming for ya, Calzaghe! Watcha gonna do, when Jeff Lacey gets his hands on you! Snarling, flexing! The big showdown came, Calzaghe completely humiliated him, and that was the end of Lacey as a serious contender!

[iamboxing]

Naming Eubank shows you don't know shit. Eubank took that fight on 2 weeks notice, while he was preparing to fight at cruiserweight. Going from cruiser to SMW in 2 weeks is insane, Calzaghe fought a shell.

Against Thompson you mean? I see your point. Eubank wasn't his best, but I still think it's a better win than Kessler or past-their-prime RJJ and Hopkins. Eubank was only marginally affected but was always dangerous. Incidentally, I rank Eubank higher than Calazaghe, don't care about his undefeated record. Also, didn't like after the fight when he said he didn't feel sorry for Eubank. I've always seen Joe as a con artist. He was hurt by Eubank and put down in the first round by Jones, but blagged his way out by slapping and showboating his way to a decision.

[robertzimmerman]

Against Thompson you mean? I see your point. Eubank wasn't his best, but I still think it's a better win than Kessler or past-their-prime RJJ and Hopkins. Eubank was only marginally affected but was always dangerous. Incidentally, I rank Eubank higher than Calazaghe, don't care about his undefeated record. Also, didn't like after the fight when he said he didn't feel sorry for Eubank. I've always seen Joe as a con artist. He was hurt by Eubank and put down in the first round by Jones, but blagged his way out by slapping and showboating his way to a decision.

Eubank was preparing to fight Mark Prince at LHW, before he got the call to replace Collins.

[GhostofDempsey]

No, because the circumstances were different.

Andre hardly fought in 3 years due to injuries and promotional issues. But when they were resolved, he had a few tune ups and then took on a guy who's considered one of the most dangerous P4P fighters in the sport.

In 2003-2004, Joe decided to remain at SMW, even though he knew Ottke wouldn't unify and there were no other big fights on the horizon at the time. He was more than happy to fight guys like Salem and Mkrtchyan etc, and we know that, because over the years, he's repeatedly bragged of his number of WBO title defences. Out of those defences, only about 6 of those were mandatories. He was a great fighter, but he had no real ambition. He wouldn't go to the U.S. and he wouldn't go to LHW, even though it was a stronger division, he supposedly wanted a big career defining fight, and he was literally starving himself to make weight.

So 5'11" Joe needed to move up but not 6'1" Ward. Got it.

[bojangles1987]

Hopkins. Rough fight, there's certainly a solid number who think Hopkins won, but Calzaghe has his argument and got the decision against an ATG fighter who remained world class for years after Calzaghe won.