thoughts on calzaghe?

[hotshot1]

overrated or underrated? was he an all time great?

[sunny31]

overrated or underrated? was he an all time great?

I think he would have been competitive with almost any 160-175lber in any era, especially the 160-168lbers.

He was an extremely versatile fighter. Very good chin, handspeed, insane stamina, good skills, could box or fight, and comfortable at any range, good ring IQ.

People focused too much on his punching technique, which could get sloppy and flawed, but it in the end it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

His resume does leave a bit to be desired, and I think early in his reign Calzaghe had a confidence problem, that coupled with lots of injuries meant he doesn't have the resume he really should, he was also avoided to a certain extent.

I think a prime Hopkins and Jones beat him, but he would have been competitive, I think him and Toney is a 50-50. Calzaghe-Ward is also a 50-50 but in my opinion I like Ward by a razor thin decision.

I loved his Erik Morales type fire in the ring, if you hurt him he was coming straight back at you, and he didn't mind getting into a fire fight.

His fight with Lacy will go down in legend on these forums, for those of you who were here to witness it will know what I'm talking about. The humble pie from the Americans backing Lacy was hilarious. This place was tumbleweed for months after

[_Rexy_]

Overrated by Brits, underrated by Americans.

[boliodogs]

He was very good and probably an all time great. He never lost or had a bad night. He is probably overrated in the UK and underrated outside of the UK overall. I don't think he could beat either Jones or Hopkins in their primes but he did beat them.

[Mushashi]

He's much better than his resume suggests. He beat solid names during his career but waited too long for the marquee fights.

[BoloShot]

He was a fantastic fighter, a personal favourite. Too many iffy title defenses for my liking but in terms of ability there weren't many that superceded him. His hand speed was great as was his chin, that gas tank could last him days too. His tactical versatility was the best bar none when he was active. He could completely switch up his gameplan round by round and do it effectively. He was pretty exciting even when he was only decisioning people. Just a fighter I really appreciate. He had his limitations but he worked around them so well, he put on some complete masterclasses.

[hugh grant]

He was unbeaten. He beat BH. BH lost 8 times. But BH is considered greater.
Think about that for a while.

[KillaMane26]

Looking at what Hopkins did afterwards Joe deserves more credit for that win. Imo

[£-4-£]

Best 168er in my opinion. Reckon he edges Ward as Kovalev won their first fight by 2 points (in my opinion) so I can see Calzaghe finding a way to get the win.

I think he's an ATG as he's a level above most Hall of Famers.

Hopkins skipped 168 entirely so I'm not having anybody claim BHop would beat him at 168.

Calzaghe doesn't get enough credit for beating Bhop at 175.

Bhop was like 43 but had just beaten Tarver for Ring 175lbs title and then defended against Winky. Calzaghe beat Bhop, who over the next 6 years went on to; beat Pavlik at 170, draw and beat Jean Pascal, lose to Chad Dawson, beat undefeated Tavoris Cloud, unified against Shumenov before losing to Krusher Kovalev. Any one of those names would add further to Calzaghe's legacy had he stuck around. Bhop was the best at 175 (excepting Dawson) between Calzaghe's retirement and the rise of Kovalev/Ward/Stevenson.

[BoloShot]

Looking at what Hopkins did afterwards Joe deserves more credit for that win. Imo

He beat a BHop still at his peak ability wise. He was the Ring and lineal champ at LHW at the time. It was a great win for Calzaghe.