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

[!! Shawn]

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

Joe unfortunately didn't hit hard enough to stop him outright, and his corner didn't have the sense to throw in the towel. Lacy took a career ending beating that night. That is for sure.

[!! Shawn]

Not a great win at all or even a particularly good one really.

As time passes more & more people seem to exaggerate the Lacy hype and like to go on like it was a huge upset despite the bookies being unable to really split them.
If anything it was deemed as a 50/50, 55/45 type match.
Nobody in the U.K knew Lacy outside of hardcores just that the U.S was hyping up as Tyson esque probably more down to his image/physique than his actual performances because even prior to fighting Joe he never looked that great.

Very good performance, best Joe ever looked but it isn't a great win or even close, Lacy never beat anybody even if he was hyped in America for all of 5 minutes.
Not in Joe's top 5 wins & his resume is awfully shallow.

You also have to take into context that Lacy tore his rotator cuff in his comeback fight, and was never able to throw a real left hook after that. Thats part of why he just looks like he fell off a cliff.

But he also suffered a career ending Meldrick Taylor style beating at the hands of Joe.

[DeLorean]

Let me keep it in short because I won't bother with you much.

Froch Vs. Ward = Scorecards and the constant Ward clinching

Joes best win is Kessler = Well a prime Kessler beat Carl Froch and was cheated out of a clean fight against this so called world class Ward don't need to say anymore.

Calzaghe and cocaine = He was retired plus didn't Ward take a terminally Ill man to court I wonder which is worse of the two?

Kovalev ****s on anything Joe has done
Joe doesn't have any robbery victories on his record

Done, no more replies I'm done with you, you're obviously new to boxing.

Andre Ward toyed with embarrassed a prime Kessler.. something Joe couldn't do.

Andre Ward dominated Sakio Bika from start to finish.. something Joe couldn't do.

Andre Ward toyed with and embarrassed prime Froch.. a guy Joe ducked.

Calzaghe didn't want anything to do with Roy Jones in his prime. .meanwhile Ward moved up and beat a prime Kovalev.

Joe retired for one reason and one reason only.. to avoid being pressured into a Hopkins rematch.

Chris Eubank was past his prime, weight drained and was a late replacement vs Calzaghe.. yet this win is something to brag about?

Joe doesn't have robbery victories? watch him struggle to beat part time model Robin Reid on Youtube.. a toss up fight.

Andre Ward > Joe Cazaghe... non debatable.

[Chuckguy]

Not at all. What did Lacey do after? Nothing! BHop was a really good win just look at what he did after

[M Bison]

Andre Ward toyed with embarrassed a prime Kessler.. something Joe couldn't do.

Andre Ward dominated Sakio Bika from start to finish.. something Joe couldn't do.

Andre Ward toyed with and embarrassed prime Froch.. a guy Joe ducked.

Calzaghe didn't want anything to do with Roy Jones in his prime. .meanwhile Ward moved up and beat a prime Kovalev.

Joe retired for one reason and one reason only.. to avoid being pressured into a Hopkins rematch.

Chris Eubank was past his prime, weight drained and was a late replacement vs Calzaghe.. yet this win is something to brag about?

Joe doesn't have robbery victories? watch him struggle to beat part time model Robin Reid on Youtube.. a toss up fight.

Andre Ward > Joe Cazaghe... non debatable.

"Joe was the better fighter, his speed was too much."

[Elroy The Great]

it was a fantastic exposing of a hype job. not a great win though.

[IronDanHamza]

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.

James Kirkland is probably the more skilled of the two.

[IronDanHamza]

You also have to take into context that Lacy tore his rotator cuff in his comeback fight, and was never able to throw a real left hook after that. Thats part of why he just looks like he fell off a cliff.

But he also suffered a career ending Meldrick Taylor style beating at the hands of Joe.

He's also just terrible and beat literally nobody.

[IronDanHamza]

Let me keep it in short because I won't bother with you much.

Froch Vs. Ward = Scorecards and the constant Ward clinching

Joes best win is Kessler = Well a prime Kessler beat Carl Froch and was cheated out of a clean fight against this so called world class Ward don't need to say anymore.

Calzaghe and cocaine = He was retired plus didn't Ward take a terminally Ill man to court I wonder which is worse of the two?

Kovalev ****s on anything Joe has done
Joe doesn't have any robbery victories on his record

Done, no more replies I'm done with you, you're obviously new to boxing.

If Kovalev-Ward was a robbery then Calzaghe-Reid was a robbery.

Hell, throw Hopkins in there too by that standard.

[b00g13man]

Not very good. I never understood the Lacy hype.