How Good Was Joe Calzaghe?

[Phisher]

tbf neither of them were at their prime but it was fun to see Roy flat out frustrated by someone, by that point Roy was only losing to guys who were physically stronger than him, Roy didn’t look all that bad vs joe and a year after that he looked pretty good against Jeff lacy. But that was the worst version of lacy I guess.

The fuck you talking about? Roy looked physically shot and couldn't pull the trigger. His head movement was gone, so he had to resort to a crude shell defense and Calzaghe had a field splitting his guard.

The only people who like that fight are ones who hated Jones in his prime and were happy to see him take what he used to dish out.

 

[BoxingMMA]

The fuck you talking about? Roy looked physically shot and couldn't pull the trigger. His head movement was gone, so he had to resort to a crude shell defense and Calzaghe had a field splitting his guard.

The only people who like that fight are ones who hated Jones in his prime and were happy to see him take what he used to dish out.

well that’s not true because I liked both fighters, believe it or not, it’s possible. Roy didn’t look too bad until Joe started making him look bad. In fact it was joe who looked like crap at the beginning before he got his groove on.

I personally enjoyed the fight and the tactics implemented by joe.

 

[Gigaton Punch]

People like to bring up Hopkins age to downplay that win but Hopkins continued getting big wins and was relevant for years after
It was still a great win.

He ruined Jeff Lacy. To be fair, Lacy was a real hype job but he got shattered mentally that might and never recovered.

Anyway, "the next guy" at the time that people were putting up as a potential opponent for Joe was Chad Dawson lol. Now there's someone who built their reputation fighting older fighters and got exposed later lol

 

[treelo]

people seriously underestimate his win over Kessler, Kessler was a very very good fighter at the time and in his prime

 

[Hagler]

When his hands were still OK he was a wrecking ball. He was pretty good otherwise, and his record is decent. Nor an ATG neither a hypejob, a legit champ who was pretty dominant in his days.

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Didn't really follow his career too extensively. He seemed to have fought all but maybe 2 of his fights in the UK. Biggest wins were against:

Eubank who seemed to be at the tail end of his career as he lost twice more then retired.

Lacy who was still a young up and comer. Had quite a few losses after this fight as well before he hung it up.

Kessler who was probably one of his best wins considering they were both in their prime and had relatively similar records.

Hopkins who despite being an old timer by this point, was still a tough fight for anyone. His biggest win.

Jones who was well past his prime by this point. A shell of his old self.

How would you guys rank him?

he was a great fighter

 

[Jonny Ninja]

people seriously underestimate his win over Kessler, Kessler was a very very good fighter at the time and in his prime

Indeed, he beat a prime Kessler pretty easily. The 2 fights when Kessler was past his prime against Froch should put that in perspective, as they were both razor close

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Eh, Lacy blew out his left shoulder in his next fight against Tsypko. His power in that arm wasn't the same after he recovered from the surgery.

His best punch was gone. That played a massive role in his fall to mediocrity.

Also, Lacy's pre-Calzaghe competition wasn't that great. His signature win was over Robin Reid. Calzaghe gets a bunch of credit just because Lacy's promoter and Showtime did a lot of great PR work for Lacy.

the fight game is as much about confidence as anything else. He went from feeling invincible to completely vulnerable after that fight. That definitely affected his career going forward. It can do that. Nazeem hamed being another example

I think people also looked at their fights with Reid and expected this to be a tough fight for joe. I did! Lacy smashed him and Calzaghe just about squeezed past him.

On a separate note I met Jeff Lacey after he fought tony okie fairly recently. He’s a really nice dude, though I didn’t think bringing that fight up would’ve been a good idea. I did want to though

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

He ruined Lacy. One of the worst beatings in a boxing ring. Only reason Lacy went on to do nothing was solely because of that loss. That fight is the definition of a soul being taken from another fighter.

He was good. A slapper, but made up for it with a strong work rate and fast hands.

wasn’t it after the Lacy fight where he gave that interview “he called me a slapper, he said I was a slapper, look at his face!!”

I think he is incredibly underrated by most and perhaps slightly overrated by British fans. I don’t remember a fighter having as much problems as him with his hands though. People never give him credit for eubank and while yes he may have lost some of that killer instinct after the Watson incident he still had seven or eight finishes after that and up until Calzaghe hadn’t lost to anyone not named Collins.

 

[Roids]

people seriously underestimate his win over Kessler, Kessler was a very very good fighter at the time and in his prime

He was an absolute monster. Joe proved he was elite when he beat him. Roy was totally shot by 2004 though when Glen Johnson beat him up so nothing past that matters anymore.

 

[BangBang]

Too good to fight most of his opponents in their prime.

(He was very good though!)

 

[Yellowcrab]

People like to bring up Hopkins age to downplay that win but Hopkins continued getting big wins and was relevant for years after
It was still a great win.

Sure but a split decision against a 43 years old man who already had 54 fights put things in perspective...

Not to mention age is a much greater factor in lower weight classes, because there's less KO power as the ultimate equalizer.

That's why HW tend to be competitive longer.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

well that’s not true because I liked both fighters, believe it or not, it’s possible. Roy didn’t look too bad until Joe started making him look bad. In fact it was joe who looked like crap at the beginning before he got his groove on.

I personally enjoyed the fight and the tactics implemented by joe.

Imagine how that fight would have played out had they both met about 6-7 years prior.

 

[Gigaton Punch]

Sure but a split decision against a 43 years old man who already had 54 fights put things in perspective...

Not to mention age is a much greater factor in lower weight classes, because there's less KO power as the ultimate equalizer.

That's why HW tend to be competitive longer.

It was a split decision against a fighter who dominated an undefeated Kelly Pavlik in his very next fight and was fighting for and winning LHW belts for years after
Hopkins was still a top fighter and continued to be a top fighter for years after. Age doesn't mean shit when the results Hopkins was posting say otherwise. He wasn't washed any way someone wants to spin it

Jones, yes, was clearly way past it and was never really relevant after the 3 fight streak against Tarver and Johnson.

 

[GeneTunney7]

I recently found out that he was Nick Diaz’s favorite boxer which makes a lot of sense thinking about it. Calzaghe was super entertaining even if you don’t think he was one of the best. He was an entertainer and truly unique.

 

[BoxingMMA]

Imagine how that fight would have played out had they both met about 6-7 years prior.

I would have love to seen it, Roy was unique, a specimen, speed unlike I've ever seen before (or few could match) but Joe was a fighter that had none of those things, no size, no power, good speed but nothing like Jones, yet his ability to solve problems and adjust to any fighter was as unique as anything Jones brought to the table. I love both fighters and I am sad that I never get to see Joe even as a commentator anymore, at least we see Jones from time to time, his commentary in the Usyk Joshua fight was pretty great.

 

[benebox]

One of the best of his era but retired before he could stamp his legacy as one of the GOATs with fights against Froch and Ward. He was also avoided by the likes of Ottke during his prime. Bernard, Lacy, Kessler alongside being a 2 weight division champion and the record holder for most title defenses at SMW is a great career.

I put him just under Andre Ward, and over Froch on the p4p GOAT list.

 

[Kevster]

The exposing of Lacy was great to watch, the “what the fucks going on here” look slapped all over his and his teams faces never gets old.

 

[bjl12]

Calzaghe was definitely unique. He could fight though. Not sure where he ranks among ATGs but I'd pick a few guys to beat him including Canelo. That's no diss to Calzaghe either but Canelo has a small frame which gives opponents a small area of attack. That's relevant because Joe had a tendency to throw punches in bunches and was ripe for counters.

BHop landed a very effective left hook counter in their fight but Joe adapted and nothing else landed. This may be an unpopular take but I think Canelo is a better COUNTER PUNCHER than BHop...although I'd pick BHop to beat Canelo H2H

 

[BootyDaddy]

He was a great fighter. I agree the Kessler win was right up there with Hopkins.

The trouble with Calzaghe is he was too content to let Frank Warren cash in on him making mandatory defences in Wales for the best part of his career. Rather than taking the risk and stepping him up against the best a few years prior ... which he was more than capable of doing. The Ottke fight should have happened and Joe should have travelled to Germany for that. They were too concerned about getting robbed out there but he would have battered Ottke and that would have been his catapult into the big time at that point.