Can Calzaghe Slap His Way To Victory Over Jones?
October 28th, 2008
By Scott Gilfoid: Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) has had an amazing career, staying undefeated throughout his long 15 year career and holding his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight title for an incredible 10 long years without one opponent even coming close to beating him. Almost all of his bouts have taken place in Wales, having only recently come over to the U.S for his hard fought 12-round split decision victory over Bernard Hopkins.
For many Americans, they were less than impressed with Calzaghe, in particular his slapping punches which looked pale in comparison to the hard, clean-landing shots from Hopkins. In the end, Calzaghe squeaked by with a narrow split decision due to Hopkins tiring out in the second half of the bout, and resorting to clinching and other such delaying tactics. Nevertheless, the slapping and lack of clean landing shots from Calzaghe made his U.S. debut more than a little disappointing, because fighters over here are usually expected to land harder punches in order to win. While Calzaghe was able to get the nod over Hopkins last time out, I have grave doubts that he will get a second win if he fights in a similar manner on November 8th against Roy Jones Jr.
I assure you, Calzaghe won’t score well with the judges if all he does is slap away at Jones, because the American judges’ generally look for harder, cleaner landing punches and will be possibly giving more rounds to Jones if he can land the better shots, even though he’ll no doubt be out-punched by Calzaghe in the fight.
There’s no question that Jones has no chance at trying to match Calzaghe’s high volume output. There’s few fighters that can, and essentially none in the super middleweight and light heavyweight class. Even in his prime, Jones wasn’t ever able to fight like that. With his incredible hand speed and excellent defensive ability, he never had to throw nearly as many punches as Calzaghe in order to win. Jones’ speed and defense were so great, he could win rounds simply by landing a handful of punches. The question here, though, is whether Jones can still land a decent amount of harder shots while at the same time making Calzaghe miss with many of his slaps.
In terms of technique, Jones is the much superior fighter. Sure, he’s unorthodox, but he’s quite effective at what he does and has essentially created a whole new style of fighting, which is now being copied by a number of younger fighters such as Sergio Martinez. Hands down, Jones is the better fighter between him and Calzaghe on technique alone. Calzaghe comes in square every time, throwing a massive amount of punches and leaving himself open for counter shots.
He’s gotten away with a lot of his bad form because most of his opponents up until the Mikkel Kessler and Hopkins bout, were slower European fighters. With Jones, all of Calzaghe’s defects will probably be exposed in the same way that Hopkins exposed Kelly Pavlik’s numerous flaws. In their primes, Calzaghe would have never stood a chance against Jones. However, it will be interesting to see if Jones has enough left at 39 to defeat Calzaghe.
32 Responses to “Can Calzaghe Slap His Way To Victory Over Jones?”
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Amir khan gets criticised and hated by Brits after defeating Barrera. Apparently Khan was a sneak for challenging a Barrera who is deteriorated they say.
These are the same people who hype up Calzaghe.
Hypocrisy at its very funniest.
On the night Amir Khan fough Barrera, there were 2 other British fighters fighting on the same night in the same stadium. They were white guys. Cook and Enzo Maccarinelli. They were both cheered loudly by home fans. Amir Khan was booed and mocked by these same fans. One of my friends who went to the fight heard racist things being said about Khan by people a few rows back.
Then a couple of black British boxers fought in another stadium and they got booed by these british fans aswell.
You do the maths.
Why is it that white british boxers get cheered but the coloured guys get booed?
Marciano did not defeat the best in their primes.
Struggled against old man Walcott.
Struggled against old man Moore.
Defeated a Joe Louis who came out of retirement and trained by himself and looked completely washed up at about 37 years old.
Struggled againt Ezzard Charles who was not old BUT was suffering from ring weariness and was looking in bad condition after several defeats prior facing Marciano.
Marciano finally at 49-0 gets an offer from the new sensation Sonny Liston. Perfect chance for Marciano at age 31 to add another win and get milestone 50-0.
But no! He refuses and retires. Why? Because he knows that Liston would have demolished him and ended his unbeaten run.
Some say that Liston was not properly established and didnt deserve Marciano at that time. But remember that was more reason to fight Liston so he could get a guaranteed win to achieve the 50-0 milestone.
But Liston was simply too dangerous for Marciano. Rocky knew it and decided to retire.
This was what exposed Marciano to me.
Calzaghe the next white fighter to retire undefeated but another conman like Marciano. Although a much worse conman than Marciano.
You will always see many white people talk only about Marciano. Now that they see Calzaghe retire undefeated its all about Calzaghe all of a sudden! That just shows their racial motivations. They want to ignore the fact that coloured fighters have by far dominated boxing for a long time in recent memory. They resented it for years and grab any opportunity for a white hope.
This is not Brit vs American. This is a racist issue.
Lennox Lewis was not hyped up by british fans after he defeated washed up Tyson and Holyfield. But Calzaghe is after beating washed up RJJ. Most of these fans supported Hatton until Hatton lost his undefeated record to Mayweather so they jump onto the Calzaghe bandwagon.
You only need to stir the soup a little bit and you see what the underlying motivations are.
Americans think they are the greatest things in the world, they cannot stand losing to a Brit! They talk without understanding, they are arrogant, self obsessed morons! Face it you are not the greatest and never will be!
gota say yous yanks dont see futher than the end of your nose.i wonder about the sories of jones and mosley and those supplements they were taking from that lab that was discovered to have banned substances in their products it, was shortly after that was exposed that both jones and mosley started to loose there edge.that alone has tarnished jones for me.calzaghe to win round 9 tko
If you want final confirmation of my argument compare Roy Jones Jnr’s career highlights to that of Calzaghe’s. In the main watching Joe’s highights is like watching a plodding pub (bar) fighter. I firmly believe that the very best fighters have always possesed the ability to make boxing look like art. When I watch Joe fight I see very little artistry. Those of you out there that regularly watch DVDs of “Joe Calzaghe’s Greatest Fights” and pass it off as entertaining or enjoyable, need psychological help. I mean how can anyone compare Calzaghe’s victory over Lacey, with that of say Mayweather’s performance against Hatton.
Only in Britain do we hype someone up off the back of very little substance. Why don’t we just go the whole hog and start comparing ‘Duck the best’ Joe to Sugar Ray Robinson, Leonard, Hagler, etc. I agree that 45-0 fails to stand up if you have never fought the best in his prime. But hey, we are a nation that rank David Beckham as one of the best soccer players ever to have played the game . Which says it all about our sporting judgement, really!
Jones is a legend. Calzaghe can’t lace his gloves. How can you acquire legendary status fighting a bunch of nobodies. It’ll be Mayweather Vs Hatton all over again.
32 stopages i doubt he slaps if so the yanks must all be poofs cause he has dismantled all comers so far 45-0-32 read it give him credit you twat
Ask Jeff Lacy if Calzaghe slap punches.
you cant slap your way to a world title and hold on to it for ten years.Joe will beat jones on points then have one more fight and maybe slap you about after it!
remember slapsie maxie
Roy Jones will lose. He may no have done eight years ago. But that, Carlito, was a long time ago. Calzaghe will either overwhelm him with his barrage of punches or simply win with ease on UD. I cannot see a way for RJJ to win the fight. Calzahe all the way for me.
ha ha
Well after winning the Championship belt, from a clown at the latter stages of his career Mr Eubanks, he dissapeared into the Wbo elite ranking zone ooh. Now lets be honest a dozen tomato cans with some names that were difficult to pronounce without twisting your tongue, and avoiding some domestic competion where a couple of guys would have given him a tussle, Robin Reid need I say more. Took the option at staying local in a comfy zone, and opted for the Wbo tomato cans instead, big mistake when you have a date with Mr Jones he soon will know the difference we’ll see.
Typo; i meant to say Calzaghe is from a predominantly european division, not jones.
No arguments lads just true facts you guys need to snap out of it and understand where real credible legends are from, and they don’t exist in euroland.
Hahahahahahahah i love the title of this article. Made me laugh. Yup sloppy joe will win
Carlito you are a tool…..it annoys me just how bad the anti-calzaghe arguments are…..just how single minded are you lot!! Every argument that I have heard which criticises JC has no substance at all. How the hell has Calzaghe played it safe???? How do we jump on the bandwagon?? You lot were all loving Lacy till he got a beating.
Ben: your missing this crucial point britain rarely have a fighter capable of reaching this legendary status that the Brits long for. So here comes along Calzaghe, im not knocking his record yes the guy is undefeated, has ex amount of defences of his title. Not doubting that at all, and not taking that away from him either. The thing is when Britain does come along with a fighter with any distiction the brits will jump on the bandwagon and make him a legend in there own words, but see you have mentioned Eubanks and Benn together, not even thinking or looking at Benns record the guy has mixed it in with the sort of fighters that Joes people will hide from, cant say the same about Eubanks because Joe and Eubanks played it safe in there respected careers where as Benn been in with fighters who were a real threat, as I mentioned before you have to look at the credibility of the oppoistion Calzaghe faced before any criticism is drawn. Also it would be very insulting to think or even dream about giving JOE CALZAGHE the status he is begging for, you only have to look at his record without being biased and then make your minds up, gotta think with the brain at times.
The anti-calzaghe brigade are at it again and are talking aload of crap! I would dare any of you to take one of JC’s punches and say that it didn’t hurt.
“other such delaying tactics” you mean cheating, faking like a baby cos calzaghe was coming on stong and hopkins couldnt go with the pace.
You ask Jeff Lacy, but as Calzaghe destroyed him, all of a sudden Lacy was not as good as people were saying he was pre-Calzaghe. Granted, some of Calzaghe’s opponents over the years have been moderate at best, but then show me a boxer who hasn’t faced moderate foes at varying stages in theeir careers. All fighters have, past and present.
These idiots saying it would be different if Calzaghe was black? and in Marciano’s time there were no black fighters? you people don’t know what your talking about! in Britain there are NO black fighters who are big anyway! so how can Calzaghe be a white hope? White boxers rule this side of the world, and why didn’t Benn and Eubank get stick for not fighting Jones, Toney or Hopkins like Calzaghe always has? it’s all about finding the next great black hope! by the way all Marciano’s best wins were over black fighters, so…?
Jeff Lacy was not European was he…… no.. I think he was the USA’s new Mike Tyson before he walked into the ring with Calzaghe. Bikta wasn’t European, Manfredo wasn’t European, Hopkins wasn’t European…… he would hammer Pavlik as you now all know… he isn’t European… and he isn’t very good either. Come to think of it…. the best of boxing these last few years have all been European… so I would say that Joe has done pretty damn well. If Joe was American you would be thriving off him – Calzaghe would be a great in your eyes. You would think that because he is… and he always will be. Your arguments are shallow and dont have much grounding. He has fought everyone that there is to fight. Hopkins never got tired in the second half of the fight with Palik because Pavlik wasn’t hurting him. He slowed down with Calzaghe because those ‘slaps’ that you call them were hurting him and leaving an effect. These comments you leave are that ill thought and some that stupid that perhaps calzaghe should come find you and give you a few ‘slaps’ so you can see what impact they have. As for American judges scoring for boxers that hit clean and hard….. what happened in Vegas when he won on points??
don’t you think its Jones that has waited to age since Joe has wanted to fight him for years, Maybe Jones wanted a good reason to lose!!!
The only question the writers of this website need to answer is why there has never been calls that a Yank has to fight Joe to prove them selfs!!
Im glad someone said it. If calzaghe was black this would have been mentioned a long time ago. Just as Marciano’s era included no black boxers, its hard to look at Calzaghe’s career when he has fought nobody of distinction other than an aged Eubanks and Hopkins (who he either drew with or lost). To put it in perspective, 45-0 does not always tell the same story and the record of Lennox Lewis, Barrera, Margarito, De La Hoya, Chavez, Hopkins, Nelson, Mosley, Holyfield and the rest will all be better because even though all have lost they at least fought great fighters. ”Stay at home Joe” for a reason. Nothing to do with him being from Britain. Eubanks,Benn,Lewis are all British. But their records in terms of opposition cannot be compared to Joe Calzaghe. He has a legacy of nobody’s and over the hills. Roy Jones Junior was DESTROYED by Tarver and Johnson over 4 years ago!! Since then he has lost his speed, and his heart. What qualifies this to be a legacy cementing fight? Its a joke, and because of that he has gone down in my estimation somewhat. It would have been more credible to fight Hopkins again than take this option……
Old is gold Calzaghe wants to retire undefeated waited so long for the great to age, clever not. It’s the recognition factor, just wondering if Joe was a black fighter. Opinions would surely be different considering his record of stiffs, aside from a aged Eubanks, Hopkins and a european one dimensional robot in Kesseler. Deep down Mr Joe is privileged just to share the same ring as the great Roy. A guilty conscious lead Joe to take this fight, after looking at his CV with no recognisable names he opted to sign a suicide contract, best of luck Joe you need plenty of it.
Ask Jeff Lacy whether Calzaghe’s punches don’t sting. His face was more swollen than Don King’s bank account after that fight.
sten what are you talking about Joe’s chin ant durable, he has only been on the floor 3 times in 45 fights and never lost, plus it was mainly Hopkins pushing Joe down after the punch rather than the punch putting him down. I take it you never watched the fight against Kessler where Joe took some great shots.
I really don’t know where how you Yanks write some of this rubbish if Joe slaps he slaps hard 32 KOs not a bad record is it, Im sure his record would be much better if he fought against a yank in all his fights, trouble is no one from the US wanted to fight him, i wounder why!!!!
yer but those slaps are hard, joe has got one of the trickiest styles out there, hes a southpaw and doesnt stop throwing punches from all angles, he will knock jones out.
This site gets worse and worse for bad mouthing british fighters!! Calazage is and always will be a champion and legend for his achievements. His slapping punches has managed to knock out 32 fighters and never received a loss!
I imagine when Joe beats Jones you will say that no one is bothered and Jones was over the hill anyway. Joe fought Kessler in his prime schooled him much like Hopkins on Pavlik, which is exactly what Joe would do to Pavlik.
In terms of why Joe took the fight with Jones, does anyone not think that factors such as they are legends in their own right and has never fought even though Jones ducked Joe many years ago. Fighting people like Pavlik who has not been through and conquered as much as both of the fighters means nothing to them.
Legends fight Legends, and come November 8th Joe will still be undefeated and bow out as one of the greatest champions who ever lived!! And he won’t be American for once!!!
I think slaps will overcome. Glen Johnson was no George Foreman, nor Antonio Tarver, and yet…..