Green stops Jones – Knock Out blow for Calzaghe’s Legacy
December 2nd, 2009
By Glenn Userain: Whether or not Joe Calzaghe has felt any physical pain over the last month he must certainly be smarting, as unusually within the world of boxing his resume has been almost completely discredited and has turned into a who’s who of boxers who were either in complete decline or who never produced at the top level. Without even stepping into the ring the 46-0 fighter who was a world champion and title holder for little over 10 years at Super Middle Weight has watched his achievements be undermined significantly, and he only has himself to blame.
Talk of being considered an all time great alongside the likes of Leonard and Duran could not be further from peoples’ minds when perusing their respective list of achievements. The irony of the whole situation is that in protecting his unbeaten record Calzaghe has left so many question marks over his career that it was being debated by boxing fans how good he actually was before he even retired.
Calzaghe has always pointed to four fights that prove he was world class and the best fighter at his weight at his time; Hopkins, Roy Jones Junior, Lacy and Kessler
Hopkins was beaten by a debatable split decision and had Calzaghe down hard in the first round. Let’s not forget that Hopkins was 43 years old at the time a full 15 years past his title bout with Roy JJ in one of the most physically demanding sports there is. There’s no doubting that Hopkins is still a good fighter after his schooling of the previously heralded Kelly Pavlik, but what would a 15 years younger Hopkins have done to Calzaghe? And why was the fight not made earlier?
Jeff Lacy was a fighter who never lived up to the hype that usually goes with unbeaten American prospects, unbeaten when he faced Calzaghe his career at the prime age of 32 has not got anywhere near the top level.
In the last few weeks Kessler who was unbeaten when he faced Calzaghe was comprehensively outpointed by American Pro novice Andre Ward who was in his 21st pro fight. As good as Ward promises to be Kessler looked one dimensional and out of ideas. He certainly has work to do to prove himself a worthy world level scalp on Calzaghes record and only time will tell.
Finally we have Roy Jones Junior who this evening in Australia was stopped after only 1:58 of his title bout against the Australian IBO cruiserweight belt holder Danny Green after being floored heavily with a right hand. There is no way that this should detract from what Roy JJ has achieved in his career, but what it does show is that he is no where near the fighter he was in 1993 when he beat Hopkins for the vacant IBF Middleweight title. The slide probably began with his back to back defeats to Tarver (twice) interspersed with a defeat to Johnson in 2004. Since then Roy JJ has looked a shadow of his former self but still took Calzaghe the distance in 2008.
Calzaghes protection of his unbeaten record has cost him dearly, for all the adulation he receives in the UK, history will judge him on the quality of opposition he faced. Of that there was not a great deal in the first place, but recently the few fighters that Joe claimed were world class have been exposed as either not good enough to be considered top contenders or simply well past their best. Boxing is a risky business and you can only be judged to be as good as the risks you have taken and triumphed from. Unfortunately for Joe and his fans he seems to have taken little risk and what he is left with now is a resume that may read unbeaten but with not even one fight against a worthy top level opponent in their prime.
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Joe Calzaghe has nothing to
prove. Jeff Lacy was the hardest
puncher in the division and Calzaghe
ended his career. Lacy was only a
shell of himself after that night
enough said
Joe Calzaghe undefeated
enjoy retirement, you earned
it.
i think mark and Truth have got it spot on. good but not great is the appropriate way to conclude on Calzaghe’s career.
Verdict on calzaghe’s legacy: Fragile. No one really knows what would have happened had he faced a prime RJJ. I think it’s fairly certain a prime, younger b-hop would have had enough in the tank to beat him. Who knows, had Calzaghe come to the US earlier, some upstart puncher might have taken care of him – although Joe’s chin was good. I will concede that fighter who has remained unbeaten, even with no big names on the CV, must be a very good fighter. An all-time great? Not in my books.
Guys with no losses, like Joe and Floyd Jnr, always go on about the fact that they have never lost. But greats of the game like Ali have lost. Losses don’t detract from your record if you are truly great. Losses usually mean that you have fought excellent opposition. Joe hasn’t the big names and super fights on his record. floyd never fought cotto, mosley or margarito – the top welterweights in his division. Although a fight with pacquiao will cement both fighter’s legacies (and floyd’s record is better than joes’).
let me address the diff between Joe’s record and RJJ’s record. true, there are no real huge names on RJJ’s record (except, of course, a rising B-hop). the diff is HOW RJJ won his fights. speed and power. knockouts. not just knocksouts, but audacious knockouts. Entertainment factor. Joe’s fast… but no real knock-out power. Certainly not enough power to trouble RJJ or B-hop. RJJ will be remembered for wowing audiences with extraordinary performances. That’s the difference. That is why RJJ will be remembered more fondly than Joe by the majority of boxing fans.
Mr Rich they have twice removed my links ? Maybe because its another boxing site, google bernard hopkins amateur record 94 – 5 and go to canada. Its there
Hold On!
I vividly remember Lacy being heralded as some kind of “Mini Tyson”, it’s not JC’s fault that he beat Lacy so badly, he’s looked terrible since.
He also beat an undefeated Kessler, a rock solid Chris Eubank and a tricky, dirty Hopkins.
If Calzaghe was American, you’d all be shouting him from the rooftops.
Just give Calzaghe some credit, he beat the best available to him, and I’m confident that he would have beaten a “Prime” RJJ, with or without the steroids.
I don’t believe Calzaghe could be a fighter like Roy in his prime, when they fought, I had to change the channel because that was only a shell of Roy in the ring, a primed Jones had lightning fast hands, the Roy I saw looked like a out of date android. I am positive had he fought any of those fighters in their prime he would not have a undefeated record.
@ steve
Provide the link then…. put it up for everyone to see….. i sure can provide proof
@ Mr Rich
Hopkins amateur record was 94-5 i can provide links to back this up. Can you provide any that state he had no amateur experience ?
Got Nothing to do with Calzaghe. By this twisted Logic this makes Green a better than Calzaghe. Desperate attempt at Discrediting Calzaghe. Pathetic.
all it means is green is a bigger puncher than joe dosent mean he would beat joe and anyone can be stopet in one round
Exactly, and how old are Johnson and Tarver? Yet Nobody accuses Chad Dawson of fighting old men. The double standards of the people on this site are a joke.
N. Thomas, you are spot on mate….well wrote.
why did joe not fht froch or dawson instead of old men and as for hopkins i thought joe lost it or a draw no unanimous decsion never fought out of his own backyard and his hand trouble is his own doing the way he slaps power punches none existant take a look bad technique
You have to judge a boxers record on the form of the boxers he fought at that time not their form years later.
Lacey was never the same boxer after being schooled by Calzaghe, but before the Calzaghe fight he was highly rated. The same goes for Kessler, Eubank etc…
Sugar Ray Leonard lost his last two fights to Terry Norris and Hector Camacho – did that damage the reputations of Thomas Hearns or Roberto Duran? – No!
Calzaghe unlike many fighters retired at the right time after a long, successful and unbeaten career – if he’d been American he be held in much higher regard by certain people.
And dont go on like you are the only one on this site who has ever laced up a pair of gloves and everyone else is just an armchair fan because you would be very much mistaken.
And as for Jones being a heavyweight champ… you must mean him beating the legendary John ruiz ha ha And you go on about how he was robbed of Olympic gold…. big deal! Auldley Harrison won Olympic gold, what does that prove? Does it make Audley a boxing great…. Like i said, back up what you say and i wont argue, you may even make a beleiver out of me. But dont go on like Calzaghe never fought anyone and RJJ is a legend….you cant have it both ways.
@ Mark
you are a mug! Name names, compare who Joe beat to Jones….. you will find that Jones didnt beat that many big names…..he decided to look great against lesser apponents…. If you are gonna talk rubbish at least try to back it up with fact.
why dont all the so called yank stars fight outside america….coz they get they the slight edge straight away when its comes to a score card….none of you yanks can deny that!!….roy jones first fight away from america and he was 40 years old!!!!! 40 years old!!!…..why did calzaghe have to run when jones FINALLY decided he would fight him…..why wont any americans fight outside VEGAS…..joe beat what was put in front of him end of….i mean u go on about him beat older boxers, well hello he was no spring chicken when he fought them either and he has hand injuries…..u dont repect british fighters when they dont jump at a click of a finger but when they do come over, teach your boxers a lesson they still get slaughtered…im not sure about this maybe other people around the world could but is the only boxing ring in vegas????…..is that why all the fights are there????…..lennox wanted to fight in his prime and you yanks where too scared of him…..he came bk in his late 30′s and slayed the legends
Well let’s see…
He was knocked down 4 times in his career, and never seemed hurt or in trouble. You never at any point in a Calzaghe fight felt that he was in danger of being knocked out or having the fight stopped. One of the knockdowns (the one by Roy Jones Jr.) was a forearm shot to the face. He never, EVER appeared tired. He was one of the best-conditioned fighters of all time.
He unified the super-middleweight division. Some contend that the division was weak…others say that Calzaghe was just too good. Many fighters avoided the super middleweight division, fighting at middleweight or light-heavyweight rather than facing the likes of Calzaghe, Lacy, or Kessler.
He attempted to get big fights, but he was at a disadvantage: He was Welsh, unknown to casual fans in the States, and too dangerous to take on without a large monetary reward. He tried to fight Hopkins, but Hopkins intentionally priced himself out at the last minute. Jones was never interested. Glen Johnson had already lost to guys that Calzaghe had beaten.
Calzaghe was big for a SMW, so going down to middleweight was never an option. He had a very hard time making 168 toward the end of his career.
Some folks criticize Calzaghe for never fighting ‘on the big stage’ in America. This is borderline retarded. There’s a thing called HBO, and there’s a thing called Millenium stadium in Cardiff. Why fight in Vegas when you can get the same TV coverage AND sell out a 50,000 seat arena? He fought American fighters, but he did them a favor by giving them a shot at the real big stage in Cardiff and on American television. You can never accuse Calzaghe of getting a hometown decision–the only fights of his that were even close were the Reid fight and the Hopkins fight.
He was 46-0, ranked #2 P4P by The Ring. He fought everyone in and around his division, and those that he didn’t fight had been beaten or have since been beaten by people he did fight (not that this means much, but some so-called fans rely on the ‘A beat B and B beat C’ argument). He typically dominated fights, not just edging out a win. He never used his superior speed and size to hide from an opponent. Heck, he spent 12 rounds right in 5’8 Lacy’s face when he could easily have run away all day. When his hands became to damaged to be used a knockout weapons, he adapted and continued to dominate.
The only legitimate criticism is that his record lacks names.
Get ready for a rant…
Calzaghe turns pro in 1993, building a record of 22-0(21 KO). (10 of the knockouts occur in the 1st round.) Gets his title shot against Chris Eubank, and wins the WBO title.
Calzaghe defends his title 17 times against fighters such as:
Omar Sheika–20-1(13 KO) (Beat Glen Johnson in previous fight)
Robin Reid–26-1-1 (19 KO)
Richie Woodhall–26-2(16 KO) (Beat Marcus Beyer)
Mario Veit–30-0(18 KO)
Byron Mitchell–25-2-1(18 KO)
Mario Veit–45-1 (23 KO)
The Reid fight ended in a split decision. The other fighters mentioned were all stopped.
Calzaghe is now 40-0(31 KO). Not bad for a slapper…
But that was all about to change in 2006. IBF Champion Jeff Lacy (21-0, 17 KO) was headed across the pond to show this slapper how it feels to be smacked around by a real man. Lacy was very highly regarded, and this bout was Calzaghe’s first big exposure to American fans. Lacy was the favorite going into the bout. Calzaghe destroyed him, took the belt, gained worldwide recognition, and ruined Lacy’s career.
Calzaghe next defended against Sakio Bika (20-1-2, 14 KO), winning a unanimous decision. (Bika is currently the #5 ranked SMW by The Ring).
After relinquishing the IBF belt to take out Peter Manfredo (in order to set up a potential fight with Jermain Taylor), Calzaghe got the unification fight with WBA/WBC Champion Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KO), beating him in a unanimous decision and becoming undisputed champion.
Having cleaned out his division, Calzaghe moved up to 175 to challenge Ring Champion Bernard Hopkins, who had beaten Oscar De La Hoya, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, and Felix Trinidad. Calzaghe won a split decision (one judge scored it 114-113 Hopkins, while the other two saw it much more decisively in favor of Calzaghe, 116-111, 115-112). Hopkins would go on to destroy Kelly Pavlik and is now ranked #4 P4P by The Ring.
Calzaghe then took on Roy Jones Jr. in Madison Square Garden. Jones had wins over Hopkins, James Toney, Clinton Woods, Felix Trinidad, and Mike McCallum. Calzaghe dominated the fight, winning by UD, and then retired at 46-0 (32 KO)
That’s his record. What’s his legacy?
lee h
im not a yank and i question joes record? read what TRUTH said in his last comment and you’ll find that europeans are supported quite well over there.
personally i dont think yanks given a flying f**k weather calazaghe won or loss just that he needed to prove himself and he didnt. if someone can prove me wrong do so or STFU!
lacy?b hop?(questionable decision)jones? kessler? the fighters i’ve mentioned were either shot, old or just not good enough!
truth hurts but i comend joe for retiring to keep his record in take.
ps i dont mind admitting that i dont like pitter patter punch boxers like joe and mayweather.. but thats just me.
for the record im a new zealander who generally supports europeans going to the states…
Joe beat everyone in front of him, but one thing is for sure after rjj 1st round stoppage joe got out at the right time cos jones had joe on the floor and took him the distance and jones is a shot fighter no question, so we should praise joe for having the guts to get out when he did cos personaly i think he knows he had nothing left, and fair play to him for giving it everything in his last fight to remain unbeaten and get out.
Joe’s legacy is unquestionable and the yanks can’t stand that.
im not going to be drawn into how many champions roys beaten and the challengers that he beat then went on to become champions!
not to mention but he is a former heavyweight champ he ACE! robbed of olympic gold..
you just aint worth it pal and just prove you are a fan writer
MR RICH
slap yourself idiot, who did roy beat!!! congrats you are an idiot!
I’ve always believed Joe to be a very over rated fighter. The one fight that sticks in my mind is when he fought the local boy from my home, Ricky Thornberry. Ricky trained in his brothers shed, out in a small country town and really, he was only a club fighter. Joe couldn’t even knock out Ricky and won the fight on points after 12 rounds. No disrepect to Ricky, but Joe, any champion would’ve floored Rick inside 3 rounds.
Who has Jones fought?
Well said Mark
The one thing I never understood about Calzaghe not coming to America is Why?
Floyd Mayweather lives in Vegas…
But when Hatton came to town, Hatton got more love in Vegas than Floyd!!
Cotto gets more love in NY than any American fighter, including Zab Judah who was born and raised in NY.
When B-Hop fought Trinidad in NY, B-Hop was the one who was booed.
Pac-Man hasn’t heard a boo in America in 5yrs.
Name the last time an American was cheered and a European was booed in Europe?
And foreginers generally don’t get robbed compared to Americans in Europe and Mexico. (see Winky Wright)
He would have gotten paid and loved, so one can only conclude he had another reason for not coming.
sorry, my last comment was meant to say DID anybody no joe…
DAVEY
mate why would roy want to come to britan to fight joe??? anybody new joe back then lets be brutally honest!
like i said everybody knows the moneys in vegas to think otherwise is ignorance!
as for your american tirade, well it shows what type of person you really are to bring race?nationality even into it. whenever i come on these blogs i always say to myself the first to bring up that kind of s**t is actually full it it themselves.
you need to get of joes d**K and tell us who hes beaten thats credible and woth even being mentioned as a boxing legend!
joes good, very good, but not great
The problem with the using Jeff Lacy as a measure is that Lacy never beat a top ranked opponent before Joe and never beat a top ranked opponent after Joe.
So its hard to prove that Joe took his heart, maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.
If he had beaten a big-time fighter before Joe, we could prove it, but he didn’t.
London Magician:
Your right about Bowe and people hold it against him to this day. Lennox beat him as an ameture and Bowe always had some reason not to fight him.
But the fact that Calzaghe stayed in the S.Middleweight division and wouldn’t leave Wales is hard to swallow.
What if Pac-Man refused to leave the Philipines or all the great Mexican fighters refused to leave Mexico?
C’mon people get real, get on the big stage and fight great fighters in their prime!
here here TRUTH!
well said.. the problem isnt calazaghes talent, hell he is extremlly talented. BUT HE HASNT FOUGHT ANYONE!
win loss or draw you gain respect.
as for the “they didnt want to come to britan” for f**KS SAKE the moneys in vegas, baby!!!
wrong i did`nt say they hated him, my point is that in general America thinks its so great that there view must be right which is pure ignorance,plus beating two undefeated world champs is not cherry picking plus one was american and had all the odds with him. In their prime Jones didnt come to Britain and Calzaghe did`nt come to America, the fights never came to be, theres faults on both sides.
Just saying, “The Americans hate him.” is a cop out.
He didn’t fight enough quality opponents, period.
Floyd Mayweather, who last I checked was American, gets ripped the same way. Ducking and dodging, hand picking fights and retiring to save his record.
But at least Floyd will take on all-comers if the money is right and he pretty much cleaned out the lightweight division early in his career!
Everybody in America respects Hatton, who win or lose, fights everyone.
Everybody in America respects Lennox Lewis.
Most Americans picked Kessler to win the Super6.
Most Americans wanted to see the David Haye – Klitchko matchup.
The most beloved fighter in America right now is Manny Pacquiao. Last I checked he can barely speak english.
So stop hiding behind “Joe’s not a Yankee”!!
Calzaghe stopped Juan Carlos Gimenez Ferreyra who went the full with Duran, Does Joes win indirectly discredit both Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard???? No it dont. why? Because styles make fights… all part of boxing
Well Calzaghe took on Kessler a undefeated 2 belt World Champ who was in his prime as was Lacy, hows that bad? what? just cos Calzaghe and Ward beat him? It now means nothing?
To say the Lacy Fight means nothing is a real sad excuse, at the time it meant everything especially to the Americans who were certain Lacy would win, the odds were against him yet Calzaghe took the fight on, i dont call that hiding. Calzaghe Schooled Lacy and made him look normal with his brilliant boxing skills, Lacy is not much now, yes thats true ,but thats only because Calzaghe took his boxing soul from him and turned him into what he is.
I dont see how i`m wrong, your view is your view , Just cos its America the view of things must be right????? Plus the fight was made with Hopkins but he pulled out, Also Calzaghe fought Manfredo only cos it was said the winner would fight Taylor, but sadly Taylor outpriced himself. Lets not forget Benn offered Jones The full purse and would fight Jones wherever he wanted but Jones did not reply, whatever discredit critics put on Calzaghe the same can be done on Hopkins and JOnes in the same way , too easy, plus if Jones was so great why would he need home advantage? see its all swings and roundabouts
What a pathetic, hate fuelled article.
What about other people who have beaten Roy Jones, doesn’t that make them less able as well?
Quit looking for tarnishes in Calzaghe. The man’s retired as an undefeated fighter, who beat many good boxers along the way. Seriously, it’s so sad that you American’s are still getting on his back.
And it has nothing to do with him not being American, it has to do with not having a career defining fight.
A career defining fight, win or lose, gets you respect in the US.
Hagler-Hearns, Lenard-Duran, Gatti-Ward, Ali-Frazier…
Calzaghe-Eubanks??
Calzaghe vs. two 40+yr olds??
Calzaghe-Kessler?? After Kessler got schooled by Ward who’s just a baby?
Again, he’s good, not great.
Davey
Your just flat out wrong on that.
Boxers fight for money, the money is in Vegas. Calzaghe refused to leave Wales and wanted stupid splits when the other guy was the draw.
B-Hop is respected but personally disliked in America (especially back then), if Joe would have just taken the split and/or came over here and beaten Hop, he would have been printing his own money! The rematch alone would have made million$!!
But with Joe theirs always some reason…
Roy offered a fight years ago, but it had to be in the US and Roy had to get a generous split (but still Joes biggest payday), at that time Roy was the biggest name in the sport, Joe should have taken that with no hesitation!
But with Joe theirs always some reason…
I think he could have easily beaten J. Taylor, so just sign the fight I thought
But with Joe theirs always some reason…
Glenn Johnson will fight him today for a can of beans, so will Tarver, Chad Dawson, Pavlik, and everybody in the Super 6. Even B-Hop has asked for a rematch!
But with Joe theirs always some reason…
just accept that they could`nt agree Period , Taylor and Hopkins outpriced themselves when it came to Calzaghe , Hopkins even more so as he pulled out days before the fight was to be……….
Actually i recall Calzaghe calling out Jones after the Eubank fight but got no reply, Jones didnt want to leave his native land, the argument swings both ways…….
Had Joe lost just one fight,we wouldn’t be on this subject at all,and if he were American we wouldn’t be questioning him either. you yanks just dig for excuses every time ya get beat by another nation.
At one time I was a Joe defender (early 2000′s) and I waited and waited and waited for him to take on an American fighter of note.
But it became apparent to me that he was ducking fights that were in his financial interest to take. (Something Money May wouldn’t even do!!)
He was offered the Roy fight 10yrs ago and said no because he doesn’t wanna leave Wales!?!? That would have been the biggest payday of his career!
Their was a dozen paydays waiting for him at middleweight, he didn’t want to lose 7 lbs, their was a dozen fights waiting for him at light-heavy he didn’t want to gain 7 lbs.
So he stayed in Wales, in the empty S.Middleweight division for 10yrs, knocked off 40yr old Roy, slap-boxed 43yr old B-Hop to a split decision and beat 2 never weres.
He’s good, but he’s no great.
Also think about it…. Calzaghe Schooled the Teacher Jones nobody had done that and in the championship Rds held off a bit, wheareas Johnson ,Tarver, and Green got Jones with Flash KOs, in true boxing terms what was the more humiliating defeat???
Kabz get your facts right Hopkins pulled out of fighting Calzaghe just before the fight by out pricing himself, and Taylor outpriced himself too they hid behind the dollar sign. Benn and Collins both called Jones out but he did`nt reply, yet he gets credit from Americans whereas Calzaghe gets discredit why? cos his American opponents hid behind the dollar? not Calzaghes fault that the fights never came to be, the fault lies with those who feared him, and only took him on when it was safe too “aka Jones Jrs own words “if he beats me who cares? But if I beat him I stopped his undefeated streak” Do Your Maths!!!
@ 31… steve
you need to check your history….. Hopkins turned pro after leaving prison… who did he fight as an amateur? Nobody, after 24 or 25 fights as a pro without amateur experience he went the distance with Roy Jones jr, an olympic silver meddlist who was robbed of gold with over 130 amateur fights…. Get your facts right people! if Calzaghe is overrated then so is Jones! End of!
People who like Joe and his undefeated record, should love Money Mayweather.
Apparently ducking fights to preserve your record is more important than quality wins.
Calzaghe fought Jones at the age of 37 and at light heavy, probably Roys most natural weight thesedays, how old is Green?
Oh and i totally agree with what mark said
lol at this clueless writer. How does this discredit Calzaghe? He fought RJ Jr ages ago and at a different weight. Pipe down son
at the end of the day he was UNDEFEATED! he never lost, there is no way anyone can call him overrated. If any of u haters actually saw him fight ud realise this.
It is very sad when some bum denigrates a retired fighters record. He was unbeaten and was a world champ for over 10 years, he moved up to Light heavyweight at the end of his career to fight the legends, the fighters he respected. What happens to these fighters later is meaningless as it is about the fight in the fighter and money doesn’t necessarily motivate that. He retired because he lost his motivation.
rocky ill back wat u have said..the question is why do so many people jump on calzaghe back? errr u name five fighters who were in the prime who were real champions calzaghe can really say i beat them clean..wat real wars did calzaghe go? im a big fan of hatton and although he got exposed against the big boys he was a real champ who dusted himself and still going against the best…thats why people take hatton side over calzaghe..frcoh over calzaghe all day long…BENARD AND ROY r legends and no im not from america..
maybe by me saying froch will beat hands down calzaghe is going a bit 2 far..but what really annoys me abt calzaghe he never took the big fights..if u look at the super 6 they are the best middleweight and for me calzaghe should of been involved in the mix to shut people like me up and a huge majority of fans who doubt him and what he has achieved..u cant wave goodbye by beating a 40year old jones and say im the best..u never deserve credit like that in boxing..froch has no defence but at least he goes in the ring 2 entertain..calzaghe few combs of quick slaps and runs away and the fans get all excited..a joke..i just wanted him 2 take on the big boys and prove wat a real champ is..now thats me talking boxing for u people…
another calzaghe bashing, if joe was american e would b a legend, jealousy thats all
I have to agree with this, although joe gets full credit for beating bernard hopkins. I mean Hokpins gets better like a fine wine lol But saying that joe should have given hopkins a rematch because it was extremely close because i actually had hopkins winning the fight only just! but it could have gone either way.
However calzaghe destroying lacy means nothing anymore and beating roy jones meant nothing anyway after all jones was just an old man who didnt want to let go of his youth. Johnson and Tarver ended his career prior to joe beating him.
But its not joe’s fault i guess, just the way boxing has been thesedays. The big fights in recent years have also consisted of one man in his prime and the other not in his prime.
Mayweather v Pacquaio is the first match to have two truely great fighters in their prime for god knows how long
guys you have to base your comments without any bias or comments become nothing more than a fan rave.
calazaghe was good, any idiot can see that, but great, not a chance. PROVE IT!
as for comparing joe’s and roy’s ages and the argument that “an old joe beat an old roy, what would a young joe do to roy”. what BS!
joe obviously aged beater! that happens you no!
i am a vivid boxing follower and follow the sport intently. i was an amatuer boxer but never went pro or anything like that(wasnt good enough).
im not a brit or a yank so i have no bias, just base my comments on common sense and the luv of the sport
i would batter that calslappy, hes right soft
Mr Rich Bull Hopkins was a world champion when he fought Jones and he damn well did have amateur experience.
OMG! u calazaghe nuthuggers are unreal! who has joe beaten!!!!
mr rich pull you f***en head in mate! roy jones was the greatest middleweight boxer of our time BAR NONE! joe wouldnt have got close to him!
try and convice yourselves all you want but joe was a very good boxer that had great management to protect his career!
who was his best wins? roy, shot. lasy, overated and not good enough, kessler, good but not great and hopkins, i rate this as his best fight or most credible, but hopkins was 5 plus years past his prime. and he never hurt bernard just pitter patter that joe does
its amazing isnt it?marciano beats up a nobody…they are never the same again..not just small/old /useless to start off with
here we go again. just like you guys did with hatton, now you are trashing calzaghe. man you guys are cheap.
haha just cant leave Calzaghe alone, he is RETIRED!! he would still beat ward tomorrow after a kebab and a pint, different league, forgot it
Calzaghe just keeps on gettin exposed…..finally everybodys beginning to see the overrated fraud I always said he was
KABZ,we will never no if froch will beat calzaghe.joe as retired with a unblemished 46-0 record end of story
calzaghe is not half the fighter rjj or b hop are and rjj gettin destroyed by green prooves that a past his prime rjj can take calzaghe all the way………calzaghe is the most overatted fighter period
On the article below Kabz proves how little he knows about boxing by stating Froch would beat Cazaghe hands down. What an idiot.
wat this fight did show was how overated calzaghe legacy is..if u look at it his best fights were with lacy who got beat by every1 and B-Hopkins which was a really close fight.which i think benard won..and then u have roy jones jnr who was old and calzaghe still managed 2 get knocked down by benard and roy in the first round..lets not forget it was calzslappy who said that what we he gain in fighting roy jones four years ago..check his autobiography..the fight i will give calzaghe a little credit was against kessler bt again he did nothing special apart from a few combinations shots and then run..good article by the way..froch will beat calzaghe hands down…
Who cares man, Calzaghe beat everyone put in front of him. He unified the super middleweight division and had a record number of defences. Whats any of this got to do with his legacy. At the end of the day no one will remember the writers or pointless articles on this website but theyll remember UNDEFEATED legend Joe Calzaghe.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Joe take on Arthur Abraham.
Plus Roy Jones had 134 amateur fights…. so you can work out who was in the prime and who was a novice.
@ steve
Hopkins vs Jones was only hopkins 24th or 25th fight as a pro and before that he had no previous amateur boxing carreer… just what he learned while he was in prison. The Hopkins that lost to Jones and the Hopkins that lost to Calzaghe are not comparable. Calzaghe fought the much better Hopkins.
If joe was american the yanks would not stop saying how great he was.Because hes not a yank all you will hear is crap talk about him from these socalled boxing writers on this forum. Get over it you disbelivers he was unbeaten end of the waffle .
oh i have a twist to all this, Calzaghe stopped Juan Carlos Gimenez Ferreyra who went the full with Eubank, Benn and Duran , does this win of Calzaghes discredit Duran??? LOL!!!
So does this result make Hopkins an out an out bum seeing as Jones dominated him ?
Another Calzaghe article. Been getting tips from scotty hey? Kessler losing to Ward doesnt discredit Joe , he beat Kessler when kessler was in his prime and undefeated and as Kessle has admitted tat loss has affectd him. Joe beat Jones but both guys were past there Prime Calzaghe was past his prime when he schooled Lacy, his punch power gone due to hand injurys. Knocking Tough Chinned former champ Eubank on the Canvas in the 1st round doesnt give Joe credit??? , not even Benn could do that to Eubank. At least Brewer came to fight unlike Hopkins. Mitchell put Joe down and then Joe sent him packing thats what true champ does!, Sheika ( who was a top contender at the time of fighting Joe)got blooded and schooled, Reid fight was close but that only gives credit to Joe who got the win with an injured hand , Woodall teribly underated by Americans why thats?? obvious he not American duuuh!!!., Bika now a top 5 Super Middleweight( who he beat one handed as he did Reid) and i could go on and on Its not Calzaghe fault Taylor outpriced himself as did hopkins years back. Hopkins is a fighter who has improved with age and schooled Pavlik but fought a dirty crafty fight against Joe as that was his only chance. And as stated as before Calzaghe has been past his prime before he even fought Lacy , not his fault his boxing skills make good fighters look like novices. Add it up Super workrate, fast effective jab, great fotwork, Geat Ring IQ then stick a powerful punch on the end that. Thats Calazghe in his prime( both Eubanks feet were off the canvas before he hit the deck!!!! So just get over your sad self.
It would have been a lot worse if Calzaghe had actually LOST to the guys he faced.
Calzaghe’s unbeaten record seems to cause obsessive hatred amongst a certain core of boxing fans.
For what it’s worth I think that for a guy that can’t punch very hard at world level Calzaghe did alright.
Calzaghe’s record speaks for itself and his legacy is excellent.
Lets get it right, Hopkins was still very green when he was beat by RJJ… Hopkins didnt have any amateur experience, turned pro straight away and basically learned on the job. Hopkins was by far a better fighter against Calzaghe than he was against Jones. So once you tick an inexperienced Hopkins off of RJJ’s CV, who has Jones really fought?
A washed up Felix Trinidad who had never fought at the weight before and James Toney….thats IT!
If Calzaghe isnt considered an all time great then neither should Roy Jones jr.
so let me get this straight if an old calzaghe beats an old Roy Jones Jr who then sticks around EVEN LONGER and really starts showing his age that effect Calzaghe how?
I agree good article
been a bad month 2 of Calzaghe bests names on resume have been beaten badly
Calzaghe only good win now is Hopkins and he isnt even in his prime
Jones getting blown out in 1 round has got nothing to do with Joe Calzaghe or his ‘legacy’.
All it proves is that Jones is a shot fighter and he has been for years.The only one who’s legacy is being damaged is Roy’s.He should’ve known when to get out of the fight game but his ego still tells him he’s a great fighter.
explain wats this got to do with calzaghe’s legacy plz????
apparently just putting the comment “moron” is too short and not allowed so i’ve had to waste more time on you than I originally intended too. anyway, moron.
hear we go again joe this joe that all i can say is never beaten stop with the excises and get a grip