By Adam Fillingham: This is my first article on this website but I have been reading the website for quite some time now and I have noticed something. Joe Calzaghe is ridiculed in a lot of articles for not fighting the best opponents. Now I can see where these writers are coming from but Hopkins and Jones Jr both pulled out of a fight with Calzaghe in his and there primes. Let’s just look at the opponents he fought:
Chris Eubank was past his best. Yes. But he was still the no.2 contender for the WBO belt and was pretty much at the same position as Joe Calzaghe. The fight was also a very wide decision. He also knocked Eubank down in the first round which is very impressive.
His first defence against Branko Sobot I will admit wasn’t a great fighter and after his loss to Calzaghe did loose another nine fights and won only five. Joe though did comfortably knock him out in 3 rounds. Juan Carlos Gimenez Ferreyra also isn’t a great fighter as he lost eight fights but Joe also took him out comfortably.
Robin Reid was an ex-world champion with a good record. Calzaghe got a split decision but that was with a broken hand which means he could only power punch one handed and tap with the other. In his forth and fifth defences against Rick Thornberry a tough Australian and David Starie he won comfortable UD against good fighters, not world class, but good fighters.
Omar Sheika was boxing the fights of his life before he got into the ring with Calzaghe and it was lights out for him in 5 rounds. Richie Woodhall a good friend of Calzaghe was next up and he was also an ex-world champion. Joe ripped him to pieces and TKOd him in the 10th. Next up was undefeated in 30 fights Mario Veit who Calzaghe destroyed in under a round.
His next defence was against Will McIntyre who had never been knocked down before he got in the ring with Joe, and Joe knocked him down in the 3rd and the ref stopped it in the 4th. His next opponent was the tough Charles Brewer an ex-world champion and a tough fighter but Joe won easily on points.
Now I will admit that the time between the fight with Charles Brewer and the fight with Jeff Lacy he fought no real quality opponents in those seven defences of his WBO title ( defences were Miguel Angel Jimenez, Tocker Pudwill, Byron Mitchell, Mger Mkrtchyan, Kabary Salem, Mario Veit rematch, and Evans Ashira). This though was not all down to Calzaghe as Hopkins pulled out threw ‘money’ issues and Roy Jones just didn’t want to know.
Now Calzaghe fought Jeff Lacy supposedly the next ‘Mike Tyson’ and won every round. Now that should demand some sort of respect but there doesn’t seem to be any coming from the American side of the Atlantic. He also knocked Lacy down which doesn’t happen often and took home his IBF Super Middleweight belt.
Mikkel Kessler was the WBC and WBA world champion so he had to be a great fighter. Joe Calzaghe gave him an absolute boxing lesson and took home his titles. He Unified the Super Middleweight division and that also has to demand some respect.
I am not disputing that he didn’t dodge fighters but I have never heard of a fighter in the 21st century that doesn’t. He may not have fought Carl Froch, Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver or Jermain Taylor. You have to remember though that these fighters all dodged him at some point (maybe with the exception of Froch) and were only interested when the money was there.
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