Is Calzaghe the best white boxer since 1990?

[stevieb_8006]

Carl froch :P I've said this purely for the shitstorm to follow

[jessi]

Carl froch :P I've said this purely for the shitstorm to follow

It's a good shout

[milpool]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

When Joe was fighting, most people slated him for slapping, fighting bums etc. Now he's retired he's seen by some as the GOAT.

[Ian1973]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

When Joe was fighting, most people slated him for slapping, fighting bums etc. Now he's retired he's seen by some as the GOAT.

I think he is hugely under-rated. he was never seen as a slapper until his hands went and he had to adjust his style. The fighting bums thing /I don't buy as he beat Lacy who at the time was the new tyson, Jones and Hopkins who went on to win world titles 6 years later.

Joe Calzaghe deserves his place among the all time greats IMO far more so than Ricky Hatton who was beaten fair and square by Mayweather and Pacquiao.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

When Joe was fighting, most people slated him for slapping, fighting bums etc. Now he's retired he's seen by some as the GOAT.

I think he is hugely under-rated. he was never seen as a slapper until his hands went and he had to adjust his style. The fighting bums thing /I don't buy as he beat Lacy who at the time was the new tyson, Jones and Hopkins who went on to win world titles 6 years later.

Joe Calzaghe deserves his place among the all time greats IMO far more so than Ricky Hatton who was beaten fair and square by Mayweather and Pacquiao.

Name me one other 'world champion' who made a second defence against a man he defended against previously in a round?

(And we are not talking about fighters beating a champion in a round and winning again in a rematch).

What happened to myr mthchshanakian?

And that Pudwill feller and remember when he stopped Donal McIntyre in 4 rounds.

And not everyone was sold on Lacy.

[Hagler2002]

Racist thread innit!

[Sklar]

Racist thread innit!

It's about as racist as your fight predictions are ever remotely accurate. D

[banjo]

Depends, quite a lot of Mexicans are white, just because they're a little darker than us doesn't make them a different race. Spaniards aren't a different race are they? Obviously you also have the Mexicans with native ancestry who aren't white.

[expe]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

When Joe was fighting, most people slated him for slapping, fighting bums etc. Now he's retired he's seen by some as the GOAT.

I think he is hugely under-rated. he was never seen as a slapper until his hands went and he had to adjust his style. The fighting bums thing /I don't buy as he beat Lacy who at the time was the new tyson, Jones and Hopkins who went on to win world titles 6 years later.

Joe Calzaghe deserves his place among the all time greats IMO far more so than Ricky Hatton who was beaten fair and square by Mayweather and Pacquiao.

Name me one other 'world champion' who made a second defence against a man he defended against previously in a round?

(And we are not talking about fighters beating a champion in a round and winning again in a rematch).

What happened to myr mthchshanakian?

And that Pudwill feller and remember when he stopped Donal McIntyre in 4 rounds.

And not everyone was sold on Lacy.

Veit was mandatory second time round, that's why he had to go to Germany.

Mkrtchyan went on to win the European title.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

When Joe was fighting, most people slated him for slapping, fighting bums etc. Now he's retired he's seen by some as the GOAT.

I think he is hugely under-rated. he was never seen as a slapper until his hands went and he had to adjust his style. The fighting bums thing /I don't buy as he beat Lacy who at the time was the new tyson, Jones and Hopkins who went on to win world titles 6 years later.

Joe Calzaghe deserves his place among the all time greats IMO far more so than Ricky Hatton who was beaten fair and square by Mayweather and Pacquiao.

Name me one other 'world champion' who made a second defence against a man he defended against previously in a round?

(And we are not talking about fighters beating a champion in a round and winning again in a rematch).

What happened to myr mthchshanakian?

And that Pudwill feller and remember when he stopped Donal McIntyre in 4 rounds.

And not everyone was sold on Lacy.

Veit was mandatory second time round, that's why he had to go to Germany.

Mkrtchyan went on to win the European title.[/quote]

Myrkchatchan wasn't any good - we all know that - it would have been a bit better if he won this European title before he fought for the world title, that is what used to happen.

As for Veit, we all know Warren could have got out of that with the WBO - we aren't now trying to say the alphabet boys have scruples are we? They could have dropped that belt and got another one easily enough.

And what about Donal McIntyre and Pocker Tudwill? There is no excuse for those two.

[expe]

Myrkchatchan wasn't any good - we all know that - it would have been a bit better if he won this European title before he fought for the world title, that is what used to happen.

As for Veit, we all know Warren could have got out of that with the WBO - we aren't now trying to say the alphabet boys have scruples are we? They could have dropped that belt and got another one easily enough.

And what about Donal McIntyre and Pocker Tudwill? There is no excuse for those two.

He was good enough to win a European title, I agree that before would have been better, but he clearly wasn't a terrible fighter, not world class, but still a decent fighter.

The WBO forced Calzaghe out of a defence against Brian Magee 2 days before the fight because Veit was his mandatory. Universum put a ridiculous purse bid in, why drop a title when you're getting paid big money to fight a guy you've already beaten easily?

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Myrkchatchan wasn't any good - we all know that - it would have been a bit better if he won this European title before he fought for the world title, that is what used to happen.

As for Veit, we all know Warren could have got out of that with the WBO - we aren't now trying to say the alphabet boys have scruples are we? They could have dropped that belt and got another one easily enough.

And what about Donal McIntyre and Pocker Tudwill? There is no excuse for those two.

He was good enough to win a European title, I agree that before would have been better, but he clearly wasn't a terrible fighter, not world class, but still a decent fighter.

The WBO forced Calzaghe out of a defence against Brian Magee 2 days before the fight because Veit was his mandatory. Universum put a ridiculous purse bid in, why drop a title when you're getting paid big money to fight a guy you've already beaten easily?

'Decent' covers a broad spectrum - I think Tony Dodson is a decent fighter but I wouldn't put him in a world title fight. Mger isn't or wasn't world championship calibre and the only reason he was is because we have 4 belts and by the looks of things, have 4 different rankings of challenger, it has got ridiculous - as for his pedigree regarding his EBU reign, beat Jackson Chanet and lost it in his first defence by KO - hardly inspiring but that would have raised his stock if he had came in as a reigning European champion - he didn't and was a poor opponent for a world title fight.

The WBO forced Calzaghe out of a defence against Brian Magee 2 days before the fight because Veit was his mandatory. Universum put a ridiculous purse bid in, why drop a title when you're getting paid big money to fight a guy you've already beaten easily?

Well, that is a fair enough argument, why not beat up someone again that you have already beat up already because you are getting a decent wage, but if one cares about legacies and historical standing then fighting some bloke who you have KO'ed in a round for a second time hurts that legacy and credibility. The facts are Calazghe's title reign was pretty poor, many of his defenses came against fighters who has lost within their last three fights. Most of them weren't top tier/or over the hill.

No mention of Pocker and Donal McIntyre - they were awful beyond belief, glad we agree with those two at least.

[SMALL AXE1]

I would say Sugar Ray Leonard was the best.

[Horse]

When was the last time a White fighter was P4P No. 1?

[banjo]

The big question mark over Calzaghe will be that while he's one of only a two fighters to have held all 4 major belts in a single division he never fought his biggest rival in that division and no I'm not talking about Carl Froch.

[ILikeBeer]

Mike Middleton.

[Orionx]

GGG is Asian, his mother's a Korean. I am shocked the Koreans don't claim as one of theirs considering how poor Korean boxing is right now.

My wife is Korean and I have spent alot of time there. Its a combination of Korean people not caring about boxing at all anymore. The sport is dead there right now. Plus Korean people can be pretty racist themselves and tend to be sniffy about mixed race athletes.

[Ezzard]

Surely Ward is as white as he is black???

Race is essentially fluid. Almost everyone is a mixture...

[lefty]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

When Joe was fighting, most people slated him for slapping, fighting bums etc. Now he's retired he's seen by some as the GOAT.

I think he is hugely under-rated. he was never seen as a slapper until his hands went and he had to adjust his style. The fighting bums thing /I don't buy as he beat Lacy who at the time was the new tyson, Jones and Hopkins who went on to win world titles 6 years later.

Joe Calzaghe deserves his place among the all time greats IMO far more so than Ricky Hatton who was beaten fair and square by Mayweather and Pacquiao.

Lets be honest though, Lacy was a massive hype job that just got exposed in the end.

[Coco]

Billy Bob Bailey, now there was a great fighter, I'm not sure if he counts as white though as it is rumoured his Granny was a lady of the night from Tijuana.

[jamesmcdonnell]

The fights that redeem Calzaghe's legacy are Kessler and Hopkins - they proved how good he actually was, as most of the remainder of his career, barring the odd exception, was a bloated list of defences against sub-par challengers.

[bripez]

Racist thread innit!

Don't know if you are serious or not mate - I personally think that it is a daft question, but in reality it is about as racist as the MOBO's, Miss Black America etc. etc. blah blah blah.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Racist thread innit!

Don't know if you are serious or not mate - I personally think that it is a daft question, but in reality it is about as racist as the MOBO's, Miss Black America etc. etc. blah blah blah.

Do you know why there is a 'Miss Black America'? Because black women were barred from entering Miss America back in the day. 'Miss Black America' is an anachronism of how racism used to affect black people - it wasn't originated because black people in America wanted to be racist.

[danamba7]

Surely Ward is as white as he is black???

Race is essentially fluid. Almost everyone is a mixture...

Good point. Someone who is 3/4 white and 1/4 black can still have dark skin yet he's more white than he is black.. Point is you can't always tell just on looks. What does it matter anyway?

[magwitch]

what a bizarre little thread...