BoxRec

jim wright1 wrote:Calzaghe would have never participated in super six. Joe had his own version of the tournament - six years past their best (super). At least when he travelled anyway.

Styles make fights and Ward was just all wrong for Froch. Speed kills! Calzaghe waited until Jones and Hopkins slowed and he still struggled to be fair.

Many of our own fighters gave Calzaghe problems. I dont think Calzaghe could have schooled Carl like he did Lacy. It would have been a cracker - and dont forget - Froch wanted the fight, Calzaghe had plenty of chances to take the fight and never seemed keen to me.

Still, Calzaghe was a great British world champ - just as Froch was. We should be proud of what both achieved.

Froch offered nothing to Calzaghe.

Thre's absolutely no contest; Calzaghe loved a tear up as has been mentioned, and could tear up with the best of them. Remember Calzaghe had a very good chin himself and there's no way Froch stops him. Calzaghe's wokrate and speed dominates Froch easily.

Froch couldnt deal with the speed of Ward so its obvious he couldnt cope with Calzaghe. Froch is a decent fighter but his style means he gets hit a lot. The arm held low just doesnt work at the top level. Anyway he did well, and tried his hardest but he fell short of victory by a long, long way. Well done to him going so far in the tournament.

Calzaghe beats Froch comfortably. Froch is a tough customer for anyone but Calzaghe is a level above.

Finch wrote:

jim wright1 wrote:Calzaghe would have never participated in super six. Joe had his own version of the tournament - six years past their best (super). At least when he travelled anyway.

Styles make fights and Ward was just all wrong for Froch. Speed kills! Calzaghe waited until Jones and Hopkins slowed and he still struggled to be fair.

Many of our own fighters gave Calzaghe problems. I dont think Calzaghe could have schooled Carl like he did Lacy. It would have been a cracker - and dont forget - Froch wanted the fight, Calzaghe had plenty of chances to take the fight and never seemed keen to me.

Still, Calzaghe was a great British world champ - just as Froch was. We should be proud of what both achieved.

Froch offered nothing to Calzaghe.

Thre's absolutely no contest; Calzaghe loved a tear up as has been mentioned, and could tear up with the best of them. Remember Calzaghe had a very good chin himself and there's no way Froch stops him. Calzaghe's wokrate and speed dominates Froch easily.

Be careful - you are basing your prediction on comparing a Calzaghe who has finished his career to Froch who is still active. Calzaghe's reputation and stock rose on the schooling of Lacy - an outstanding fight - and then building on that success.

Would Froch have beaten an aging Eubank? probably. Could he have hand picked his way to several WBO home based defences - probably.

Maybe Froch's defining triumphs are still to come -he is smart, dedicated and recognises that he needs to develop his skills to beat the elite fighters like Ward. But i do wonder if he is able to go back to the drawing board at this stage of his career, yet he is fresh, he should have 3 good years left in him..

In comparison, Froch has had 29 fights - Calzaghe was fighting the likes of Robin Reid - and struggling - at around the same landmark of his career. Although Froch is a bit longer in the tooth.

I said to my wife before the fight Froch can only win by KO. No way could he beat Ward on points, but Joe would have. Its taken some people a long time to realise how good Calzaghe really was. Its quite laughable now when I look back to when Froch was calling Joe Calzaghe out. Maybe Joe should have shown he was a class above Froch and fought him, on the other hand Joe had bigger fish to fry. People used to say Joe had no power in his punch but look at the mess he made of Lacy. Anyone who thinks Froch is better than Calzaghe knows nothing about boxing. I know Froch is still active, while Calzaghe has retired, but I thhink we have seen Froch at his best and he just isnt in the same league as Calzaghe.

Calzaghe was a great fighter. I was lucky enough to see many of his fights live and close up. But I do honestly believe that people are blinded by his undefeated tag. From the Eubank fight to when Reid lost the split decision and I did a 400 mile round trip to see him blow away Marco Veit in a round. I spent alot of money and time watching Joe.

Calzaghe was risk averse for much of his career. There was so many great fights and opportunities for Calzaghe between 2000-2005/6 that he shyed away from.

Unlike Froch who seems to take on all comers and is willing to travel.

Kessler is a good example. Both had good fights against the Dane but how much of a factor was it that Calzaghe fought in his backyard while Froch took it to Denmark?

As it stands I would pick Calzaghe over Froch as achieving more and being the better fighter - but by a much smaller margin than others suggest.

jim wright1 wrote:Calzaghe was a great fighter. I was lucky enough to see many of his fights live and close up. But I do honestly believe that people are blinded by his undefeated tag. From the Eubank fight to when Reid lost the split decision and I did a 400 mile round trip to see him blow away Marco Veit in a round. I spent alot of money and time watching Joe.

Calzaghe was risk averse for much of his career. There was so many great fights and opportunities for Calzaghe between 2000-2005/6 that he shyed away from.

Unlike Froch who seems to take on all comers and is willing to travel.

Kessler is a good example. Both had good fights against the Dane but how much of a factor was it that Calzaghe fought in his backyard while Froch took it to Denmark?

As it stands I would pick Calzaghe over Froch as achieving more and being the better fighter - but by a much smaller margin than others suggest.

I too seen most of Calzaghe`s fights. And alot of the time he didn`t look too good. But he could always find another level to move up to.

His hand and elbow trouble caused many pull outs and under-par performances, thats true.
But to compare Joes reign to Frochs is not realistic. Froch has had no option than to go the hard route if he wanted to make good money .. he simply couldn`t sell.
Where as Calzaghe, he too wasn`t a great ticket seller for almost all his career .. but had the option of good money for little risk.
I don`t believe for one second that a smart guy like Froch would not have taken the Calzaghe route if it was available to him.
Froch is a fantastic fighter. But as long as Ward owns the belts - Froch will never get his hands back on them :(

jim wright1 wrote:

Finch wrote:

jim wright1 wrote:Calzaghe would have never participated in super six. Joe had his own version of the tournament - six years past their best (super). At least when he travelled anyway.

Styles make fights and Ward was just all wrong for Froch. Speed kills! Calzaghe waited until Jones and Hopkins slowed and he still struggled to be fair.

Many of our own fighters gave Calzaghe problems. I dont think Calzaghe could have schooled Carl like he did Lacy. It would have been a cracker - and dont forget - Froch wanted the fight, Calzaghe had plenty of chances to take the fight and never seemed keen to me.

Still, Calzaghe was a great British world champ - just as Froch was. We should be proud of what both achieved.

Froch offered nothing to Calzaghe.

Thre's absolutely no contest; Calzaghe loved a tear up as has been mentioned, and could tear up with the best of them. Remember Calzaghe had a very good chin himself and there's no way Froch stops him. Calzaghe's wokrate and speed dominates Froch easily.

Be careful - you are basing your prediction on comparing a Calzaghe who has finished his career to Froch who is still active. Calzaghe's reputation and stock rose on the schooling of Lacy - an outstanding fight - and then building on that success.

Would Froch have beaten an aging Eubank? probably. Could he have hand picked his way to several WBO home based defences - probably.

Maybe Froch's defining triumphs are still to come -he is smart, dedicated and recognises that he needs to develop his skills to beat the elite fighters like Ward. But i do wonder if he is able to go back to the drawing board at this stage of his career, yet he is fresh, he should have 3 good years left in him..

In comparison, Froch has had 29 fights - Calzaghe was fighting the likes of Robin Reid - and struggling - at around the same landmark of his career. Although Froch is a bit longer in the tooth.

froch is a hell of a lot longer in the tooth than joe back in 99.

They are both great British fighters and for different reasons.

As much as I love Calzaghe (he made a hardcore boxing fan out of me, I only knew about Hatton, Lennox, Hamed and the old SMW's like Benn and Eubank before) I could come up with five guys off the bat he should have and could have fought but never did: Dawson, Pavlik, Winky Wright, Jermain Taylor, Glen Johnson. There are probably more. Wait... How about Svenn Ottke and Clinton Woods? Tarver?

If he had fought and beaten 2 or 3 or more of those guys along with whoever else he fought (especially Dawson and Pavlik, before they got beat by Pascal and Hopkins respectively) his record would be absolutely without question. The fact that they have all been subsequently beaten by lesser fighters (Johnson AND Taylor both scalped by Froch) only underlines how disappointing Calzaghe's final run was considering they were all out there and still held in very high regard. Instead he fought Manfredo and Bika, and an old Roy Jones. He fought a lot of soft guys and refused to travel for the majority of his career.

Despite that he was immensely talented, blindingly fast and probably would have been favorite against anyone in and around his weight.

Froch by contrast has nowhere near the talent of Calzaghe yet he has fought the toughest out there and traveled to do it. We will never have the questions about Froch that we have about Calzaghe: how he would have hung with the best of his era in their primes because he DID fight everyone he could. I'm sure if Bute rung tomorrow, they'd make the fight straight away. When Carl retires, win or lose, I expect him to have fought everybody. That's why we love him. He tested himself and he hasn't gotten annihilated like Hatton when he stepped up: he stayed in there and has got some good wins.

For me, Calzaghe beats them all, except maybe a prime Roy Jones (Hopkins, it's hard to say, because he has had great performances AFTER losing to Joe, so was he really a faded fighter when they fought? I don't think so. I think he's Joe's best win.) and he beats Froch all day long.

But probably, when his career is over, Froch will be remembered more fondly for his courage and willingness to take on all comers.

Calzaghe beats Ward too. Sorry.