BoxRec

Before any Calzaghe apologists try and give it back think about this - when Calzaghe beat Lacy the concensous opinion was he needed nothing but big fights from there on as he was approaching mid 30's and not long left. Another wasted year later he will have fought Bika and about to go into a fight with Manfredo.

Joke.

nickd wrote:Before any Calzaghe apologists try and give it back think about this - when Calzaghe beat Lacy the concensous opinion was he needed nothing but big fights from there on as he was approaching mid 30's and not long left. Another wasted year later he will have fought Bika and about to go into a fight with Manfredo.

Joke.

Nickd, you don't leave me anyting to do.

Max Molyneux wrote:

Absolutely. I enjoy a Calzaghe flurry as much as the next man. But it's good to see someone fight the correct way. That jab's a killer and with his size, Kessler is pretty hard to get near. By the time opponents get near him, their faces are in a bad way, lol

Kessler's style does work that way when you fight the likes of Lucas and Beyer.

By the time Godzaghe gets near him, his face would be a puffcake.

The thing is, this brave warrior Joe Calzaghe doesn't allow hte incapable Mikkel Kessler to get near him -- at least not into the same ring.

I'm a Calzaghe critic, because I want to see all that speed, fitness and ability tested more. But I wouldn't quite say he was a joke. That would be to denigrate Ricardo Lopez, Pong Wonjongkam, Veeraphol, Myung Woo-Yuh, Roy Jones 1996-2002, and lots of other long reigning champs who had some real focus and skill but didn't always have to take big tests.

Calzaghe is symptomatic of a modern trend, as frustrating, disappointing, surprising, uneven as it may be.


All those guys did take world class tests, Calzaghe included, just not too much for everyone's liking. Either way, he;s still around and is in the right place to make a killing, IMO.

Calzaghe should've followed up Lacy better. But we shouldn't take the Lacy win for granted - for this very important reason. EVERYONE would still be saying how Lacy would eat him up and shit him out before he got to the Hall of Fame. JC did have a lot at stake and that's why we saw him at his most urgent.

As long as he is on Warren shows, it's clear that they'll want him in world title fights...defence #20, defense # 21, etc etc. If he's boiling down to 168 (since 1993) and has hands like that guy in DJANGO who has them smashed so he can't use his gun, they're clearly going to go for the best deal.

From a marketing standpoint, Miranda, Green, Mendy, Hanshaw, Manfredo, Mora are all great matchups...beat up a middleweight, beat up an inexperienced American who has a following, for more money - I'll bet HBO plays along with that.

It's a business ultimately, a self serving business that sometimes gives something back. In all, these fights would all be events, and most would have added media interest from the tourney / realiTV scene.


Oh, I would add Kelly Pavlik to the shortlist. V big middleweight, Miranda prefers Pavlik over Alan Green, so you'd think a matchup between punchers Pavlik and Miranda would produce a challenger.

viciousmaussa wrote:I'm a Calzaghe critic, because I want to see all that speed, fitness and ability tested more. But I wouldn't quite say he was a joke. That would be to denigrate Ricardo Lopez, Pong Wonjongkam, Veeraphol, Myung Woo-Yuh, Roy Jones 1996-2002, and lots of other long reigning champs who had some real focus and skill but didn't always have to take big tests.

I see your point, but those guys you mention never defended their titles against anyone as attrocious as Pudwill! In reality Calzaghe has far less than the much talked about 20 defences - fights like Pudwill, Salem, Jimenez should never have been sanctioned.

nickd wrote:

viciousmaussa wrote:I'm a Calzaghe critic, because I want to see all that speed, fitness and ability tested more. But I wouldn't quite say he was a joke. That would be to denigrate Ricardo Lopez, Pong Wonjongkam, Veeraphol, Myung Woo-Yuh, Roy Jones 1996-2002, and lots of other long reigning champs who had some real focus and skill but didn't always have to take big tests.

I see your point, but those guys you mention never defended their titles against anyone as attrocious as Pudwill! In reality Calzaghe has far less than the much talked about 20 defences - fights like Pudwill, Salem, Jimenez should never have been sanctioned.

yeah, Pudwill was awful. He was supposed to fight Echols, god knows why he was out at the last minute, more Fwank nonsense perhaps.

I'd add 'Ceasefire' McIntyre as one of the most feeble ever challengers, also and Jiminez did him no favours. But Jones did have that policeman, Wong had guys with 18-15 records.

The funny thing is, just by fighting in America, the Yanks will give him more respect, if he puts in winning performances.


I'd say Lacy, Reid, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell, Starie, Mkrtchian (future Euro champ), Eubank (did go on to nearly beat Thompson), Sheika are good title fights. I'd rather see those than 20 Pudwills - my new glass 1/2 full attitude, LOL.

Who knows, Bika might be able to do something vs a static, top 10 at 168, so that might look better 1 day.

I don't think he's done himself any favours not fighting a Reid rematch, avoiding Johnson (3 occasions could've happened),and all those top class Euros.

On the other hand, Hopkins and Collins pulled out on him. Swings and roundabouts sadly.

I recks Harry Simon would have been a great challenger. He was a Warren fighter, wasn't he?

fried bread wrote:On the other hand, Hopkins and Collins pulled out on him. Swings and roundabouts sadly.

I recks Harry Simon would have been a great challenger. He was a Warren fighter, wasn't he?

He was at one stage. He was also a light middleweight who moved up to middleweight. Calzaghe would have been too big.