BoxRec

There are two things Marciano, Calzaghe and Mayweather Jr. have in common: a clean pro record, and the fact that they're underrated by detractors claiming that they didn't face irresistible opposition...

...At the time when Roy Jones Jr. was in his prime, younger and less-expert Calzaghe wasn't still ready for him, and that's nothing to be ashamed of: Canelo fought an older Floyd Jr. at a time when the Mexican phenom had already a remarkable record, having turned pro in his mid-teens.
Same can't be told for Calzaghe.
Yet, in a fantasy-match, a peaking Calzaghe would have outclassed a peaking Roy Jones Jr., who has never faced, in his prime, such a fast and powerful boxer: forget Calzaghe's "slaps": the Welshman had a murderous left hook, but he wasn't a savage, and, as he grew older, he relied more on points than on knockout-punches, saving breath to protect himself at all times: that's why he kinda "slapped"... That pretty much upset bloodthirsty crybabies from all over the world: Calzaghe is a better p4p boxer than Jones Jr., who relied mostly on his physical assets: that's not enough to be considered as good as "The Pride Of Wales".

Forget boxrec historical ratings... Henry Armstrong doesn't even figure in the boxrec's top-100 p4p...
Let's make a little digression here, shall we?
Armstrong was a guy who put up more than 100 K.O. victories, and only lost to Sugar Ray Robinson and a few others, but Sugar Ray was 11 years younger than Armstrong, and quite a bigger man too. Armstrong, besides being the naturally smaller guy, was also way past his prime in that fight, and merely lost to a 10-rounds UD, so it's predictable that a peaking Armstrong could've eaten any version of SRR at welterweight, alive.

Marciano could've arguably lost to a peaking Joe Louis, but let's not forget that Rocky was a natural cruiserweight, or even light-middleweight, more or less fit.

Similar parameters are reconductible to Floyd Jr.: extreme psycho-physical fitness, mastery of the sport and total control over his opponents.
I've never witnessed any athlete being mistreated like Floyd Jr. was: in the era of internet, any troll could come to the surface like turds in the water: from ambiguous fans' statements like "defense-first fighters bore me down" (how can a so much skilled and proficient boxer result boring?? go watch the Gatti vs Ward sadistic, useless bloodbath, you silly gladiators-nostalgic...), or certified, referenced, veteran professionals going "I wish I was 50 years younger so I could kick your ass!": come on, that guy just couldn't kick Floyd's ass even being 27 years old for 30 years...
Floyd could draw the best out of his opponents as much as he drew the worst out of people with the wrong spiritual disposition. Floyd drives people berserk, for being such overwhelmingly superior in boxing.
So, if Mayweather Jr. takes the risk to state that he is the best ever, as Ali stated he was the greatest heavyweight of all times (and I assume that both guys knew their facts...), you must give him the benefit if doubt, at least, specially if you're not a more-than-competent boxing historian, or if you never took a punch in your entire life and barely know what boxing is all about: boxing is merely about hitting and not getting hit, and Mayweather Jr. is the best ever at that.

So, people all over the internet: get a grip and take it easy...

...Alright? Cheers.

Jacopodb wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 13:21
Armstrong was a guy who put up more than 100 K.O. victories, and only lost to Sugar Ray Robinson and a few others, but Sugar Ray was 11 years younger than Armstrong, and quite a bigger man too. Armstrong, besides being the naturally smaller guy, was also way past his prime in that fight, and merely lost to a 10-rounds UD, so it's predictable that a peaking Armstrong could've eaten any version of SRR at welterweight, alive.

SRR admitted later that he carried Armstrong, they were good friends. SRR wanted to give Armstrong a good payday because he was in a lot of debt, reports of the fight at the time said SRR hardly threw a punch in anger.

Controversial wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 13:36

Jacopodb wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 13:21
Armstrong was a guy who put up more than 100 K.O. victories, and only lost to Sugar Ray Robinson and a few others, but Sugar Ray was 11 years younger than Armstrong, and quite a bigger man too. Armstrong, besides being the naturally smaller guy, was also way past his prime in that fight, and merely lost to a 10-rounds UD, so it's predictable that a peaking Armstrong could've eaten any version of SRR at welterweight, alive.

SRR admitted later that he carried Armstrong, they were good friends. SRR wanted to give Armstrong a good payday because he was in a lot of debt, reports of the fight at the time said SRR hardly threw a punch in anger.

Atta way to exploit some hype!

SRR, like many other prizefighters, was a (streetwise enough...) gentleman.
The fight was clearly unbalanced, but the technical rate in it must have been enough to see.

P. S.: sorry people if I wrote so much in my first post, but I had little too many pebbles in my shoes...

Moreover...

Nah, just kidding.

Jacopodb wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 13:21
Same can't be told for Calzaghe.
Yet, in a fantasy-match, a peaking Calzaghe would have outclassed a peaking Roy Jones Jr., who has never faced, in his prime, such a fast and powerful boxer: forget Calzaghe's "slaps": the Welshman had a murderous left hook, but he wasn't a savage, and, as he grew older, he relied more on points than on knockout-punches, saving breath to protect himself at all times: that's why he kinda "slapped"... That pretty much upset bloodthirsty crybabies from all over the world: Calzaghe is a better p4p boxer than Jones Jr., who relied mostly on his physical assets: that's not enough to be considered as good as "The Pride Of Wales".

Calzaghe's issue was he had brittle hands from a young teenager, that had a lot to do with the way he punched.

Controversial wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 15:18

Jacopodb wrote: ↑19 Dec 2018, 13:21
Same can't be told for Calzaghe.
Yet, in a fantasy-match, a peaking Calzaghe would have outclassed a peaking Roy Jones Jr., who has never faced, in his prime, such a fast and powerful boxer: forget Calzaghe's "slaps": the Welshman had a murderous left hook, but he wasn't a savage, and, as he grew older, he relied more on points than on knockout-punches, saving breath to protect himself at all times: that's why he kinda "slapped"... That pretty much upset bloodthirsty crybabies from all over the world: Calzaghe is a better p4p boxer than Jones Jr., who relied mostly on his physical assets: that's not enough to be considered as good as "The Pride Of Wales".

Calzaghe's issue was he had brittle hands from a young teenager, that had a lot to do with the way he punched.

Floyd Jr. has the very same problem, just as Floyd Sr.: fragile bones, much more eager to break than the average.

And both Floyd Jr. and Calzaghe were terrific powerpunchers, underrated in that aspect because it's not their main asset: Joe's are clearly hanspeed, effective footwork and the ability in hitting from every angle (much like Pacquiao... they have more than one thing in common: Pacman's not as much as a powerpuncher, but his stamina and weight/power ratio are impressive), Floyd's greatest standouts are obviously his fundamentals, his defensive skills, and tactical wisdom; you won't spit on his footwork, either: that guy had the whole package.

Their brittle hands tell even much more about their own achievements, even if we don't know how many other great fighters had similar issues... former Italian champion boxer Emiliano Salvini had exertional anaemia, for example (yeah, talk about brittle hands...).