BoxRec

You may find this hard to believe but Just as I grew to like Hatton in the wake of his match with Kostya I now have an equal if not greater appreciation for Joe Calzaghe as well.

*I know his name and will always spell it correctly.
*I appreciate his true talent, he is fast accurate durable and has great heart.
*Win or lose in the future I will speak of him with respect because he deserves it.
*At this point I would favor him to win many of the theoretical matchups being proposed.

My problem with Joe was that it did not appear to me that he was honestly tested. I never took him seriously. After the fight last night I viewed some of his older work in the ring. His punches at times seem to be thrown a bit wide, he seems too willing to square up with dangerous opponents, I thought his opponent list was weak, I now know I underestimated him. He has natural good balance, he is quick and has good if not devastating power, clever on the inside and though his punches are wide at times he is selective and can get them short and straight through when he sees the opening. Good defensive skills.

If indeed he has been fighting lesser opponents and has always had greater skill than he has ever shown, he may also have a little left in the tank for a longer career ahead of him. Jeff maybe more limited than what some of us believed but Joe showed it was a mismatch. No need for a rematch. And unless Joe has demoralized him I think we can still expect good things in the future from Jeff. He does need to work on his boxing skills, as Joe proved he will not be able to outpower everyone. Certainly no one with the skills of a Joe Calzaghe.

Joe it appears in your interviews that you are a pretty forgiving fellow, I could use some of that. And I am now a believer and applaud your work.
Good luck in the future and from this American boxing fan's point of view you have, in my humble opinion, proven yourself to be the best Super Middleweight of all time. Congratulations.

BoxBuzz wrote:You may find this hard to believe but Just as I grew to like Hatton in the wake of his match with Kostya I now have an equal if not greater appreciation for Joe Calzaghe as well.

*I know his name and will always spell it correctly.
*I appreciate his true talent, he is fast accurate durable and has great heart.
*Win or lose in the future I will speak of him with respect because he deserves it.
*At this point I would favor him to win many of the theoretical matchups being proposed.

My problem with Joe was that it did not appear to me that he was honestly tested. I never took him seriously. After the fight last night I viewed some of his older work in the ring. His punches at times seem to be thrown a bit wide, he seems too willing to square up with dangerous opponents, I thought his opponent list was weak, I now know I underestimated him. He has natural good balance, he is quick and has good if not devastating power, clever on the inside and though his punches are wide at times he is selective and can get them short and straight through when he sees the opening. Good defensive skills.

If indeed he has been fighting lesser opponents and has always had greater skill than he has ever shown, he may also have a little left in the tank for a longer career ahead of him. Jeff maybe more limited than what some of us believed but Joe showed it was a mismatch. No need for a rematch. And unless Joe has demoralized him I think we can still expect good things in the future from Jeff. He does need to work on his boxing skills, as Joe proved he will not be able to outpower everyone. Certainly no one with the skills of a Joe Calzaghe.

Joe it appears in your interviews that you are a pretty forgiving fellow, I could use some of that. And I am now a believer and applaud your work.
Good luck in the future and from this American boxing fan's point of view you have, in my humble opinion, proven yourself to be the best Super Middleweight of all time. Congratulations.

I'm pretty much on the same page. I knew Joe was a good fighter and the Mitchell and Brewer fights were 2 of my favourite fights of recent years.

I didn't know he was that good!

The flurries, the movement all totally befuddling Lacy was breathtaking.

Lacy was made for Calzaghe, that much is now clear. BUT what is also clear to me is that JC really does rise to the level of the opposition and with the fragile condition of his hands I only want to see him in big fights from now on. I think his plan of 3 big fights and then out sounds about right....

Last night still made me think what could have been with Joe though, he clearly has the ability to mix it with the very elite of boxing and although he may do that a bit now, it could have been so much more....

I wish JC was 27!

It's too late for him to make the impact that his talent deserves.

best british performance for many many years. pips hatton/tzsyu and
mcguigann/pedrosa and minter/antufermo honeyghan/curry by sheer quality of skill and belief. joe made jeff look like a very limited one punch fighter. the only quality lacy showed was courage. what must the standard of opposition really be like in the states at this weight? that their best guy can be so so outclassed.

Syntax Error wrote:I wish JC was 27!

It's too late for him to make the impact that his talent deserves.

He said he's got 4 fights left...if he takes the right fights, he could be remembered as more than just a top SMW.

calzaghe has some very good names on his record: Eubank (former WBO middle and s/m champ), Richie Woodhall (former WBC s/m champion), Byron Mitchell (former WBA champ), Brewer (former IBF champ), Robin Reid (former WBC champ). and now Lacy, whose IBF title Joe took.

only names missing are ottke, collins and glen johnson at s/m. joe pulled out vs glen, collins puilled out vs joe, etc etc.

the win last night was fantastic as it validated his long title reign (and lets us forgive the lesser fights). it gives meaning and perspective to those 18 defenses, as he is an exceptional fighter.

thanks for reminding us Joe

Uh, there are plenty of names Joe should have fought at SM - Mundine, Green, Beyer, Ottke, Kessler are the names that spring to mind. That said, Joe is a greater talent than all of these by some way. It would simply have been nice to see him prove it.

Last night dazzled me, though, and I sorely hope he makes the most of these last few fights.

Fairplay boxbuzz you are an honourable man

Man- I liked the way Joe would throw and land his combinations and then step around Lacy. Classic stuff -great boxing.

I would also like to appologise for doubting the father/son trainer/fighter relationship with your Dad, Enzo. I have always publically said that I thought you'd be better off with a coach such as Freddie Roach or Buddy McGirt - how wrong was I.

Well done to both Calzaghe's on a tremendous performance.

By the time the fight came around last night I was fearing the worst. Calzaghe appeared too relaxed in the dressing room, dare I say it for a while i thought he might be deluded about the whole thing and suffer a humiliating early KO defeat. I haven't been as nervous about a fight since Lennox Lewis retired.

But what a complete performance in the end. How the hell can Calzaghe come into the ring with timing like that when he spars so little. Blinding tactics anyway - smash Lacy around for 3 rounds, soak up a punch here and there and then take over. It was great to hear that twat of a trainer informing Lacy that Calzaghe would not be able to keep the pace going. Think again son.

What satisfaction after the way Robin Reid was disrespected last year.

Nice post. Kind of echoes what Gary Shaw and Dan Birmingham said after the fight. Their comments showed a lot of class, and I hope their man can come back from what was one of the most one-sided beatdowns I've ever seen in a major title fight.

respect to BoxBuzz. Good post.

dookus wrote:Uh, there are plenty of names Joe should have fought at SM - Mundine, Green, Beyer, Ottke, Kessler are the names that spring to mind. That said, Joe is a greater talent than all of these by some way. It would simply have been nice to see him prove it.

Last night dazzled me, though, and I sorely hope he makes the most of these last few fights.

Mundine lost to Ottke and Siaca and Kessler. Beyer, the paper champ, wouldn't even fight Kessler in what could have been a unification semi-final. in fact, wasn't Beyer getting Ko'd when Joe was champ during the late 90s? Green lost to Beyer, not because he wasn't good enough but because he couldn't get his head screwed on.

that leaves the very accomplished Ottke - which was sadly a case of mutual disinterest - and Kessler. I really hope he fights Kessler and would hesitate to pick a winner.

btw, I picked Calzaghe to beat Lacy ( http://www.BS.com/?m=show&id=3267 ), but I always envisioned Kessler dominating Lacy. i could see Mikkel absolutely busting Lacy up with sharp and heavy jabs and maybe stopping him late. Kessler will own the division if Calzaghe moves up.

I really didnt think Calzaghe had that level of performance left in him, he was outstanding. Not much more I can say than that!

harrygreb wrote:best british performance for many many years. pips hatton/tzsyu and
mcguigann/pedrosa and minter/antufermo honeyghan/curry by sheer quality of skill and belief. joe made jeff look like a very limited one punch fighter. the only quality lacy showed was courage. what must the standard of opposition really be like in the states at this weight? that their best guy can be so so outclassed.

I'm struggling to think of any performance by a British fighter which is more impressive. As you say, Honeyghan v Curry was a massive upset, but in terms of skill, control and poise, doesn't come close to Joe's performance.

Hats off to Joe for his performance on Sat night, surely as good as any ever produced by a Brit in the ring? I backed Lacy to win from what I'd saw from both guys last few fights but Joe completely dominated him. Maybe Lacy was more limited than people thought but he is a dangerous guy. Joe has always been a top fighter, the best SM for the last 10 years, and I think hes now proved himself an all-time great. Its a pity he never fought Hopkins or Jones when they were at their best, he would have stood a good chance.

nickd wrote:I really didnt think Calzaghe had that level of performance left in him, he was outstanding. Not much more I can say than that!

I told you so. :P

I admit I did think Lacy would have his moments only because of the punch but it didn't even hurt Joe.

He was able to trade to!

I always have been a big big fan of Calzaghe, but that has been put to the test over the last few years, especially in regard the constant poor match up's and generaly lethargic performance's.

Saturday night we saw the real Calzaghe, and that's the Calzaghe I always knew existed - I was so pleased to see that his skills have not detiorated to any extent, and that was my only concern reagrding this fight.

With that kind of form he almost certainly has way too much for almost if not everyone around his weight division.

Kilburn wrote:By the time the fight came around last night I was fearing the worst. Calzaghe appeared too relaxed in the dressing room, dare I say it for a while i thought he might be deluded about the whole thing and suffer a humiliating early KO defeat. I haven't been as nervous about a fight since Lennox Lewis retired.

But what a complete performance in the end. How the hell can Calzaghe come into the ring with timing like that when he spars so little. Blinding tactics anyway - smash Lacy around for 3 rounds, soak up a punch here and there and then take over. It was great to hear that twat of a trainer informing Lacy that Calzaghe would not be able to keep the pace going. Think again son.

What satisfaction after the way Robin Reid was disrespected last year.

Robin Reid changed his mind and was saying Lacy would of won too!

This was posted on the current scene and I think he has a point when talking about immunity shots that Lacy would have to have taken:

"You don't have to be a third world country to have immunity shots you dumbass...Besides, you don't even know about you're own country, so what could you possibly now about anything else?

Hasn't there been some cases of bird flu in Great Britain? That's a new disease to the U.S. and do you think that it might be possible that a person from the U.S, would have different immunities then someone from Wales, or is that just over top of your head? "

Jeff obviously caught bird flu, now it all makes sense

It was down to shots, but not the kind you get from a needle.

Max Molyneux wrote:

Kilburn wrote:By the time the fight came around last night I was fearing the worst. Calzaghe appeared too relaxed in the dressing room, dare I say it for a while i thought he might be deluded about the whole thing and suffer a humiliating early KO defeat. I haven't been as nervous about a fight since Lennox Lewis retired.

But what a complete performance in the end. How the hell can Calzaghe come into the ring with timing like that when he spars so little. Blinding tactics anyway - smash Lacy around for 3 rounds, soak up a punch here and there and then take over. It was great to hear that twat of a trainer informing Lacy that Calzaghe would not be able to keep the pace going. Think again son.

What satisfaction after the way Robin Reid was disrespected last year.

Robin Reid changed his mind and was saying Lacy would of won too!

And? I never said anything regarding what Reid thought about his fight with Lacy.