BoxRec

1. (2.) Ricky Hatton
2. (1.) Joe Calzaghe
3. (3.) Clinton Woods
4. (4.) Scott Harrison
5. (5.) Johnny Nelson
6. (6.) Junior Witter
7. (7.) Damaen Kelly
8. (8.) Carl Thompson
9. (9.) Alex Arthur
10. (10.) Nicky Cook

11. (11.) David Haye
12. (12.) Howard Eastman
13. (13.) Wayne McCullough
14. (14.) Michael Hunter
15. (15.) Robin Reid
16. (16.) Danny Williams
17. (17.) Esham Pickering
18. (26.) Carl Froch
19. (18.) Enzo Maccarinelli
20. (19.) Brian Magee

21. (20.) Jamie Moore
22. (21.) Wayne Alexander
23. (23.) Scott Dann
24. (24.) Ricky Burns
25. (25.) Graham Earl
26. (27.) Matt Skelton
27. (29.) Martin Power
28. (28.) Kevin Anderson
29. (30.) Mark Hobson
30. (NE.) Lenny Daws

Horse wrote:1. (2.) Ricky Hatton
2. (1.) Joe Calzaghe
3. (3.) Clinton Woods
4. (4.) Scott Harrison
5. (5.) Johnny Nelson
6. (6.) Junior Witter
7. (7.) Damaen Kelly
8. (8.) Carl Thompson
9. (9.) Alex Arthur
10. (10.) Nicky Cook

11. (11.) David Haye
12. (12.) Howard Eastman
13. (13.) Wayne McCullough
14. (14.) Michael Hunter
15. (15.) Robin Reid
16. (16.) Danny Williams
17. (17.) Esham Pickering
18. (26.) Carl Froch
19. (18.) Enzo Maccarinelli
20. (19.) Brian Magee

21. (20.) Jamie Moore
22. (21.) Wayne Alexander
23. (23.) Scott Dann
24. (24.) Ricky Burns
25. (25.) Graham Earl
26. (27.) Matt Skelton
27. (29.) Martin Power
28. (28.) Kevin Anderson
29. (30.) Mark Hobson
30. (NE.) Lenny Daws

Yeah, after Ricky's recent convincing win he should really move up to #1.

Convincing or not, he has now won three genuine world title belts. With Calzaghe looking like being out of action for a while, would you keep him above Hatton?

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Convincing or not, he has now won three genuine world title belts. With Calzaghe looking like being out of action for a while, would you keep him above Hatton?

Genuine my ass...the belt Collazo had was only available because of Mayorga becoming Super Champ...it was the Jr WBA belt when he won it...not to mention it hadn't been defended in almost 2 years.

I'd have to put Calazage above Hatton, Calazages no1 at 168 and has been for years, hes seen off all comers, the Lacy win was huge and is been downplayed now.

Lacy has his downfalls but he was a proven top3 in the division. Maussa and Collazo are barely top10 - and Hatton scraped through by the thin of his teeth against Collazo. Lacy wasn't the legend Tyszu was BUT he was young and hungry something you couldnt accuse that version of Tyszu of been.

Calazage has beaten a load of top10 fighters in his reign (yes more big fights would be good but thats beside the point) and he dominated everyone. Rickys only really fought 3 top10 opponents in his career.

Isn't The Cat retired now ? , other than that it's not a bad list . There's a few debateable positions but there is with every lb 4lb list .

BigEars wrote:Isn't The Cat retired now ? , other than that it's not a bad list . There's a few debateable positions but there is with every lb 4lb list .

Yes, I decided to leave him there this month, hoping he would change his mind, but if nothing has changed next month I will probably take him out.

I don't understand what it is that our American cousins have against Ricky Hatton but perhaps one day they will let us in on the secret.
To the best of my knowledge Calzaghi has been complaining about weight making for at least 5 yrs, yet when the Johnson fight was still on it was to be at 168, very strange. Also he called out Jones more times than i care to remember, but was never prepared to go to the U.S. to fight him for what surely would have been the biggest purse he'll ever see. As for Lacy if he was as good as everyone says how did an over the hill Robin Reid keep getting up when Lacy hit him. That fight was a shoe in for Calzaghi as Lacy is slower than the Queen Mary and he was never going to catch the Welshman if he'd lived to be a million. The only surprise was how easy it was for J.C. to hit him as often as he did, even when he covered up he left more holes than a string vest.

I'd stick Joe above Hatton on experiance, Hatton's only just stepped up to title fights.

On Talent and skill too, Hatton;s messing his skills up for all out brawling.

As for Ottke he fought former Joe opponents too but at least Joe didn't need dodgey scorecards.

Terence wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:I'd have to put Calazage above Hatton, Calazages no1 at 168 and has been for years, hes seen off all comers, the Lacy win was huge and is been downplayed now.

Lacy has his downfalls but he was a proven top3 in the division. Maussa and Collazo are barely top10 - and Hatton scraped through by the thin of his teeth against Collazo. Lacy wasn't the legend Tyszu was BUT he was young and hungry something you couldnt accuse that version of Tyszu of been.

Calazage has beaten a load of top10 fighters in his reign (yes more big fights would be good but thats beside the point) and he dominated everyone. Rickys only really fought 3 top10 opponents in his career.

I see your point PN yet still would not put Joe that high. He told us he was #1 at SM for years yet never really felt the need to prove it, like it or not I still feel he should have fought Ottke and Lacy, unless he does something big, will probably be proven to be more US hype. Tszyu was in hot form and not many people fancied Ricky, Kostya seemed to be improving in the Mitchell fight in terms of punch selection as well as getting a fine result.

Post-Eubank Joe did fight some top ten guys but they were going the wrong way in the tables and a few had been beaten by Ottke. A lot of his fights were woeful and given the latest debacle we might see some more poor fights from Joe. Ricky has beaten a top guy and pursued more of them. I'd still have him as #1.

Its all pretty relative but both men made millions of defences of fringe titles and now both have genuine claims, it seems that Joe is not ready to press his just yet.

That's one interpretation, not saying it is the wrong or right one, but you could just as easily say that Ricky struggled with Magee and Thaxton, got his shot beating retreads like Phillips and Tackie, and a host of lightweights and super featherweights, and then got Tszyu just as the Russian Aussie was contemplating retirement and looking for a big payoff.

One thing I will say, that with a few more big time opponents, Joe would be a candidate for top fighter P4P in the world, but he never got or was willing to get (again open to interpretation) the fights which would have made his case. Joe's long unbeaten run however, is impressive in it's own right, despite patchy opposition, it's very hard to stay unbeaten that long.

I wouldn't put him their because of one big win.

He's just so more talented than Hatton would ever be.

Wonder if thats why Mayweathers gets p4p No 1 spot because of talent.

Many of Ottke's wins, especially post 2002, were less than impressive and some dubious too. Plus he was a boring German tosser!

When analysing fighters careers, you find after a while that it's a labyrinthine mess figuring out how good it was. Often whilst an opponent might be a big name, so much of matchmaking is down to getting the right opponent at the right time. Had ricky fought Tszyu 2 years earlier, he would have been assassinated, in my personal opinion. Tszyu's timing was still there, but his workrate wasn't. Those big bombs he was detonating on Ricky in their fight would have started earlier in the fight, and there would have been more of them, they would also have been harder.

Overall Calzaghe has the better average quality of opponent, by some margin, one swallow doth not a summer make.

However, if Calzaghe remains inactive, I would put Ricky at #1 on current form. Aside from Lacy, Calzaghe's RECENT opposition has been dire.

Max Molyneux wrote:I wouldn't put him their because of one big win.

He's just so more talented than Hatton would ever be.

Wonder if thats why Mayweathers gets p4p No 1 spot because of talent.

Yes, generally. However, his resume isn't exactly shite. It's just that the recent opposition hasn't been up to muster.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Max Molyneux wrote:I wouldn't put him their because of one big win.

He's just so more talented than Hatton would ever be.

Wonder if thats why Mayweathers gets p4p No 1 spot because of talent.

Yes, generally. However, his resume isn't exactly shite. It's just that the recent opposition hasn't been up to muster.

His best opp is at Super Feather and Lightweight though.

Gatti, Mitchell and Judah were champs like but Judah was coming off a loss and Mitchell is past it as well. Not sure about Gatti though but he was made for him.

I wonder if Floyd can handle the strength of full Career Welters though? Judah and Mitchell used to be 10 stoners