Glynn Leach's criticism of Joe Calzaghe in Boxing Monthly

[E]

Glynn's editorial in this month's boxing monthly has been bothering me for a while. For 3 reasons.

1. He slags Joe for showboating and not showing respect to Roy Jones the legend....Yet (and this has been mentioned a few times) Jones did showboat excessively in many bouts and actually humiliated some lesser-skilled men. And so he got a justified taste of his own medicine.

2. BUT (and this is my main point) Jones was / is a well known steroid abuser. HE failed a test (possibly as many as four) - it's only because testing in boxing is so shoddy and users have many techniques to mask usage that he didn't fail more. Just by looking at his body, his musculature is pumped and juiced. It is not a natural body.

SO jones has competed (most probably) most of his career on steroids. Thsi would give him a huge advantage in speed, power and strength.

Jones is a cheat of the highest order, and Evans acts like he is some global treasure.

Imagine how much extra speed and power Joe or any opponent would've had if he had juiced?


3. Evans states that Joe couldn't have lived with Jones in Jones' prime. What, his juiced up prime? ANd even so if Joe had fought 5-8 years ago or whatever with Roy he would certainly have given him a fight, if not actually won.

To say Joe 'wouldn't have lived with Jones' in his prime is trying to make out like it would be some kind of total mismatch which is not only up for serious contention but very disrespectful to Joe.

-------------------------------

So Mr Evans - I demand an apology on these pages, AND in next months' BM issue.

[fluxstuff]

It's one of the most spiteful columns he's written in a while. he had a similar rant about Bernard Hopkins as well.

[whicker]

Seemed to be a rather uncalled for rant , to be honest. It was an enjoyable fight, OK Jones is past his best, but at the end of the day Jones didn't need to take the fight, this isn;t something Calzaghe should be blamed for.

[tonyevs]

Critism can be good because it can provoke a debate that airs the bad and the good points.

What I dislike is when some writers come out plain old spitefull to certain boxers and arse-hole scrape some of the worse offenders - because they belong to certain promoters that may take their prime seats away at the next show.

I can`t say I`ve bought BM for many years now, I don`t see the point in reading a magazine that has news over a month old .. not in this internet age especially.

[jamesmcdonnell]

It was not out of order, the fight was a cynical load of old garbage, and about as entertaining as a wank with mittens on.

"I mean I wouldn't fight Roy Jones now, what would be the point, he's totally shot like"

"Who wouldn't want to fight Roy Jones, he's a bloody legend, he's hall of fame material."

It was a pathetic cash and deserves to be derided as such.

We all hoped Jones could find a punch to make it interesting, but when he did, he then spent the remainder of the fight trying to survive, because that was all he was capable of doing.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Glynn's editorial in this month's boxing monthly has been bothering me for a while. For 3 reasons.

1. He slags Joe for showboating and not showing respect to Roy Jones the legend....Yet (and this has been mentioned a few times) Jones did showboat excessively in many bouts and actually humiliated some lesser-skilled men. And so he got a justified taste of his own medicine.

2. BUT (and this is my main point) Jones was / is a well known steroid abuser. HE failed a test (possibly as many as four) - it's only because testing in boxing is so shoddy and users have many techniques to mask usage that he didn't fail more. Just by looking at his body, his musculature is pumped and juiced. It is not a natural body.

SO jones has competed (most probably) most of his career on steroids. Thsi would give him a huge advantage in speed, power and strength.

Jones is a cheat of the highest order, and Evans acts like he is some global treasure.

Imagine how much extra speed and power Joe or any opponent would've had if he had juiced?


3. Evans states that Joe couldn't have lived with Jones in Jones' prime. What, his juiced up prime? ANd even so if Joe had fought 5-8 years ago or whatever with Roy he would certainly have given him a fight, if not actually won.

To say Joe 'wouldn't have lived with Jones' in his prime is trying to make out like it would be some kind of total mismatch which is not only up for serious contention but very disrespectful to Joe.

-------------------------------

So Mr Evans - I demand an apology on these pages, AND in next months' BM issue.

Jones never failed a drug test, we all have our suspicions, but it was never proven - his B sample passed, end of.

[jonp]

didnt both him and richard hall fail one?

[Eraserhead]

Leach was spot on as usual. He merely pointed out what most people were thinking. What's he going to do? Praise the fight? Praise the incredible performance of Joe Calzaghe? Why should he? The fight was cynical as fornicate and Calzaghe slapped and showboated his way to some kind of hollow victory. I remember watching it and thinking, this isn't even really a fight. It was like two mates having a laugh together after a good night out and just 'pretending' to box on their way home from the pub.

It was the kind of piece that needed to be written and the kind of piece that most other 'journos' would have bottled after the first word

[Wake up call]

It was Glyn Leach not Glynn Evans and he's had in for Joe for years.

Here is one example: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing ... id=3089347 but there are many more.

[stujones]

Sorry E, it seems like YOUR entire rant is based on you not knowing the drug testing procedure. Hall and Jones failed sample A, passed sample B.

Sample B was from the same piss.

Usually, athletes do fail both - thats why most medical people can publically say they fail A - cause B will more than likely fail... but sometimes it doesn't - and that means there was a PROBLEM with the measuring procedure of Sample A.

Oh - I am sure the conspiracy theorist will say - well I Roy Jones (and Richard Hall?) are big box office (was Jones ever?) and we need him in Vegas (he hardly fought there) - "so we can clear it up by pretending he passed sample B"... well why publically say he failed sample A, if he was always going to pass.

And where or where are these 4 timees.

Jones is no cheat, there is now MUCH more evidence on Shane Mosley as there is with Jones.

[banjo]

didnt both him and richard hall fail one?

They failed the first sample but passed the second, you have to fail both for it to class as a failure.

[stujones]

We've had Holmes vs Ali comparisons in the past, this was even worst - cause it would have been like Ali vs Joe Louis... at least with Muhammad Ali version 1980 - he had won his last fight and looked very good. Gym talk was that he was looking awful, but it was only gym talk - not proven untill he stepped into the ropes.

Roy was finished back in 2004.

[E]

It was Glyn Leach not Glynn Evans and he's had in for Joe for years.

Here is one example: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing ... id=3089347 but there are many more.

Sorry meant LEach. Have changed the title

[E]

Sorry E, it seems like YOUR entire rant is based on you not knowing the drug testing procedure. Hall and Jones failed sample A, passed sample B.

Sample B was from the same piss.

Usually, athletes do fail both - thats why most medical people can publically say they fail A - cause B will more than likely fail... but sometimes it doesn't - and that means there was a PROBLEM with the measuring procedure of Sample A.

Oh - I am sure the conspiracy theorist will say - well I Roy Jones (and Richard Hall?) are big box office (was Jones ever?) and we need him in Vegas (he hardly fought there) - "so we can clear it up by pretending he passed sample B"... well why publically say he failed sample A, if he was always going to pass.

And where or where are these 4 timees.

Jones is no cheat, there is now MUCH more evidence on Shane Mosley as there is with Jones.

Oh really? You really hand on heart believe he never abused any steroid or other illegal growth substance?

Does that mean that all the East GErman athletes that passed the tests, yet practically grew dicks didn't cheat just because they passed the test?

It is you who is naive about the quality of drug testing and the ease with which abusers can pass tests (especially in poorly regulated pro boxing.)

An ex-boxer who used to box in the US told me stroid abuse was rife in the US boxing scene and used Roy Jones as an example. This was 7 years ago - and look at Jones' body....not natural

[whiskey]

Joe deserves every criticsm for fighting a washed up, losing-streak, ancient relic like Roy.

Why ? because he ripped the arse out of him in his autobiography, on setanta news and in his Hopkins pre-fight press conferences worldwide.

And then we were supposed to swallow this tripe and enjoy it ?

Young Mutley vs Kevin Anderson on a bleak Thursday night at the Aston Villa leisure centre was 10 times the fight that the 'Super Powers' show was.

It was 2 hungry fighters in their primes going hell for leather. Just like Froch vs Pascal was at the weekend.

Remove the HBO packaging, the razzmataz and the 45-city tour to promote it - the fight itself was a mismatch from the outset with Jones never having the engine to compete at this level anymore. Let's remember he was already the IBF world champion with 22 fights under his belt the week that Calzaghe laced up as a pro for his first fight.

[nobby_nobbins]

Jones was clearly past his best, but was still a top ten lightheavy and a credible challenger for the title. Joe is also well past his best but not as far as Jones. And let's face it, Joe would have been favourite to beat anyone - Dawson, Johnson, Pavlik, you name it. Joe has managed his career quite cynically at times, but so have most top level boxers, including and especially Jones, so I don't see why he should be singled out for this kind of vitriol. He has some excellent wins on his resume and has come through against decent opponents with broken hands. I for one will miss him when he's gone.

[fluxstuff]

Leach is so biased you can't trust him. You agree with him, fine - but there's nothing beyond a bitter hack complaining at the business of boxing.

[Coco]

Jones was clearly past his best, but was still a top ten lightheavy and a credible challenger for the title. Joe is also well past his best but not as far as Jones. And let's face it, Joe would have been favourite to beat anyone - Dawson, Johnson, Pavlik, you name it. Joe has managed his career quite cynically at times, but so have most top level boxers, including and especially Jones, so I don't see why he should be singled out for this kind of vitriol. He has some excellent wins on his resume and has come through against decent opponents with broken hands. I for one will miss him when he's gone.

Agreed but us Brits don't like winners!
The criticisms can be levelled at nearly all top level fighters(Haye excluded), and the fighters who came up the hard way did so because they had to, not out of choice.

[E]

Jones was clearly past his best, but was still a top ten lightheavy and a credible challenger for the title. Joe is also well past his best but not as far as Jones. And let's face it, Joe would have been favourite to beat anyone - Dawson, Johnson, Pavlik, you name it. Joe has managed his career quite cynically at times, but so have most top level boxers, including and especially Jones, so I don't see why he should be singled out for this kind of vitriol. He has some excellent wins on his resume and has come through against decent opponents with broken hands. I for one will miss him when he's gone.

People criticising Joe for fighting Jones are missing the point - it's Leach's criticism of the showboating and defending a steroid abuser as an untouchabl elegend which is the unpalatable aspect.

[nobby_nobbins]

People criticising Joe for fighting Jones are missing the point - it's Leach's criticism of the showboating and defending a steroid abuser as an untouchabl elegend which is the unpalatable aspect.

True about the showboating. Jones was the master at taunting overmatched opponents. I loved seeing him find out what that feels like.

[Chambers2]

It was not out of order, the fight was a cynical load of old garbage, and about as entertaining as a wank with mittens on.

"I mean I wouldn't fight Roy Jones now, what would be the point, he's totally shot like"

"Who wouldn't want to fight Roy Jones, he's a bloody legend, he's hall of fame material."

It was a pathetic cash and deserves to be derided as such.

We all hoped Jones could find a punch to make it interesting, but when he did, he then spent the remainder of the fight trying to survive, because that was all he was capable of doing.

That's spot on IMO

[MightyWarrior]

I for one will miss him when he's gone.

Me too, he's one of the few Brit fighters you had absolute confidence in taking on the top boys, with no fear of him getting knocked out or humiliated - and I'm not refering to his overmatched WBO bum fights, but when it came time to step up against the Kesslers and Lacys.
Even with Lennox, there was always the possibility of him getting sparked - let's be real, McCall and Rahman were journeymen really, not the sort Joe would ever have lost too.

I agree, his showboating against Jones was pretty horrible to watch: no point in it all when you're dominating someone like that. Even if Roy was guilty of the same thing in the past, it didn't make it any nicer to see.

No idea about Roy and steroids, but I see Mosley was caught bang to rights - funny the way we overlook that type of thing in boxing - shouldn't Shane's fights under the influence now be NC? Like Ben Johnson's "world record" for instance.

Can you imagine Johnson hanging around at the 100m final at the Olympics, still getting the same respect Mosley gets while he was in the ring with Oscar last weekend?

[stujones]

Oh really? You really hand on heart believe he never abused any steroid or other illegal growth substance?

Does that mean that all the East GErman athletes that passed the tests, yet practically grew dicks didn't cheat just because they passed the test?

It is you who is naive about the quality of drug testing and the ease with which abusers can pass tests (especially in poorly regulated pro boxing.)

An ex-boxer who used to box in the US told me stroid abuse was rife in the US boxing scene and used Roy Jones as an example. This was 7 years ago - and look at Jones' body....not natural

I'm naive about the use of drugs in sport? Without meaning to brag -do you know what I do for a living? I've written articles on drugs in sport! Articles awaiting publication in peer reviewed journals in Sport and Exercise Science.

Just what in the blue hell has East Germans and Candanians (I will add that one) got to with Roy Jones?

I know lets criticise everyone who looks ripped shall we! Rediculous.

Infact, there are lots of reasons why I think Roy is clean.

1) He was an outstanding amateur, and olympian - he must have got tested on countless occasions.

2) The fight he should have tested positive for, if any was the Ruiz fight.

3) If he was an advocate of drugs, he would have done a far better job "assisted" in shifting the weight off and regaining his light heavyweight glory.

4)Innocent untill proven guilty.

I just cannot believe that now your WHOLE arguement, and the whole criticism on Glyn's work is based on Roy physique... which is impressive, but not out of this world.

Oh yeah, i've got news for you - drugs is rife in world boxing - shall we start accusing Joe of juicing?

I'd love for Glyn to do an editorial on this thread.

[stujones]

No idea about Roy and steroids, but I see Mosley was caught bang to rights - funny the way we overlook that type of thing in boxing - shouldn't Shane's fights under the influence now be NC? Like Ben Johnson's "world record" for instance.

Can you imagine Johnson hanging around at the 100m final at the Olympics, still getting the same respect Mosley gets while he was in the ring with Oscar last weekend?

Absolutely, but according to some very knowledgable posters, who claim not to be DLH haters, the fact the Mosley juiced had no impact on the fight - infact, might have been a hinderance

[Poncey]

I think it helped Oscar. Sugar's head was bigger so it was easier to hit.