Arise, Joe Calzaghe - staggering!
Is this guy the best ever?
King of the World
King of the World
Talk is cheap
He's good but the calibre of his opposition over the years is a bit suspect.
He has the misfortune of fighting in an in-between division and the good fortune of fighting in Europe against 2nd rank opponents, IMO.
Roy Jones and James Toney were both very very good at 168 and Jones most certainly in a class of his own at that weight.
He has the misfortune of fighting in an in-between division and the good fortune of fighting in Europe against 2nd rank opponents, IMO.
Roy Jones and James Toney were both very very good at 168 and Jones most certainly in a class of his own at that weight.
Caller I take it he won, the guy he beat is not a bad fighter, but got a lucky break a couple of years ago when he fought Danny Green from Perth Australia. He won after the ref disqualified Green when he was well in front.
I am so glad he got his just deserts and he really should not have got the chance to get that far.
I am so glad he got his just deserts and he really should not have got the chance to get that far.
Always Borrow Money from a Pesimist. "They Never Expect it Back"
Oh well, can't please everyone. There's no-one left for him to beat at his level anymore, including the yanks that have been sent over to whip his ass who were sent packing and those there who have avoided him.
The fight was shown live in the USA as well as Britain and there was a live audience of nearly 50k.
I understand he's now thinking of moving up a level for his next couple of fights which will be his last, he claims.
The fight was shown live in the USA as well as Britain and there was a live audience of nearly 50k.
I understand he's now thinking of moving up a level for his next couple of fights which will be his last, he claims.
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redzonerocker
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Re: King of the World
certainly the most underated ever! 44 fights undefeated is a terrific record at any weight. never ducked a challenge & deserves all the accolades in my opinioncaller wrote:Arise, Joe Calzaghe - staggering!
Is this guy the best ever?
Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Same tired old cliches.johnnyk wrote:He's good but the calibre of his opposition over the years is a bit suspect.
He has the misfortune of fighting in an in-between division and the good fortune of fighting in Europe against 2nd rank opponents, IMO.
Calzaghe has wins against 5 world champions on his record - Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Lacey and Kessler.
He has been down in world title fights and got up off the floor to win. Rated by Eubank as the best he'd ever fought.
Since the establishment of the weight division it has been dominated by Europeans - just because fighters are European does not make them second rate!
Fighters always seem surprised at how strong he is after they have been despatched by him - Kessler the latest to admit this.
Calzaghe has a granite chin as proved again on Sunday morning. No-one seems able to outbox him or knock him out.
Has held the title for eleven years with an incredible professional record of 44-0-0, including 21 consecutive title defences - bettered only by Michalcheski and the legendary Joe Louis.
He has held every version of the World Championship belt in his division.
Inducted into Ring magazine hall of fame and rated as a top ten pound for pound fighter in the world and undisputed at his weight.
The truth is that nobody wanted to fight Calzaghe when he was in his prime (whenever that was - he's still so fit) - they simply had too much to lose. The much lauded Steve Collins being the first example of this. Now it is getting harder to avoid him because he is finally becoming box office.
Apart from his professional record, let's not forget his amateur record, as a schoolboy he won four straight ABA titles and then won a record equalling three straight ABA titles at different weights as a senior.
None of this happens by accident. Calzaghe is a true sporting great and a genuine British success story who has maintained unparalleled levels of continuing success. There are too few of those.
No other British or European boxer and few of other nationalities has equalled his record. He is a legend.
Give the guy some credit instead of trying to belittle his monumental achievements.
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redzonerocker
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top man
couldn't agree with you more jaimeJaime wrote:
None of this happens by accident. Calzaghe is a true sporting great and a genuine British success story who has maintained unparalleled levels of continuing success. There are too few of those.
No other British or European boxer and few of other nationalities has equalled his record. He is a legend.
Give the guy some credit instead of trying to belittle his monumental achievements.
Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Excellent post, Jaime!
The first few rounds were tough and by his own admission, he took some big hits, I did begin to fear for him.
One of his many strengths, as the man himself rightly say's, is his flexibility to fight any which way and change styles during bouts. He mixed and matched in this contest and the longer it went, the more he dominated.
Top man, and when faced with the right quality of opposition, you get great fights, as this was. The harder the opponent, the better he does.
The first few rounds were tough and by his own admission, he took some big hits, I did begin to fear for him.
One of his many strengths, as the man himself rightly say's, is his flexibility to fight any which way and change styles during bouts. He mixed and matched in this contest and the longer it went, the more he dominated.
Top man, and when faced with the right quality of opposition, you get great fights, as this was. The harder the opponent, the better he does.
You are absolutely right and I am eating humble pie for breakfast this morning. I should have dug a little deeper for my information before adding my comment. Thanks for opening my eyes.Jaime wrote:Same tired old cliches.johnnyk wrote:He's good but the calibre of his opposition over the years is a bit suspect.
He has the misfortune of fighting in an in-between division and the good fortune of fighting in Europe against 2nd rank opponents, IMO.
Calzaghe has wins against 5 world champions on his record - Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Lacey and Kessler.
He has been down in world title fights and got up off the floor to win. Rated by Eubank as the best he'd ever fought.
Since the establishment of the weight division it has been dominated by Europeans - just because fighters are European does not make them second rate!
Fighters always seem surprised at how strong he is after they have been despatched by him - Kessler the latest to admit this.
Calzaghe has a granite chin as proved again on Sunday morning. No-one seems able to outbox him or knock him out.
Has held the title for eleven years with an incredible professional record of 44-0-0, including 21 consecutive title defences - bettered only by Michalcheski and the legendary Joe Louis.
He has held every version of the World Championship belt in his division.
Inducted into Ring magazine hall of fame and rated as a top ten pound for pound fighter in the world and undisputed at his weight.
The truth is that nobody wanted to fight Calzaghe when he was in his prime (whenever that was - he's still so fit) - they simply had too much to lose. The much lauded Steve Collins being the first example of this. Now it is getting harder to avoid him because he is finally becoming box office.
Apart from his professional record, let's not forget his amateur record, as a schoolboy he won four straight ABA titles and then won a record equalling three straight ABA titles at different weights as a senior.
None of this happens by accident. Calzaghe is a true sporting great and a genuine British success story who has maintained unparalleled levels of continuing success. There are too few of those.
No other British or European boxer and few of other nationalities has equalled his record. He is a legend.
Give the guy some credit instead of trying to belittle his monumental achievements.
He is a real champion.
caller and Jaime,
Further to my brekkie of humble pie here is the capsule report by ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael:
What else can you call Calzaghe's performance other than pure brilliance? In front of a monster crowd of 50,150 fans in his home country, Calzaghe, 35, punched his Hall of Fame ticket with a dominant victory in an exciting fight against an outstanding opponent. It's not that Kessler, the 28-year-old "Viking Warrior" from Denmark, fought poorly. It's that Calzaghe was that good.
The fight was even through four rounds, but then Calzaghe took over and won virtually the rest of the bout with an assortment of hard punches, underrated defense, a strong chin and more energy than Kessler, who was simply at a loss as to what to do in the second half of the fight. When it was over, it was obvious that Calzaghe, the longest-reigning active champion in boxing (more than 10 years), had his 21st defense under his belt. He kept the Ring magazine title and his own sanctioning organization's belt while picking up the two alphabet belts Kessler had. The fourth alphabet belt used to belong to Calzaghe but was stripped from him.
There can be no question that Calzaghe is the supreme commander of the 168-pound division in all the world and it is not a reach to call him the greatest fighter in the 23-year history of the division. It's either Calzaghe or Roy Jones Jr., but Jones' stay at 168 was brief -- just two years and five defenses.
Calzaghe's win was even more impressive than his March 2006 coming out party against Jeff Lacy. The win against Lacy made the rest of the world finally take notice of Wales' favorite son, but this win against formidable Kessler -- a much stronger fighter than Lacy -- cemented his place among the top two or three fighters in the world pound-for-pound.
Kessler probably would have beaten any other super middleweight in the world on this night. He'll be back and probably win more titles. He's young, exciting, talented and still hungry. HBO certainly likes him enough to bring him back off this defeat.
As for Calzaghe, the time has come for him to step up to light heavyweight. There's nothing left to achieve at 168. There's talk of an eventual fight with the winner of the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II fight, but Calzaghe wants light heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins, who has no obvious big-fight opponent. Hopefully, sanity will prevail when it comes to negotiating money and they can make the fight, which could bring Calzaghe to America for the first time before he retires.
Amen.
Further to my brekkie of humble pie here is the capsule report by ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael:
What else can you call Calzaghe's performance other than pure brilliance? In front of a monster crowd of 50,150 fans in his home country, Calzaghe, 35, punched his Hall of Fame ticket with a dominant victory in an exciting fight against an outstanding opponent. It's not that Kessler, the 28-year-old "Viking Warrior" from Denmark, fought poorly. It's that Calzaghe was that good.
The fight was even through four rounds, but then Calzaghe took over and won virtually the rest of the bout with an assortment of hard punches, underrated defense, a strong chin and more energy than Kessler, who was simply at a loss as to what to do in the second half of the fight. When it was over, it was obvious that Calzaghe, the longest-reigning active champion in boxing (more than 10 years), had his 21st defense under his belt. He kept the Ring magazine title and his own sanctioning organization's belt while picking up the two alphabet belts Kessler had. The fourth alphabet belt used to belong to Calzaghe but was stripped from him.
There can be no question that Calzaghe is the supreme commander of the 168-pound division in all the world and it is not a reach to call him the greatest fighter in the 23-year history of the division. It's either Calzaghe or Roy Jones Jr., but Jones' stay at 168 was brief -- just two years and five defenses.
Calzaghe's win was even more impressive than his March 2006 coming out party against Jeff Lacy. The win against Lacy made the rest of the world finally take notice of Wales' favorite son, but this win against formidable Kessler -- a much stronger fighter than Lacy -- cemented his place among the top two or three fighters in the world pound-for-pound.
Kessler probably would have beaten any other super middleweight in the world on this night. He'll be back and probably win more titles. He's young, exciting, talented and still hungry. HBO certainly likes him enough to bring him back off this defeat.
As for Calzaghe, the time has come for him to step up to light heavyweight. There's nothing left to achieve at 168. There's talk of an eventual fight with the winner of the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II fight, but Calzaghe wants light heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins, who has no obvious big-fight opponent. Hopefully, sanity will prevail when it comes to negotiating money and they can make the fight, which could bring Calzaghe to America for the first time before he retires.
Amen.
That awesome list of achievements still won't be enough to win him the BBC sports personality of the year though. That'll probably go to somebody who hasn't won anything - i.e Lewis Hamilton!
He's proven that coming from a small place like Wales you can still "rule the world" ( Joe's dad Enzo's words in the post fight Setanta TV interview). If only our other sporting teams had his focus and attitude!
Hope Joe gets the Hopkins fight and gives him a lesson in his own backyard.
He's proven that coming from a small place like Wales you can still "rule the world" ( Joe's dad Enzo's words in the post fight Setanta TV interview). If only our other sporting teams had his focus and attitude!
Hope Joe gets the Hopkins fight and gives him a lesson in his own backyard.