Pro boxing would hurt

:: ::

I can kind of see where Hut and cdogg are coming from, because if you remember Slice back in the SO days I despised Calzaghe, his welsh accent, his stupid face, his slappy style, and his reluctance to fight anyone.

But it was mainly blind hate as it pretty much is with Hut and cdogg.

I'm not a fan now by any means, but I respect him as a fighter.

Much like Vitali, he might not look pretty in the ring, but he is ridiculously hard to beat.

The only super middle I would pick over him with certainty is Roy.

 

Roy is the only guy I would definitively pick to beat Joe. Roy still had useful hand speed when they met- Roy was shot, lets be clear- but shot Roy still had more accuracy and speed than a lot of 168lbrs...but the sight of Joe actually dropping his hands and leering was shocking. And Joe was no spring chicken then either.

Joe was remarkably tough too. He got up from Roys forearm to the nose to basically win the rest of the round.

I have him on the business end of a very very short list of the best British fighters of all time.

If Joe had of enticed Pavlik into one of those Manny Pacquaio/Flizzoid inspired catch-weight fights, he could have whipped him too, then finished with Dawson.

 

its not blind hate

you guys act like he is this all-time great fighter and I don't see it

you want to say "well there's only one super middle I'd definitively pick over him" and my response to that is, he is a super middleweight only in the recent criteria of divisional weight... In the ring, he is a light heavyweight, he weighs in the 170s... That means he doesn't get to coast along in a division that has only existed for 20 odd years... it means he has to get compared to those in a division with some of the greatest depth in the sport's history. There's two dozen light heavyweights of the past who could beat him. This guy fought nobody worth a shit for years and often looked mediocre doing it. Ezzard Charles would beat him half to death

 

As long as you hold Mr Hopkins to the same standard and deride him just as much then I can live with this, even if I don't agree with it

 

Yea I remember bro, the thing is I've always considered Calzaghe an exceptional talent but he was doing absolutely fuck all back then to warrant praise. I've always said if Calzaghe had Hattons ambition he would be massively respected right now. Would I have picked him to beat Jones? No. However I've always maintained he would have given RJJ his toughest fight, even though he'd come up short. I'd have picked him to beat anyone outside of Roy though.

 

I think the idea of Bernard as a top 5 middleweight of all time is insane

I think both Bernard and Calzaghe would get fucking hammered by about 25 different light heavyweights

 

Jones jr really would have dominated calzaghe. Not a tough fight at all. It would have been a brutal ass whipping or a tedious affair after a few rounds of action, where jones jr coasted to the finish vs a tamed, timid slapper.

 

Yeah, typical peak Jones fight. Jones hurts Calzaghe early... after that, it's really up to Joe. If he keeps trying to win, he gets stopped. If Joe tries to survive, it probably goes the distance.