It happens to all of the Greats, and it happened to Iron Boy tonight. A classical stylist, the third best in terms of boxing ability only behind Esteban DeJesus and Wilfred Benitez in Puerto Rico history. Father Time caught up with him tonight as much as the punches did, and he had a great and lengthy reign at the top. I'd like to see him take some well deserved time off and re-evaluate his career and life with his family, as he took a terrific beating tonight. He elected to take the knee for the ten count after being badly beaten tonight, but has always shown himself to be a brave lad, but this kid was just too young and strong for him tonight. Karl
Good post. I agree. I think Calderon should take a nice long vacation and consider retirement. He will go down as one of the best pure boxers out of Puerto Rico.
calderon might look like a kid, but he's not in his peak years anymore. He's lost some of his leg speed/endurance and is not as elusive as he used to be.
To remain unbeaten for so long is a real accomplishment. Calderon was boxing beautifully and was ahead in the scorecards though. The tide was turned when Segura got him in trouble in rounds five and six. Calderon did manage to win round seven though, but in round eight Calderon was floored with a devastating liver shot, there was no way he could continue. IMO Calderon is too old to continue fighting young lions. He should retire and be proud of his brilliant career.
Those liver shots are murder as they paralyze you for a number of seconds. I've seen champions before (like Yoshiaki Numata get up from Raul Rojas, it is on youtube) rise and win from them, but very seldom. Joe Frazier survived a number of them to stop Jerry Quarry, as did Iran Barkley when he beat Thomas Hearns twice. I think he could have risen, but he could not have continued.
Why was he a 'great' champion? I think he was not. Here are his title fights, keeping in mind he fought no one of consequence prior: tw9 18-5-1 w12 18-13 w12 29-3-1 ko11 30-11-2 (non-title, but not Caleron's fault) w12 23-3-1 w12 14-4-1 tko8 40-7-2 w12 13-1 w12 35-3-1 w12 24-7-3 tko9 18-5 w12 13-1 sw12 20-2-1 sw12 26-4-1 w12 22-2-1 w12 25-4-2 tw7 27-5-1 sdr6 25-3 tsw7 25-3-1 (rematch) w12 16-6-5 LKO8 24-1-1 That's a lot of wins, but against a lot of shit and against nothing but fighters who have already shown they can be beaten. Compare to Omar Narvaez who I believe is a better boxer with similar stats, but who gets no credit (unlike Calderon): mdr 4 to 10-1-1 guy when Narvaez was 4-0 w12 19-2-1 (wins title) wdq10 20-5-1 sw12 17-1-1 tko5 23-6-2 sdr12 17-1-2 (rematch) tko10 42-6 tko3 10-1 tko11 13-0 w12 16-2-4 w12 11-4-2 w12 21-1 tko4 11-2 w12 17-3 tko7 28-4-1 w12 20-5-1 tko10 22-0 ko11 17-4-1 w12 32-5-1
You are entitled to your opinion, but there is not one single boxing expert that will agree with the statement you made. Calderon is a SLAM DUNK first ballot Hall of Famer. Karl
:atu: slam dunk marcellus johnson wouldve beaten the dog shit out of calderon at 110lbs. do you dare disagree, smeg?
Agreed. It's a real shame many boxing fans didnt appreciate Calderon style. Boxing is all about hit and not get hit, Calderon mastered the art of boxing and will go down as one of the best pure boxers in history.
Much like the aforementioned Slappy Johnson, his competition was weak, his results were good, but far from spectacular, and he lost to probably the best opponent he faced. He's no better than Eric Morel. That's very good, but certainly not great.
Watch both of them fight. They fight very similarly. Look at their am careers. They are very similar. Look at the records. Very similar, except Morel's competition is superior. Laugh away.
I assume that when you say Marcellus you mean 2 sharp. Last time I checked their was no 110 pd division. Heaven forbid it grew to 18 overnight. Johnson is far to big for Ivan but that does not impede his entrance to the hall.. Plus think of the style match-up and them both being southpaws.What a horror show.
Mark Johnson was actually in some good fights and could punch. Don't compare him to that running,holding,tackling, non fighter Calderon. Mike is right about Calderon's record, he mostly beat trash.
calderon has fought plenty of times at 108lbs, just as johnson fought plenty of times at 110 or 111 pounds. but he's far too big? :: he's simply on another level as a fighter, and a talent. mismatch. not only that, he went up in weight after coming out of prison and beat an elite super flyweight and one of the greatest bantamweights in history. if calderon somehow makes it into the hall of fame before johnson it is a complete sham. according to smegman he's a lock first ballot guy :atu:
..and against the best fighters he bailed himself out with headbutts. Held on illegally for his life against Cazares and butted himself out of the rematch with Cazares and both Mayol fights, when they were coming on strong. Who is the best fighter Calderon has beaten/dominated without any controversy? Nelson Dieppa? Gerado Verde?
Agreed! It was by far the best fight I have seen as well this year. I'm a big fan of Segura and wish him the best! He's very humble and likable. Cant wait to see him fight in the future! :Thumbs:
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it was somewhat like margarito-cotto. i've seen segura fight a few times, but at the early going, he looked VERY sloppy winging wild shots that calderon easily evaded and countered. too bad calderon's reflexes arent what they once were. segura definitely came on towards the end though. the round before the stoppage, he landed consecutive body shots that fucked calderon up pretty good. nevertheless, great fight and probably the ONLY calderon fight that i actually watched w/o taking a break.
