Calzaghe haters need to STFU!!!

[Iceta]

No one's twisting anything except you. Being pound for pound #1 is irrelevant - that isn't even a title, it's just a concensus opinion. Great champions are expected to fight the top contenders. Michalczewski was the top contender for four successive years of Roy's reign, the #2 contender the fifth year and the #3 contender in the sixth. No one Roy fought deserved a shot as much as Michalczewski did.

Boxing historians don't have such short memories as you have, that's why they're called historians. They look up records, and who the top contenders were.

As for no one even acknowledging him, if you really think The Ring is "no one", you've lost every shred of credibility. Cliff Rold has forgotten more about boxing than you will ever know and he makes it clear that not facing Michalczewski is the primary reason why he ranks Roy a bit lower than #50 in the ATG list rather than a lot higher.

Michalczewski did try to get a fight with Roy in the States, and travelled to the states looking to set up a fight with Roy; but there wouldn't have much money available for it to happen there, so it would have made much more sense commercially from both fighters' point of view to have it in Germany or Poland. Ali didn't have that silly attitude of yours - he fought all the top contenders, wherever they were from; and when it made sense commercially to do so, he travelled in order to fight them.

As for whether Roy would have walked through him or not, you're sounding like the worst Mayweather fans sound when you say that. Boxing isn't about "coulda woulda", it's about what who fighters actually fight in the ring.

Roy is a truly great fighter, and one of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport. At his best, he was as wonderful to watch as Ali was, and could do things that no other fighter I've ever seen could do. But to pretend that it would not have helped his legacy if he had fought Michalczewski is just silly; and to claim that the reason is that Michalczewski is a European is extreme xenophobia bordering on racism.

I'm one of those people that is in the middle when it comes to Roy not fighting Michalczewski. After all, the guy went on to get beat by Julio Gonzalez who was a guy that Roy dominated. Roy's legacy should suffer a little bit for the fight not happening though. But I don't think you can take away his spot in the top 50. That is uncalled for. And this is coming from someone who is not a Roy fan.

[Dave Rado]

If people were interested in the Calzaghe-Jones fight then why did it totally bomb at the gate and on PPV?

It didn't totally bomb. A quarter of a million US buys isn't wonderful but it isn't terrible either. It still gave both fighters a very good payday (especially when including the worldwide TV rights sales) because there were no promotional fees for either of them to pay.

And I don't just automatically assume that Calzaghe could've beaten Pavlik even though Hopkins did. Styles make fights and I don't know if Joe would've been able to stick his chin out and do that taunting bull**** (similar to what Roy Jones has done as you mentioned) when Pavlik wouldn't have been scared to hit him like Roy was. Calzaghe doesn't have a good defense in my opinion. His offense is his defense.

Calzaghe had very good lateral movement, and Pavlik doesn't cope well with lateral movement. That movement and excellent footwork was a big part of his defence. His upper body movement was pretty effective most of the time as well, especially when fighting on the inside.

As I said before, Calzaghe saw the Jones fight as a glamour fight to bow out on, against someone he'd wanted to fight for years, like Lewis saw the Tyson fight. It wasn't a legacy fight but it doesn't deserve to be criticised any more than the Lewis-Tyson fight.

[Dave Rado]

But I don't think you can take away his spot in the top 50. That is uncalled for. And this is coming from someone who is not a Roy fan.

I rate Roy in the top 50. I believe most boxing historians probably will in time, although as I pointed out, Cliff doesn't, and he's certainly a respected boxing historian. But they'd rate him even higher than they do if he'd fought Michalczewski. For CRESCENDOPOWER to claim otherwise is just silly.

[WelshDevilRob]

A successful career is one thing. Being compared to two of the greatest boxers to ever walk the face of the earth is another.

That's what I think boxing fans need to do sometimes, were too busy bashing what a fighter did rather than giving props.

It's a tough business. Joe got to the top unlike me or you or anyother forum poster.

Of course he's going to be compared, this is boxing. The debate is whether he's no where near them or not.

Roy Jones is the man IMO. Bhop, well he's good but I rate Joe above him. Bhop beat plenty of nobodies raking up his defences and heck he ran from Eastman and lost too Jermain Taylor.

All a matter of opinion and each is different but to say not to compare is a joke. Haha, I get it you were joking, right?

[WelshDevilRob]

You can twist things anyway you want. Roy was POUND FOR POUND boxer in the world at the time. If you want the man come get him, unless you are a *****. Roy walks right through any of the European boxers of that time, or any time in history. No one 20 years from now will even know who Michalczewski is. As a matter of fact no one acknowledges him unless they are European.

He seems to be coming out with facts while your showing that your just a newbie.

Don't get involved in debates about fighters when you haven't seen their fights -it's a tip take it and run along.

[niteshift]

Even though he's retired, you guys still try and **** on him with your bull**** hate threads. The people on here who know me, know that i'm not the biggest Calzaghe going but this is bull****!

It's funny how much more i appreciated how good Calzaghe was until he retired, especially when you look at what's on show at 168-175. Calzaghe wold eat all of them, even this version of Calzaghe. Maybe Chad Dawson would give Calzaghe a tough fight but even that would end up a comfortable for the taff.

Calzaghe's super skilled and a one-off. Real boxing fans will appreciate how good Calzaghe was and what he has achieved. Nearly all fighters should have done this and done that sooner, blah blah, but you can't just pin on Calzaghe, fess up.

**** it! I want Calzaghe to come back. There, i said it!

Good post man. I used to be super critical of Calzaghe too, but only because the opponents he chose to fight at the time. I always acknowledged his skill. His boxing prowess is undeniable. For anyone to claim otherwise, they are either a hater, or don't know too much about the sport. He had everything except for a big punch. Quickness of hand and foot; his footwork is extremely underrated and always has been. Good head movement, great reflexes, solid chin. Nobody needs to mention his stamina - probably one of the fighters with the most stamina p4p ever. He's one of the few fighters today who I could see benefiting from 15 rounders. He gets stronger down the stretch. I have never seen him gassed. What made Calzaghe a GREAT fighter IMO was his adaptability.

He could have had a better resume, but at the end of the day, his legacy is pretty decent.

I hope he comes back too.




***EDIT*** I will say this. Calzaghe was SO good I feel he actually underachieved. That's how great I think he was. It's such a shame he didn't get to fight some of the others during his career. He might not have went undefeated if he were to face all the great boxers of his time, but he would give ANYBODY a tough fight. Head to head, Calzaghe would be tough for anyone in history around his weight.

If he were born in America, or didn't have Frank Warren as a promoter, we would probably be talking about him in the light of Roy Jones Jr. or Marvin Hagler or a Sugar Ray Leonard, etc. The only thing that is stopping that type of accolades is the opponents he DIDN'T face.

[Junito-Rulez]

Calzaghe pissed off against one bad singer.

[niteshift]

Joe fought everyone that would fight him. He never talked trash, unlike Hopkins. And yet he's got zero respect in comparison to the one Hopkins get from you yanks.

What is it with Brits, LOL. Chill the hell out already. Calzaghe has loads of American fans. I'm not really a fan of his, but I respect his skill and acomplishments.

[The_Demon]

its ok that people dislike him when they have good reasons and decent opinions because thats what makes for good discussion
there are some people who downright hate him which is pathetic but they are not real fans
he still beats anyone from 168-175 even now though,hard too disagree with that

[Benncollinsaad]

What is it with Brits, LOL. Chill the hell out already. Calzaghe has loads of American fans. I'm not really a fan of his, but I respect his skill and acomplishments.

I am no Brit!