Why do some people hate Joe Calzaghe?

[The Hammer]

Wishful thinking here...Calzaghe has been on US TV since c.1998-2000.

Only twice or so before Lacy. His fight with Sheika and one other (Mitchell or Brewer?)were the only ones I can remember.

[hishaam15]

i dont hate him, its just his fighting style thats annoying.

and the way his fans give him far too much flack and call him ATG

[Stickman]

Because most American's never saw him fight until Lacy (When is was 35 years old) and for some reason believe there was a ton of SMW that he should have fought but didn't in the years before that.

Not figting on HBO = Fighting a bum it seems.

They also mysteriously think he can't punch, dispite all the evidence.

I wish the US, UK, and several other countries would get together and develop an international boxing association, with a dedicated satellite channel (which would be free, yeah baby), consistant rules and judging, that would give foreign fighters exposure to countries other than their own. This bull**** of never hearing a thing about a world class fighter until he gets a gig in your country is...well...bull****. I've been watching Calzaghe (when I could find one of his fights televised in the US) forever, but like you say, most US fight fans had never heard of him before the Lacy fight.

[warp1432]

Only twice or so before Lacy. His fight with Sheika and one other (Mitchell or Brewer?)were the only ones I can remember.

I know he was on Showtime for Mitchell and Brewer. I think the reid fight was on here too. Maybe not.

[Kris Silver]

I wish the US, UK, and several other countries would get together and develop an international boxing association, with a dedicated satellite channel (which would be free, yeah baby), consistant rules and judging, that would give foreign fighters exposure to countries other than their own. This bull**** of never hearing a thing about a world class fighter until he gets a gig in your country is...well...bull****. I've been watching Calzaghe (when I could find one of his fights televised in the US) forever, but like you say, most US fight fans had never heard of him before the Lacy fight.

Great post and essentially my thoughts on it. Lack of exposure in the US, which I believe there's several reasons for partially him not being American so immediately on US television at that same level. Plus he and his team could have gotten over to the US for fights sooner but the climate is also to blame there, in terms of divisions, fighters, politics. When people only start to see a guy on tv after 8 years of a guy defending, they immediately assume it must be because he's crap or padded record.

I also think his lack of power especially now, doesn't bring him as many fans as if he did have. People love to see KO's and he can't with his hands anymore so some people get bored.

[Fox McCloud]

I don't hate him at all. I consider myself more of a fan than a nonfan for him, but...

I think the best answer to the question is that his overzealous fans annoy the piss out of some people.

However, since that wasn't on the poll, I think the second best answer is, people have a problem with the way he fights. Because he throws a zillion punches that aren't really intended to hurt, people see it as a way to basically thwart the intent of boxing and still win.

I really don't care, I find it very impressive that he comes out, fights 100% wrong according to boxing textbooks, windmills and wings weak punches, and no one can seem to exploit it. According to traditional boxing knowledge, Calzaghe's style should be extremely easy to beat because he just wings punch after punch after punch, and he should be open for counters, but somehow, only Hopkins and Robin Reid have really had any sort of success against Calzaghe.

[Easy-E]

Something that puzzles me, is why some people hate Joe Calzaghe. We see themposting here every day: Daggum, Flawless, DiegoFuego, TheManchine, Burner, etc. There are even Brits who seem to dislike him: Terrible, Chunk, raycorey, Duffgun, etc. Some in the American media have long discredited him, such as Max Kellerman, Teddy Atlas and Dan (Arse) Iole.

He's 45-0, he's won all the titles at 168: Ring, WBC, WBA, IBF, and of course WBO.

He had some soft title defenses (like Starie and Pudwill), but so did Hopkins and Jones, and Joe he fought a lot of good opponents and world champions as well: Kessler, Lacy, Eubank, Mitchell, Brewer, Hopkins, etc.

Strangely, once Joe defeats someone, the haters come out and say that opponent was no good (Lacy) average (Kessler) or shot (Hopkins, Eubank). No matter who he fights and defeats, some will never give him credit.

The purpose of this thread is to find out WHY.

In fairness, Eubank was shot, Lacy has proven to be no good, Hopkins was 43 and Kessler has done nothing to show he is top class.

[Pugilistic™]

I think majority of the votes will be because of his fighting style and his nationality.

[Stickman]

I don't hate him at all. I consider myself more of a fan than a nonfan for him, but...

I think the best answer to the question is that his overzealous fans annoy the piss out of some people.

However, since that wasn't on the poll, I think the second best answer is, people have a problem with the way he fights. Because he throws a zillion punches that aren't really intended to hurt, people see it as a way to basically thwart the intent of boxing and still win.

I really don't care, I find it very impressive that he comes out, fights 100% wrong according to boxing textbooks, windmills and wings weak punches, and no one can seem to exploit it. According to traditional boxing knowledge, Calzaghe's style should be extremely easy to beat because he just wings punch after punch after punch, and he should be open for counters, but somehow, only Hopkins and Robin Reid have really had any sort of success against Calzaghe.

I think there are maybe 3 or 4 "overzealous fans" of Calzaghe on this forum, or at least what I'd call overzealous. There are many more of the same type for other boxers. I'm admittedly a fan of a good number of boxers, but Calzaghe is one of the few that seems to have such a large number of boxing fans who just can't stand him.

[The Hammer]

In fairness, Eubank was shot, Lacy has proven to be no good, Hopkins was 43 and Kessler has done nothing to show he is top class.

In your case, it's option #3. You have the same opinion of every other fighter with his complexion.