British Boxing

[dealerFROMhell]

I've listened to people slagging off British Boxing ever since Lennox "I'm British, honest" Lewis hung up his gloves, but really, it aint that bad!

My love for boxing was nurtured in the days of the mighty middleweights of the late 80's and early 90's. Eubank in particular. Then of course you had Benn, Watson, Steve Collins, Joe Calzaghe. Massive fights.

The media are trying to hype up third rate heavyweights like Skelton and Danny Williams and Co. in order to pull the viewers in, when we all know deep down that these matches are as slow and laborious as the heavyweight division can get. Get them off my TV.

Khan, fairplay, promising young fighter with the right people in charge. Now if only he'd stop fighting plasterers from Coventry, he might be able to progress. Look what happened to Naseem when he fought Barrera.

Hatton is in a class of his own. Unless he fights Mayweather, he wont be remembered as the best, but the geezers still already a legend.

And last but not least, my man Joe! Arguably one of the greatest champions in modern times.

It's not all bad is it!

[Longy]

No its not all bad for a nation of our size to have two world class fighter (Hatton and Calzaghe) is probably punching above our weight. (Pun only half intended)

[dealerFROMhell]

Jeff "Left Behind" Lacey

What a great fight. If you're Welsh

[BrumBilly]

Calzaghe's demolition of a very one dimensional Lacey was the most one sided unification fight I've ever seen. Joe was AWESOME that night and fought the perfect fight and exposed Lacey to be less that true class IMO. That said, I don't think he can be considered great himself as I can't remember him winning a 'superfight'. Don't think he's beat much to be honest.

[lazaroonie]

I predict great things ahead for Scotland's own Alex Arthur in the super featherweight division. a young man with great ability, and also a sensible head on his shoulders.

[JoeStrummer]

joe is the main man.

heavyweights are a shambles. rumors have it harrisson had been knocked out twice in sparring way before the first williams fight.

alex arthur is way over rated and will never be a world champ of any distinction. rember when gomez destroyed him? whos gomez? exactly.

[dealerFROMhell]

Don't think he's beat much to be honest.

10 years as the greatest fighter in his division. You cant quantify calling him anything other than a great World Champion. True, he hasn't had a great rivalry with regards to the lightweights (Barrera, Pacquiao, Morales) and some of the big Heavyweight fights of Lewis, Holyfield, Bowe and Tyson.

Super-middleweight is a dodgy division. It's like cruiserweight. Not many fighters settle for it, because there isn't as much money in it as there is in Middleweight or Heavyweight respectively.

What I like about Calzaghe is the fact that he still trains in the same gym he did as a boy, stil runs up and down the same mountains, and he's gone about his business without whinging about not fighting in America. I dont know how much gas he's got left in the tank, with his hand and all, but he's a true champion and a credit to the sport.

[BrumBilly]

His dedication is admirable but he seems to be a fighter that's either ducked the best opponents or not had anyone decent to fight. Either way, I can't consider him one of the greats. IMHO the true greats of that division would have wiped the floor with him. The fact that many Brits/Welsh do call him 'Great' is more reflective of the bias/nationalism that we're guilty of in most sports.

[JungleCat03]

Calzaghe's record is outstanding on paper, but it's true there's a paucity of big names on it.

It's unfortunate that the super middleweight division has become less attractive than it used to be with many fighters opting to fight at middle or move up into the heavyweight divisions.

It's also a shame that the negotiations for Bernard Hopkins to fight Joe fell through a few years ago as this could have been the defining fight/ rivalry of Joe's career. Hopkins is an immensely talented fighter, even going one better than rocky last year and knocking out antonio tarver  

Had Joe beaten him, that victory and his record would have cemented him up there with the greats.

Even so, Calzaghe has beaten everyone he's ever faced, won 15 title defences, knocked out over 75% of his opponents and fought with a style and panache that always entertains.

And on the occasions where he has fought genuinely talented opposition like Eubank or Lacy , he has got the job done. Joe's a cracking champ in my eyes and it's just a shame that the politics and perhaps lack of ambition of his management haven't helped secure the legacy that I think Joe deserved.

For me the true talent in boxing lies in the barrera, morales and pacquoia axis of excellence. These guys have been brutally knocking the **** out of each other for years now and every fight between them is a contender for fight of the year.

Khan also shows immense promise and I think he'll be a world star before long. The heavyweight division is barren as f**k, and once lewis cleared house beating everyone in the division of any note before he retired, no one has stepped up to the mantle. Rumours of lewis returning to fight klitchsko again at the age of 41 illustrate how desperate the division is to bring a worthy fight to the table.

I think the excessive promotion of average fighters like harrison, skelton and williams is more symptomatic of the derth of talent in the heavyweight arena as a whole than a lack of talent in just britain.

[dealerFROMhell]

Good post JungleCat.

Lightweight has been THE division for me over the past 5 years or so. Those guys are made out of teak. You can hit them all day and they wont give a monkeys. Barrera showed Naseem what boxing was all about and he made him look like a schoolboy. Typical of the hype that's always been heaped on British fighters. Khan needs to start fighting progressively better opponents if he's got a chance of challenging for a belt. He's going to have to fight the likes of Chavez Jnr. and co., and we all know what they can do.

What does my head in is the way Carl Froche is starting to call out Joe Calzaghe. This guys slagged him off for years (when he never realistically had a chance of facing him) for no reason at all. I dont know wether it was bad advice from his managment or what, but it's come back to haunt him. He'll never get to fight him.

According to Maloney, Lewis is making a come-back, but Frank Warren doesn't seem to think it's a good idea.

"The time is right for boxing. Even though he is fast approaching 42, it says a lot about the sorry state of boxing when it needs someone like Lennox to come out of retirement to save it from other combat sports."

Why on Earth does he feel the need to come out of retirment to fight a second-rate ex-champion like Vitali Klitschko? Who's going to be a goner after he fights Oleg Maskaev anyway! I've never rated Lewis as an exciting boxer, and that's what the heavyweight division needs. Not someone who's going to jab, jab, jab for 12 rounds, and nip the odd one-two in.

Boxing is getting far too shady for me. UFC and Pride (Both of which i'm a huge fan) is set to overtake it. It's transparent, there are less belts, and somehow you just know the fighters aren't just in it for the glory and the money.

Ever since Kindelan "lost" to Amir Khan, I knew something was up.

[Nem]

Why hasn't Calzaghe signed up to fight Kessler? Just doesn't make any sense

I believe that Calzaghe would lose, that is the reason behind it...

[Bazzaboy]

Calzaghe is unlucky in the sense that he wasn't born 10years earlier when Benn, Eubank, Watson were at their peak.  I rate him highly but to cement his place in the history books as one of the all-time greats then he has to fight and beat either Kessler and/or Taylor.

[Jim-D]

Calzaghe is unlucky in the sense that he wasn't born 10years earlier when Benn, Eubank, Watson were at their peak.  I rate him highly but to cement his place in the history books as one of the all-time greats then he has to fight and beat either Kessler and/or Taylor.

If he was born 10 years earlier then I very much doubt he would of made 1 defence of any title coz he would of never won one to begin with.

Benn, Eubank at there true peak IMO would of destroyed Calzaghe.

[JungleCat03]

Why hasn't Calzaghe signed up to fight Kessler? Just doesn't make any sense

I believe that Calzaghe would lose, that is the reason behind it...

They were sposed to be agreeing a deal for this fight in october last year. Joe's notoriously travel-shy and his reluctance to fight away might be the sticking point holding things up.

I hope it comes to fruition as it would be a great fight and Kessler would definitely be a dangerous opponent capable of upsetting calzaghe. I still think Calzaghe would beat him though, provided his hand holds up.

Calzaghe is unlucky in the sense that he wasn't born 10years earlier when Benn, Eubank, Watson were at their peak.  I rate him highly but to cement his place in the history books as one of the all-time greats then he has to fight and beat either Kessler and/or Taylor.

If he was born 10 years earlier then I very much doubt he would of made 1 defence of any title coz he would of never won one to begin with.

Benn, Eubank at there true peak IMO would of destroyed Calzaghe.

Hmm, i disagree there. Benn and Eubank both had major problems dealing with steve collins style and I regard calzaghe as having a similar but superior busy style to collins.

Benn and Eubank at their peak were very difficult opponents and it would have been great if calzaghe had been part of the benn/ eubank/ watson rivalry but I very much doubt they would have destroyed Joe. Beaten maybe, but it would've been close as in the collins fights.

Joe did fight Eubank too, albeit toward the end of his career and beat him convincingly. Eubank took the fight at v short notice though having not trained properly so admittedly it wasnt 100% indicative of what would have happened if they fought in their prime.

[BrumBilly]

I think fighters like James Toney and Mike McCallum would be too classy for Calzaghe. Joe is without doubt a 'good' fighter but for my money he ain't one of the 'Greats'.