The Best Ever retires

[kinboshi]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7873582.stm

Ricky Hatton has paid tribute to Joe Calzaghe by describing him as the "best British fighter we've ever had".

Undefeated world super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Calzaghe announced his retirement on Thursday.

The 36-year-old Welshman, reigned as a world champion for more than 11 years with a glittering record of 46 wins from 46 fights.

Hatton told BBC Radio Wales: "To hold the title for as long as he did is an absolutely phenomenal achievement."

Calzaghe, trained by his father, Enzo, became British super-middleweight champion in 1995 and captured his first world title in 1997, outpointing Chris Eubank to claim the WBO crown.

Despite suffering from several hand injuries, Calzaghe defended the title a total of 21 times, adding the IBF version to his trophy cabinet with a stunning victory over American Jeff Lacy in March 2006.

The best British boxer ever?  I think so.

[GreekStein]

Phew for a minute i thought Audley Harrison or Danny Williams were hanging up their gloves

[DaveShoelace]

Certainly, there are a lot of people who say of Calzaghe "but who has he fought?" but those people just dont know boxing. Calzaghe was unlucky in that his career started just when TV boxing was no longer mainstream and Sky was the only place you could see it, which was fine for fight fans but bad for the wider, casual audience. Calzaghe battered everyone in his way, beat some great great fighters, had some amazing performances and seemed to get better with age. I have no doubt in my mind he was better than Eubank, Collins and Benn in their day (but what a fight they would have been) and funnily I think it was one of the best Eubank performances ever when Calzaghe beat him.

To retire undefeated in boxing is about as good as it gets in the sport.

[DaveShoelace]

Phew for a minute i thought Audley Harrison or Danny Williams were hanging up their gloves

Harrison has to go down as the worst British fighter of all time. Obviously there are plenty of people out there have have lost more fights, but for the hype, size advantage, apparent Olympic style skill and potential, he has to be the biggest dissapointment.

[TheChipPrince]

There's not really such a thing as 'retired' in boxing though is there?  Always bugs me these crap comebacks...

[bolt pp]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7873582.stm

Ricky Hatton has paid tribute to Joe Calzaghe by describing him as the "best British fighter we've ever had".

Undefeated world super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Calzaghe announced his retirement on Thursday.

The 36-year-old Welshman, reigned as a world champion for more than 11 years with a glittering record of 46 wins from 46 fights.

Hatton told BBC Radio Wales: "To hold the title for as long as he did is an absolutely phenomenal achievement."

Calzaghe, trained by his father, Enzo, became British super-middleweight champion in 1995 and captured his first world title in 1997, outpointing Chris Eubank to claim the WBO crown.

Despite suffering from several hand injuries, Calzaghe defended the title a total of 21 times, adding the IBF version to his trophy cabinet with a stunning victory over American Jeff Lacy in March 2006.

The best British boxer ever?  I think so.

hell no, too many missed/ducked opportunities in his prime

[DaveShoelace]

Such as? He fought tooth and nail to fight Jones for years back when Jones was roided up.

[Nem]

There are some interesting comments on boxrec below is one of them:

no great loss to boxing , his best win is vs kessler , thats says it all

*never fought a great in thier prime
*fought wbo bums for 10 years
*most padded record ever in world boxing history
*refused to give reid and hopkins a rematch when many thought they beat joe....real champs dont do this
*said jones was shot but still fought him and robbed the fans
*refused to leave uk and fight best for 11 years

goodbye joe , you will not be remembered fondly , men like hatton want to be tested thats why they left warren to fight guys who were the best and in thier prime , just like hamed did years ago aswell

you were happy fighting manfredo , sobat , veit x2 , starie , pudwell , need i go on.

joe calzaghe = legend??....anyone that thinks this doesnt know the sport we love

<3 Calzaghe

[bolt pp]

There are some interesting comments on boxrec below is one of them:

no great loss to boxing , his best win is vs kessler , thats says it all

*never fought a great in thier prime
*fought wbo bums for 10 years
*most padded record ever in world boxing history
*refused to give reid and hopkins a rematch when many thought they beat joe....real champs dont do this
*said jones was shot but still fought him and robbed the fans
*refused to leave uk and fight best for 11 years

goodbye joe , you will not be remembered fondly , men like hatton want to be tested thats why they left warren to fight guys who were the best and in thier prime , just like hamed did years ago aswell

you were happy fighting manfredo , sobat , veit x2 , starie , pudwell , need i go on.

joe calzaghe = legend??....anyone that thinks this doesnt know the sport we love

<3 Calzaghe

I agree with all of that

[kinboshi]

There are some interesting comments on boxrec below is one of them:

no great loss to boxing , his best win is vs kessler , thats says it all

*never fought a great in thier prime
*fought wbo bums for 10 years
*most padded record ever in world boxing history
*refused to give reid and hopkins a rematch when many thought they beat joe....real champs dont do this
*said jones was shot but still fought him and robbed the fans
*refused to leave uk and fight best for 11 years

goodbye joe , you will not be remembered fondly , men like hatton want to be tested thats why they left warren to fight guys who were the best and in thier prime , just like hamed did years ago aswell

you were happy fighting manfredo , sobat , veit x2 , starie , pudwell , need i go on.

joe calzaghe = legend??....anyone that thinks this doesnt know the sport we love

<3 Calzaghe

Bollocks - his best win was against Lacey.

It's always the same, someone fights a great who is a bit older and "they're past their best", or they beat someone who is meant to be at the top and suddenly "they weren't as good as they were made out to be".

Calzaghe was the best in the division, if people didn't want to fight him, they were the ones avoiding the best.  Calzaghe struggled against Reid, but won the fight on points clearly imo.  Hopkins didn't beat Calzaghe either.

So I'll have to disagree with the poster on boxrec.

[bolt pp]

There are some interesting comments on boxrec below is one of them:

no great loss to boxing , his best win is vs kessler , thats says it all

*never fought a great in thier prime
*fought wbo bums for 10 years
*most padded record ever in world boxing history
*refused to give reid and hopkins a rematch when many thought they beat joe....real champs dont do this
*said jones was shot but still fought him and robbed the fans
*refused to leave uk and fight best for 11 years

goodbye joe , you will not be remembered fondly , men like hatton want to be tested thats why they left warren to fight guys who were the best and in thier prime , just like hamed did years ago aswell

you were happy fighting manfredo , sobat , veit x2 , starie , pudwell , need i go on.

joe calzaghe = legend??....anyone that thinks this doesnt know the sport we love

<3 Calzaghe

Bollocks - his best win was against Lacey.

It's always the same, someone fights a great who is a bit older and "they're past their best", or they beat someone who is meant to be at the top and suddenly "they weren't as good as they were made out to be".

Calzaghe was the best in the division, if people didn't want to fight him, they were the ones avoiding the best.  Calzaghe struggled against Reid, but won the fight on points clearly imo.  Hopkins didn't beat Calzaghe either.

So I'll have to disagree with the poster on boxrec.

lol @ "his best win was against lacey"

might of been his most impressive but lol at it being his best, who was lacey when calzage beat him? a 20 fight undefeated guy that had fought nobody( except the amazing robin Reid who was clearly at his best at the time) and then gone on to do absolutely nothing.

[Josedinho]

Carl Froch is the greatest. Surely?

[kinboshi]

There are some interesting comments on boxrec below is one of them:

no great loss to boxing , his best win is vs kessler , thats says it all

*never fought a great in thier prime
*fought wbo bums for 10 years
*most padded record ever in world boxing history
*refused to give reid and hopkins a rematch when many thought they beat joe....real champs dont do this
*said jones was shot but still fought him and robbed the fans
*refused to leave uk and fight best for 11 years

goodbye joe , you will not be remembered fondly , men like hatton want to be tested thats why they left warren to fight guys who were the best and in thier prime , just like hamed did years ago aswell

you were happy fighting manfredo , sobat , veit x2 , starie , pudwell , need i go on.

joe calzaghe = legend??....anyone that thinks this doesnt know the sport we love

<3 Calzaghe

Bollocks - his best win was against Lacey.

It's always the same, someone fights a great who is a bit older and "they're past their best", or they beat someone who is meant to be at the top and suddenly "they weren't as good as they were made out to be".

Calzaghe was the best in the division, if people didn't want to fight him, they were the ones avoiding the best.  Calzaghe struggled against Reid, but won the fight on points clearly imo.  Hopkins didn't beat Calzaghe either.

So I'll have to disagree with the poster on boxrec.

lol @ "his best win was against lacey"

might of been his most impressive but lol at it being his best, who was lacey when calzage beat him? a 20 fight undefeated guy that had fought nobody( except the amazing robin Reid who was clearly at his best at the time) and then gone on to do absolutely nothing.

[DaveShoelace]

There are some interesting comments on boxrec below is one of them:

no great loss to boxing , his best win is vs kessler , thats says it all

*never fought a great in thier prime
*fought wbo bums for 10 years
*most padded record ever in world boxing history
*refused to give reid and hopkins a rematch when many thought they beat joe....real champs dont do this
*said jones was shot but still fought him and robbed the fans
*refused to leave uk and fight best for 11 years

goodbye joe , you will not be remembered fondly , men like hatton want to be tested thats why they left warren to fight guys who were the best and in thier prime , just like hamed did years ago aswell

you were happy fighting manfredo , sobat , veit x2 , starie , pudwell , need i go on.

joe calzaghe = legend??....anyone that thinks this doesnt know the sport we love

<3 Calzaghe

Bollocks - his best win was against Lacey.

It's always the same, someone fights a great who is a bit older and "they're past their best", or they beat someone who is meant to be at the top and suddenly "they weren't as good as they were made out to be".

Calzaghe was the best in the division, if people didn't want to fight him, they were the ones avoiding the best.  Calzaghe struggled against Reid, but won the fight on points clearly imo.  Hopkins didn't beat Calzaghe either.

So I'll have to disagree with the poster on boxrec.

lol @ "his best win was against lacey"

might of been his most impressive but lol at it being his best, who was lacey when calzage beat him? a 20 fight undefeated guy that had fought nobody( except the amazing robin Reid who was clearly at his best at the time) and then gone on to do absolutely nothing.

Going back to my first post, people do not realise how good some of Calzaghes opposition were simply because the casual boxing audience got alienated by Sky all the way through the last two decades. Previously everyone knew the boxers because they were on ITV and BBC, but Pay Per View TV robbed fighters like Calzaghe of 'Benn vs Eubank' type rivalries and when Joe battered his opposition, uninformed casual fans were left saying 'he beat a nobody' mistaking the fact they didn't know him for him not being a good opponent. Its only really the lighter weight divisions that have all these dream fights these days, because they contain all the Mexican and south american fighters that come with such amazing fan bases.

Jeff Lacy, going into his fight with Joe, had a similar aura to Mike Tyson with the US fight fans, he was a KO machine and Joe was a big underdog with the yank bookies. But because boxing is only just making its way onto mainstream tv again, and away from pay per view, nobody else knew how big an impact Lacy was having in world boxing.

Robin Reid - he should have had a rematch as it was correctly a split decision, but in fairness to Joe he did break his hand early in the fight.

Hopkins - anyone who says Hopkins was a has been when he lost to Joe clearly didn't see him twat Pavlik all over the place the other month. It was never a split decision, Hopkins gave up half way through and it would have been a terrible, and one sided, rematch.

Jones - yeah, deffo past his best but still similar age to Joe and not that old in 'ageing fight' terms because he never got hit. He ducked Joe for a decade, not the other way round.

As for all the big American fights, Joe was one of the most ducked fighters out there. he had been calling out the likes of Jones (He called him out as soon as he beat Eubank) and Hopkins for a decade, both fights had been confirmed many years ago only to have them cancelled. I agree he should have gone out there earlier to get the yanks buzzing, but I remember years and years of Joe complaining that nobody would fight him and how desperate he was for a big money, big opponent, dream fight.

People have very short memories when it comes to boxing and a lot of the time, the biggest detractors (especially British sports journalists) are the guys who only watch the marquee fights and never watch the undercards or the up and coming boxers, they simply are using their lack of knowledge against fighters like Calzaghe.

Mind you, he is welsh.....

[kinboshi]

No, he was born in London.

(But I wholeheartedly agree with the rest)