The Best Ever retires

[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.

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.....

-1

[TheChipPrince]

Mind you, he is welsh.....

 

[Longy]

What Kin and Daveshoelace said. Shame really as I had £200 at evens that Calzaghe would beat Froch if they ever met with a mate, now there is a value bet!

[DaveShoelace]

What Kin and Daveshoelace said. Shame really as I had £200 at evens that Calzaghe would beat Froch if they ever met with a mate, now there is a value bet!

You were probably lucky actually, Calzaghe is much better imo but he is at the point where he could age in boxing terms overnight as they always do, with every day that passes Froch has a better chance.

But evens is ridic valooooooo

[The Baron]

I don't think you can blame Calzaghe for fighting people past their best. Lennox didn't fight Tyson/Holyfield in their prime and he's considered a legend. Boxing is like that sometimes.

He's pobably the best in the modern era going by his record but is down to the lack of depth in his weight class. Again, not his fault.

Would he have beaten Jones, Hopkins, Eubank, Benn or Watson in their prime had he been about a few years earlier? For most of those names I would guess at no.

[bolt pp]

Lennox didn't fight Tyson/Holyfield in their prime and he's considered a legend.

lol, by who?

the guys a fuckin joke and wouldve got demolished by holyfield/tyson if he'd fought them in the 90's when he was plodding along doing fuck all fighting nobodys, then sport goes pearshaped and theres no one left half decent by 2000 so lennox steps up and says: "tyvm, i step up my game just a little bit and i think even i can be better that this load of shit thats about today" i can name 35 heavyweights from down the years that if lennox fought them when they were both at their best he wouldve got battered!!! maybe more! and he's considerd in the top ten of all time? LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

[Nem]

Lennox didn't fight Tyson/Holyfield in their prime and he's considered a legend.

lol, by who?

the guys a fuckin joke and wouldve got demolished by holyfield/tyson if he'd fought them in the 90's when he was plodding along doing fuck all fighting nobodys, then sport goes pearshaped and theres no one left half decent by 2000 so lennox steps up and says: "tyvm, i step up my game just a little bit and i think even i can be better that this load of shit thats about today" i can name 35 heavyweights from down the years that if lennox fought them when they were both at their best he wouldve got battered!!! maybe more! and he's considerd in the top ten of all time? LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Lennox is a sporting hero of mine so I might be a bit biased here but he would have beaten Holyfield in the 80's 90's and 00's. Tyson would have been a tough fight for Lewis in the 80's but these discussions about x fighter vs y fighter in his prime are always meh imo. Lewis was the top dog in his division for a long time and even Riddick Bowe was scared to fight him at the beginning of his career. Also, it wasn't Lewis' fault that there were no Foreman, Norton, Fraiser or Ali around to prove his legacy...

[DaveShoelace]

Lewis was very good, in fact almost impossible to beat on his day, but I'm pretty reluctant to call him a 'great' or a 'legend'.

He had good skills, he was indeed ducked by many earlier in his career, he unified the titles and beat every fighter he ever faced.

But its mainly because he was just big - he was slow and lazy, but he was just the best big boxer out there. I think Tyson and Holyfield were two of the last great athletic, smaller heavyweights and Lewis was the first great big mother fucka, of which the division is now made up of. When he really tried, when he really put his mind to it, he was devastating, but most of the time he just cruised to victory, I think if he had been any other size he would never have made it as a boxer. Great for British Boxing, but way off the best ever list imo.

[bolt pp]

Lewis was very good, in fact almost impossible to beat on his day, but I'm pretty reluctant to call him a 'great' or a 'legend'.

He had good skills, he was indeed ducked by many earlier in his career, he unified the titles and beat every fighter he ever faced.

But its mainly because he was just big - he was slow and lazy, but he was just the best big boxer out there. I think Tyson and Holyfield were two of the last great athletic, smaller heavyweights and Lewis was the first great big mother fucka, of which the division is now made up of. When he really tried, when he really put his mind to it, he was devastating, but most of the time he just cruised to victory, I think if he had been any other size he would never have made it as a boxer. Great for British Boxing, but way off the best ever list imo.

the punch that hasim Rahman(sp) knocked in out with(i think in SA)? wouldnt have even rocked the likes of Ali as a jab.

[Nem]

Lewis was very good, in fact almost impossible to beat on his day, but I'm pretty reluctant to call him a 'great' or a 'legend'.

He had good skills, he was indeed ducked by many earlier in his career, he unified the titles and beat every fighter he ever faced.

But its mainly because he was just big - he was slow and lazy, but he was just the best big boxer out there. I think Tyson and Holyfield were two of the last great athletic, smaller heavyweights and Lewis was the first great big mother fucka, of which the division is now made up of. When he really tried, when he really put his mind to it, he was devastating, but most of the time he just cruised to victory, I think if he had been any other size he would never have made it as a boxer. Great for British Boxing, but way off the best ever list imo.

Definitely a top 10-15 all time heavyweight imo

[The Baron]

Tyson was overrated. Lennox didn't really hit his peak until well into his 30's. Holyfield is probably my favourite out of the three as a fighter.

[Longy]

I wouldn't have Lewis anyone near my top 10 heavyweights of all time and I don't think many lists would. I have no doubt if you could have bottled the 80's Tyson that he would make the list but the fact is that his record is even worse than Lewis's for ever beating any great Heavyweight (Michael Spinks is probably the best on his record), Holyfield is the only who would get close to a top 10 for me.

None of them come close to the likes of Johnson, Dempsey, Tunney, Louis, Marciano, Ali, Foreman, and Fraizer (Thats my top 8 fwiw)

[relaedgc]

Lewis was very good, in fact almost impossible to beat on his day, but I'm pretty reluctant to call him a 'great' or a 'legend'.

He had good skills, he was indeed ducked by many earlier in his career, he unified the titles and beat every fighter he ever faced.

But its mainly because he was just big - he was slow and lazy, but he was just the best big boxer out there. I think Tyson and Holyfield were two of the last great athletic, smaller heavyweights and Lewis was the first great big mother fucka, of which the division is now made up of. When he really tried, when he really put his mind to it, he was devastating, but most of the time he just cruised to victory, I think if he had been any other size he would never have made it as a boxer. Great for British Boxing, but way off the best ever list imo.

the punch that hasim Rahman(sp) knocked in out with(i think in SA)? wouldnt have even rocked the likes of Ali as a jab.

Ali wouldn't stand a chance against modern day heavy weight boxers. It's an entirely different sport to what it was in Ali's day.

[bolt pp]

Lewis was very good, in fact almost impossible to beat on his day, but I'm pretty reluctant to call him a 'great' or a 'legend'.

He had good skills, he was indeed ducked by many earlier in his career, he unified the titles and beat every fighter he ever faced.

But its mainly because he was just big - he was slow and lazy, but he was just the best big boxer out there. I think Tyson and Holyfield were two of the last great athletic, smaller heavyweights and Lewis was the first great big mother fucka, of which the division is now made up of. When he really tried, when he really put his mind to it, he was devastating, but most of the time he just cruised to victory, I think if he had been any other size he would never have made it as a boxer. Great for British Boxing, but way off the best ever list imo.

the punch that hasim Rahman(sp) knocked in out with(i think in SA)? wouldnt have even rocked the likes of Ali as a jab.

Ali wouldn't stand a chance against modern day heavy weight boxers. It's an entirely different sport to what it was in Ali's day.

lol

[Numpty Dumpty]

gg mr calzaghe