Re: Ant Evan's take on Calzaghe's career...nice read in Wacko's opinion.
w pts 12 Charles Brewer, April 2002
Former IBF champion Brewer turned pro in 1989 and had seen better days by the time he travelled to Wales to face Calzaghe... Brewer was 2-2 in his last four going in...I expected Joe to blast him out, quite honestly, as this was half a decade on from Brewer's shaky performance against aged non-puncher Herol Graham... nevertheless, Brewer took everything Joe threw at him and, while Calzaghe was a clear points winner, it was a good brawl..
Opponent Grade: C+
Calzaghe Performance: B
w ko 4 Will McIntyre, October 2001
Richie Cunningham look-alike McIntyre had only lost to Dana Rosenblatt and Omar Sheika... but that's because they were the only real opponents he had fought... in fact, McIntyre's last three opponents before his title chance v Joe had a combined record of 35-35-5... a wretched mismatch...
Opponent Grade: E
Calzaghe Performance: Not applicable
w ko 1 Mario Veit, April 2001
German Veit arrived with a big reputation and an undefeated record of 30-0 but was smashed to pieces inside one round... Veit went on to win European and 'interim' WBO titles and is yet to lose to anyone not named 'Joe Calzaghe' in 50 fights...
Opponent Grade: C+
Calzaghe Performance: B
w rsf 10 Richie Woodhall, December 2000
A very good win over former WBC champ Woodhall... however, the Telford boxer was coming off a loss to Markus Beyer in his last major bout where he got dropped three times in the opening round... The fight would have meant so much more if only it had been a unification bout... Nevertheless, an impressive win which sent Woodhall into retirement.
Opponent Grade: B
Calzaghe Performance: B-
w rsf 5 Omar Sheika, August 2000
After three less than impressive performances, the Welsh Dragon roared back to his best by destroying heavily hyped American Sheika in London...If you want to be pedantic, you could argue that the stoppage was a little premature, but, for me, Calzaghe had won every second of every round and the American was getting the stuffing beat out of him... And before dismissing Sheika as no better than Starie or Thornberry, consider the American was coming off a win over Glen Johnson and nearly had Jeff Lacy out of there in a very close fight in 2004...
Opponent Grade: B
Calzaghe Performance: B
w pts 12 David Starie, January 2000
British and Commonwealth champ Starie was a talented fighter... He held a win over future world light heavyweight king Clinton Woods and ex-title challenger Sam Storey and, in his final fight in 2003, would beat Sven Ottke only to get the shaft from the Hun... However, the Calzaghe fight on the Mike Tyson undercard was horrible... The styles just didn't gel and the resulting maul hurt Calzaghe's credibility badly...
Opponent Grade: C
Calzaghe Performance: D-
w pts 12 Rick Thornberry, June 1999
Australian Thornberry had been stopped in five rounds to Henry Warton in a previous visit to the UK but took Calzaghe the distance... However, the Welshman's hand problem flared up once more forcing the champion to box rather than bang... Sky TV's 'expert' panel (including Steve Collins) tore Calzaghe to pieces post-fight, but I see nothing wrong with the win given the circumstances and considering Thornberry was competitive with Anthony Mundine three years later...
Opponent Grade: C
Calzaghe Performance: C
w pts 12 Robin Reid, February
Hot and cold former WBC champ Reid was a tough opponent, esp considering Calzaghe was coming off a 10 month lay-off... Calzaghe started extremely well, sweeping the first three or four rounds with his speed and sharp southpaw jab... However, his left hand "went" in the fifth and Reid began to slam home huge right hands to the Welshman's skull...Reid landed the harder shots in the second half of a cracking fight... Some believe to this day that Reid deserved more than a split decision... I'm not one of them (I scored it 116-113 to Joe C) but, for whatever the reason, there was never a rematch and that's a black mark against Calzaghe...
Opponent Grade: B
Calzaghe Performance: C
w rtd 9 Juan Carlos Gimenez, April 1998
Not even veteran Sky super-shrill Paul Dempsey could get Calzaghe to pretend the tough but limited Gimenez was an actual threat... In a pre-fight show, Dempsey pointed out to studio guest Joe that the Paraguayan had taken both Eubank and Nigel Benn the distance and, presumably, hoped Calzaghe would feign some sort of fear...Instead, Calzaghe - God love him - deadpanned: "But he didn't win, though, did he?"... Nor did "he" v Joe, getting outclassed to the point of withdrawal in nine...
Opponent Grade: C-
Calzaghe Performance: C+
w rsf 3 Branko Sobot, January 1999
A facile first defense for the new champion, Calzaghe pounded the undersized blown up middleweight inside three one sided rounds... The Croatian had gone the distance with Hacine Cherifi in a European middleweight title challenge... however he is 5-9 post Calzaghe...
Opponent Grade: D
Calzaghe Performance: C
w pts 12 Chris Eubank, October 1997
When a bored Steve Collins retired from boxing rather than face the 'undeserving' Calzaghe, Eubank was drafted in as a replacement on a week's notice to meet Joe for the vacant WBO title... Eubank was due to fight at light heavyweight on the card and, two years removed from the super-middleweight division, probably was weight-drained...Nevertheless, an untested 25-year-old Calzaghe proved that his punch was for real by decking 'Simply the Best' in the opening seconds and went on to prove his stamina, speed, skills and chin, too, in taking a one-sided decision over the 31-year-old legend...The Eubank nearly beat cruiserweight Carl Thompson in his next two fights underlines the greatness of Calzaghe's performance... It was just about as impressive a debut as a fighter can make on the world scene.
Opponent Grade: B
Calzaghe Performance: A
So, what have we learned? Calzaghe has fought and beaten a maximum of seven opponent you could conceivably call top class: Eubank, Reid, Sheika, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell and Lacy. Of the seven, only Lacy was undefeated and Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Brewer and Mitchell were all coming off losses in their last meaningful fights.
Calzaghe has also fought and beaten some decent 'marking time' or subsidiary opponents like Veit and Mkrtchian but then there's the sheer woefulness of the Sobots, McIntyres and Pudwills, men Calzaghe shouldn't even entertain as sparring partners.
The record is also silent on all the fights Calzaghe could have or should have had, like the three cancellations against Glen Johnson, the rematch with Reid, Sven Ottke (who held the WBA and IBF titles whereas Joe was once merely the WBO title-holder) and one or two other.
Having looked at the reigning IBF/WBO 168lbs champion's world title career closely, my own view is that the Welshman is three big wins away from true legendary status. And by big wins I mean besting Mikkel Kessler, who some believe is the true No.1 at super-middle, Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright or Clinton Woods.
And only then should there be any kind of serious debate about the Newbridge southpaw being the best British fighter of all time.
Never beg a 40 dollar hooker...specially after she's just turned down your mom's credit card!!
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