Is it just me? But why does EVERYONE rate Calzaghe so highly?

Why does everyone reckon Calzaghe is one of the best boxers that the UK has produced? He has constantly fought sub-standard opposition *Lacey was a blown-up super middle weight before anyone mentions it*, dodged bouts with mysterious injuries, and refused to fight outside of Wales!

He is another Naseem Hamed, making good money from fighting poor oppostion! Will he fight Kessler, duno, when Kessler agreed to fight, Warren suddenly changed the contractual agreements! And Peter Manfredo had to appear on a reality TV show to boost his flagging career! Not high calibre opposition for a 'supposedly' world class fighter like Calzaghe!

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Originally Posted by columbo

Why does everyone reckon Calzaghe is one of the best boxers that the UK has produced? He has constantly fought sub-standard opposition *Lacey was a blown-up super middle weight before anyone mentions it*, dodged bouts with mysterious injuries, and refused to fight outside of Wales!

He is another Naseem Hamed, making good money from fighting poor oppostion! Will he fight Kessler, duno, when Kessler agreed to fight, Warren suddenly changed the contractual agreements! And Peter Manfredo had to appear on a reality TV show to boost his flagging career! Not high calibre opposition for a 'supposedly' world class fighter like Calzaghe!

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Anyone who has that many defenses and is undefeated has to be good. If he was not good one of those guys he defended against would have beat him on an off night. The man is quality. He manhandled Manfredo.

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Originally Posted by LegendBoxing65

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Originally Posted by columbo

Why does everyone reckon Calzaghe is one of the best boxers that the UK has produced? He has constantly fought sub-standard opposition *Lacey was a blown-up super middle weight before anyone mentions it*, dodged bouts with mysterious injuries, and refused to fight outside of Wales!

He is another Naseem Hamed, making good money from fighting poor oppostion! Will he fight Kessler, duno, when Kessler agreed to fight, Warren suddenly changed the contractual agreements! And Peter Manfredo had to appear on a reality TV show to boost his flagging career! Not high calibre opposition for a 'supposedly' world class fighter like Calzaghe!

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Anyone who has that many defenses and is undefeated has to be good. If he was not good one of those guys he defended against would have beat him on an off night. The man is quality. He manhandled Manfredo.

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Yeah look at Sven Ottke..................quality...............

yea, the point is, that by appearing on a reality TV show, Manfredo was not top quality opposition! Surely, if he was that good he wouldn't have needed the publicity! Moreover, does Calzaghe hold the WBC? And lots of champions could have made the same amount of title defences, if they too faced opposition like that of Calzaghe

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Originally Posted by columbo

Why does everyone reckon Calzaghe is one of the best boxers that the UK has produced? He has constantly fought sub-standard opposition *Lacey was a blown-up super middle weight before anyone mentions it*, dodged bouts with mysterious injuries, and refused to fight outside of Wales!

He is another Naseem Hamed, making good money from fighting poor oppostion! Will he fight Kessler, duno, when Kessler agreed to fight, Warren suddenly changed the contractual agreements! And Peter Manfredo had to appear on a reality TV show to boost his flagging career! Not high calibre opposition for a 'supposedly' world class fighter like Calzaghe!

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Please this is becoming boring now, listen mate firstly Lacy blown up 168 lber?? WTF? He was fighting at the weight at the Olympics as an am, also Lacy walks around at about 200lbs, also Calzaghes flaggign career? You are stupid arnt you fella?? Calzaghe career has only just took off thats why so many boxing fans are pissed off he got picked up by HBO at the age of 34, his career is at it's most financianal rewarding right now, this opponents wont fight clazaghe, and vice versa becasue of money. Get your facts right by the way your not Danish are you by any chance?

Calzaghe deserves the utmost respect. He is top-sdhelf. World champ for 10 years. He's beaten Eubank, Robin Reid, Byron Mitchell, Jeff Lacy, Omar Sheika, Sakio Bika - all good fighters.

erm, get my facts right, maybe you should take reading lessons, nobody mentioned Calzaghe's flagging career once, who said it was flagging? Not me! And yes he is over-rated! Kessler is all to eager to fight him, but it will be made diificult, ALSO Jones said he would fight Calzaghe in Wales, funny that was brushed under the carpet too!

god mate u really dont know what ur talking about, JC is pure class, and i dont care what anyone says, Jeff Lacy was the hottest property in the US and JC owned him big style. He has ducked no one, had no gift decisions unlike ottke who was mentioned before.

He has betten every possible oppenent in his given weight class for 10 years, no one knocked hopkins for doing that.

and as for Kessler its his promoter who has now changed the date of the proposed fight, and Jones can cheap talk all he likes because he aint the man no more and calling people out is his way of a publicity stunt

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Originally Posted by columbo

erm, get my facts right, maybe you should take reading lessons, nobody mentioned Calzaghe's flagging career once, who said it was flagging? Not me! And yes he is over-rated! Kessler is all to eager to fight him, but it will be made diificult, ALSO Jones said he would fight Calzaghe in Wales, funny that was brushed under the carpet too!

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Jones? Has been offered the fight numerous times but his last ridiculous demand was laughed at, and this was off the back of two knockouts, Jones talks a good fight but his demands have always been unrealistic. Boxing aint just black and white mate, its down to business and other fighters managerial teams are just as much to blame as Calzaghe's team for these big fights not happening.

Also i apologise it was Manfredo you were refering to with your flagging career comment, my mistake.

ill rate calzaghe much higher if he fights and beats the 2 best SMW out there ala kessler and mundine.

i must admit after seeing lacy destroy reid, i thought he would kill calzaghe ??? man was i wrong.

because he has beaten everybody he has fought and in most cases at a canter. He may not be the greatest, but he is great.

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Originally Posted by Big Jack

Calzaghe deserves the utmost respect. He is top-sdhelf. World champ for 10 years. He's beaten Eubank, Robin Reid, Byron Mitchell, Jeff Lacy, Omar Sheika, Sakio Bika - all good fighters.

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Eubank was weight drained and shot

Robin Reid was former world champion and wasn't expected to give Calzaghe much trouble after Malinga outboxed him yet he lost controversial sd to Calzaghe

Byron Mitchell was ok but his only rise to fame was losing close decision to Ottke but who didn't ??

Jeff Lacy wasn't as good as people made out yes i know hindsight is beautiful thing but its true

Omar Sheika ?? please this guy lost to Scott Pemberton twice Sheika was decent but thats it decent

Sakio Bika isn't good fighter he is rough and tough but he isn't good no one on this forum had even heard of him and if you don't believe it i'll find the topic and he just got his ears boxed off by Bute Bika isn't good he is just tough but he isn't good.

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Originally Posted by skel1983

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Originally Posted by columbo

erm, get my facts right, maybe you should take reading lessons, nobody mentioned Calzaghe's flagging career once, who said it was flagging? Not me! And yes he is over-rated! Kessler is all to eager to fight him, but it will be made diificult, ALSO Jones said he would fight Calzaghe in Wales, funny that was brushed under the carpet too!

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Jones? Has been offered the fight numerous times but his last ridiculous demand was laughed at, and this was off the back of two knockouts, Jones talks a good fight but his demands have always been unrealistic. Boxing aint just black and white mate, its down to business and other fighters managerial teams are just as much to blame as Calzaghe's team for these big fights not happening.

Also i apologise it was Manfredo you were refering to with your flagging career comment, my mistake.

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Hold on a minute Jones had already moved up by the time Calzaghe won title off Eubank and Jones was Lightheavyweight i have never heard of Jones turning down an offer plus he was p4p number why should he of moved down to fight a guy who was only well known in UK if Calzaghe wanted to be p4p number 1 he should of moved up and fought him simple as.

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Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING

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Originally Posted by skel1983

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Originally Posted by columbo

erm, get my facts right, maybe you should take reading lessons, nobody mentioned Calzaghe's flagging career once, who said it was flagging? Not me! And yes he is over-rated! Kessler is all to eager to fight him, but it will be made diificult, ALSO Jones said he would fight Calzaghe in Wales, funny that was brushed under the carpet too!

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Jones? Has been offered the fight numerous times but his last ridiculous demand was laughed at, and this was off the back of two knockouts, Jones talks a good fight but his demands have always been unrealistic. Boxing aint just black and white mate, its down to business and other fighters managerial teams are just as much to blame as Calzaghe's team for these big fights not happening.

Also i apologise it was Manfredo you were refering to with your flagging career comment, my mistake.

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Hold on a minute Jones had already moved up by the time Calzaghe won title off Eubank and Jones was Lightheavyweight i have never heard of Jones turning down an offer plus he was p4p number why should he of moved down to fight a guy who was only well known in UK if Calzaghe wanted to be p4p number 1 he should of moved up and fought him simple as.

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Jones has been shouting his mouth off in the last 18 months about Calzaghe and fighting at 168, but in the past Joe was willing to move up, like with Johnson if the right fight came about he says he always be comfortable moving up.

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Originally Posted by skel1983

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Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING

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Originally Posted by skel1983

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Originally Posted by columbo

erm, get my facts right, maybe you should take reading lessons, nobody mentioned Calzaghe's flagging career once, who said it was flagging? Not me! And yes he is over-rated! Kessler is all to eager to fight him, but it will be made diificult, ALSO Jones said he would fight Calzaghe in Wales, funny that was brushed under the carpet too!

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Jones? Has been offered the fight numerous times but his last ridiculous demand was laughed at, and this was off the back of two knockouts, Jones talks a good fight but his demands have always been unrealistic. Boxing aint just black and white mate, its down to business and other fighters managerial teams are just as much to blame as Calzaghe's team for these big fights not happening.

Also i apologise it was Manfredo you were refering to with your flagging career comment, my mistake.

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Hold on a minute Jones had already moved up by the time Calzaghe won title off Eubank and Jones was Lightheavyweight i have never heard of Jones turning down an offer plus he was p4p number why should he of moved down to fight a guy who was only well known in UK if Calzaghe wanted to be p4p number 1 he should of moved up and fought him simple as.

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Jones has been shouting his mouth off in the last 18 months about Calzaghe and fighting at 168, but in the past Joe was willing to move up, like with Johnson if the right fight came about he says he always be comfortable moving up.

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Yes because Jones is finished he isn't best no more and he knows it so he has to try demand now to try and get his career back on track and Calzaghe is a name now but when Jones was p4p number 1 Calzaghe wasn't a name in USA.

To me he is the most cushioned 168 champ ever.

bika lost a contraversal bout with beyer right before he fought JC.. bika isnt great but he is good... bute is bad a**

ICE you might not be a JC hater but you sure as h*ll are a JC dis-liker ;D

you want to discredit EVERY SINGLE DECENT VICTORY come on, you have to admit you are a little biased

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Originally Posted by Fire

bika lost a contraversal bout with beyer right before he fought JC.. bika isnt great but he is good... bute is bad a**

ICE you might not be a JC hater but you sure as h*ll are a JC dis-liker ;D

you want to discredit EVERY SINGLE DECENT VICTORY come on, you have to admit you are a little biased

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Nothing to do with me being biased everything i said there is true im sorry if you don't like it but its true.

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Originally Posted by Troy McClure

ill rate calzaghe much higher if he fights and beats the 2 best SMW out there ala kessler and mundine.

i must admit after seeing lacy destroy reid, i thought he would kill calzaghe ??? man was i wrong.

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I have known Jeff since he was in the amatuers....He never did like it when someone imposed their will on him....the lacey win was no upset nor big accomplishment

Joe is the real deal.

His next opponent should be a "young BEAST." Everybody knows who this beast is.

Not because it'll be the most profitable matchup, but that it will further vindicate Joe as an elite fighter.

In the long run it'll be the most profitable choice.

We dont all rate Calzaghe highly :)

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Originally Posted by columbo

yea, the point is, that by appearing on a reality TV show, Manfredo was not top quality opposition! Surely, if he was that good he wouldn't have needed the publicity! Moreover, does Calzaghe hold the WBC? And lots of champions could have made the same amount of title defences, if they too faced opposition like that of Calzaghe

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I didn't say Manfredo was good. But the way Calzaghe demolished him was impressive. That is all I meant. Certainly it was not a fight which did anything but make Calzaghe look good. But even early in his career he beat Eubank. You have to give him credit. And he did beat Brewer, Mitchell and Lacy. The Lacy fight alot of people thought he would get a test and he outclassed him. That is why he is rated so high.

if you are undefeated, have had a belt for a decade consecutively, 20 consecutive defences, anyone deserves to be rated highly with today's athletes and weight training

regardless of the details

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Originally Posted by columbo

erm, get my facts right, maybe you should take reading lessons, nobody mentioned Calzaghe's flagging career once, who said it was flagging? Not me! And yes he is over-rated! Kessler is all to eager to fight him, but it will be made diificult, ALSO Jones said he would fight Calzaghe in Wales, funny that was brushed under the carpet too!

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Kessler & his promo team have back pedalled twice already. The offer's have been accepted & now mum is the word.

I'm a huge fan of Calzaghe & Kessler...but the fight is building & should be a good...but I'd probably pick Joe.

Yeah...the Jones fight is funny...JONES SCUTTLED THAT ONE.

You do indeed need to get your facts straight...whether you're a Dane or not...that's no excuse.

:sadclick:

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Originally Posted by columbo

Why does everyone reckon Calzaghe is one of the best boxers that the UK has produced? He has constantly fought sub-standard opposition *Lacey was a blown-up super middle weight before anyone mentions it*, dodged bouts with mysterious injuries, and refused to fight outside of Wales!

He is another Naseem Hamed, making good money from fighting poor oppostion! Will he fight Kessler, duno, when Kessler agreed to fight, Warren suddenly changed the contractual agreements! And Peter Manfredo had to appear on a reality TV show to boost his flagging career! Not high calibre opposition for a 'supposedly' world class fighter like Calzaghe!

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Okay, first off, the title of the thread is just plain wrong, because the number of times I've written in threads like this to defend Joe Calzaghe must number in double figures, and there are a lot of people who don't rate him.

However, I'll put across my argument as to why I rate Calzaghe as the best Super Middleweight of the current era. First off, I think Calzaghe gets underrated by some people, because he has made the best fighters in the division look ordinary. As you mention Lacy, he was the big prospect from the United States, the best Super Middleweight from the largest pool of boxers in the world, and the IBF champion. He made him look ordinary. Omar Sheika was touted at the time by Americans as one of their hottest super middleweights. Eubank was one of Britain's best and a legend, even if he was overstretching his career and reaching beyond his grasp, Calzaghe put him on his backside with a fine shot, and outboxed him. Reid was a close fight, but not close enough to give Reid the win. Who else should he have fought? Ottke was a champion, but would never be forced to fight Calzaghe, as JC was also a champ. He's fought every mandatory put in front of him, so my argument would be that Joe's class has made the opposition look sub-standard, and that the strength of the division has not had enough quality fighters for Calzaghe to fight. If you could put forward which SMW's he should have fought during his 10-year reign, I would be happy to reply.

As for injuries, Calzaghe was told even before he turned pro that he would not be able to box again by one doctor after a hand injury, and that is just a way of life. He has brittle hands and has got on with it as best as he can. Nothing mysterious about that in my opinion. Calzaghe took the biggest fight of his career in England... and has travelled abroad and said publicly that he would travel for the right fight.

And finally, the way that I have seen the situation is that Calzaghe has agreed to fight in Copanhagen and Kessler wriggled out of it. And surely it's Palle changing the contractual arrangements. Basically, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors, but I believe there is an attitude among some who don't rate Calzaghe that they believe everything said by the Palle camp, and assume that everything said by the Calzaghe team is lies and smokescreen. We'll see.

well said super couldnt agree more.

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Originally Posted by southakron314

To me he is the most cushioned 168 champ ever.

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That may be one of my favorite ways of explaining JC.. The thing is, i'll never say he's not a good fighter, because he is the champ and of course he is.. but a number of people on this board, and on this thread say "well he has had 20 title defenses blah blah" we get that.. the thing that ruins all of it is that he's thinking of retiring in a few years because he's 34/35 and still hasn't fought the best, or even close to the best.. that is why he gets so much negativity when people hold him so high. Everyone has their opinions, whether they're the biggest fan of JC or a hater.. but the fact is that he is the champ, he is quite obviously a great fighter, but he has not gained NEARLY enough respect as he thinks he has, and that is due to the quality of his former opponents.. which makes it almost laughable to compare him to former greats in the boxing world at this point in time.

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Originally Posted by hackey100

because he has beaten everybody he has fought and in most cases at a canter. He may not be the greatest, but he is great.

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The only time the word "great" and Calzaghe can be used in the same sentence is when it's used in the following statements

"Calzaghe never fought a great opponent".

"Calzaghe is greatly overrated".

"The fact that Calzaghe's title defense streak (it's the fucking WBO title!) is even actually acknowledge (by some moronic people) is a great embarrassment for the sport of boxing".

Have you been TYSONBRUNO in the past 3 months?

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Originally Posted by Smashup

Have you been TYSONBRUNO in the past 3 months?

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Who's he?

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

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Originally Posted by Smashup

Have you been TYSONBRUNO in the past 3 months?

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Who's he?

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Some guy that hates Calzaghe about his opposition ect and i would have to agree because most of Calzaghes opponents have been cab drivers or former world champions that are washed up or prospects.

Who the f*** else could he of fought in his division, he has beat them for christ sake.. not his fault the division has not been the best. let the man finish his career, if he beats kessler, Taylor and then wins the Light Heavy tittle, what will you say then?????????

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Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

We dont all rate Calzaghe highly :)

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I never will either. Until he faces a opponent on neutral turf, I will never have respect for him.

why does that matter, he has never had to really on judges to gain a dodgy outcome!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

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Originally Posted by Smashup

Have you been TYSONBRUNO in the past 3 months?

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Who's he?

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Some guy that hates Calzaghe about his opposition ect and i would have to agree because most of Calzaghes opponents have been cab drivers or former world champions that are washed up or prospects.

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Okay then Ice, I know you're a bit more savvy than some of the other Calzaghe haters that we have on the forum, so which SMW's should Calzaghe have faced during the 10-year rreign that he didn't?

if Calzaghe beats kessler, Taylor, and then goes up to light Heavy and beats say Hopkins he can the retire knowing that he has beaten every fighter he could of in his era and general weight class.. theres only roy jones but from what i can see, but he didnt want much to do with Calzaghe..

u cant argue with that, name how he could of bettered his boxing career, in any way if he does this????

wbo champ for many years. no losses, 20 successful title defenses. not against the best opposition but still a good achievement.

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Originally Posted by superheavyrhun

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Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

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Originally Posted by Smashup

Have you been TYSONBRUNO in the past 3 months?

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Who's he?

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Some guy that hates Calzaghe about his opposition ect and i would have to agree because most of Calzaghes opponents have been cab drivers or former world champions that are washed up or prospects.

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Okay then Ice, I know you're a bit more savvy than some of the other Calzaghe haters that we have on the forum, so which SMW's should Calzaghe have faced during the 10-year rreign that he didn't?

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Im not saying he could of im saying his weight division has been weak.

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Originally Posted by gudnite vienna

if Calzaghe beats kessler, Taylor, and then goes up to light Heavy and beats say Hopkins he can the retire knowing that he has beaten every fighter he could of in his era and general weight class.. theres only roy jones but from what i can see, but he didnt want much to do with Calzaghe..

u cant argue with that, name how he could of bettered his boxing career, in any way if he does this????

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I will copy and paste what i said

Hold on a minute Jones had already moved up by the time Calzaghe won title off Eubank and Jones was Lightheavyweight i have never heard of Jones turning down an offer plus he was p4p number 1 why should he of moved down to fight a guy who was only well known in UK if Calzaghe wanted to be p4p number 1 he should of moved up and fought him simple as.

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Originally Posted by gudnite vienna

Who the f*** else could he of fought in his division, he has beat them for christ sake.. not his fault the division has not been the best. let the man finish his career, if he beats kessler, Taylor and then wins the Light Heavy tittle, what will you say then?????????

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A fight with Roy Jones could of happened a couple of years ago if Calzaghe not demanded equal pay and billing. Despite the fact that he had a fight with Oscar Del Hoya for 10 million lined up, Bernard Hopkins still gave Calzaghe an opportunity to fight him. All he had to do was pay Hopkins 6 million instead of 3. Calzaghe refused. Knowing damn well Frank Warren could afford it. A fight with Sven Ottke (I would of took Ottke) also could of been made back in 2003. After Ottke beat Bryon Mitchell. Both were to get a million for the fight. Why didn't it happen? Calzaghe refused to fight Germany. Was fighting in Germany to Ottke benefit? Hell, yeah it was. But keep in mind Calzaghe at that time was only the WBO (a minor league belt) champion. Ottke held both the WBA and IBF Super Middleweight titles. So the extra perk should of been his. Calzaghe didn't see it that way. What does he do? He goes on to fight Byron Mitchell. A fighter Sven Ottke had just beaten.