Quote Originally Posted by JazMerkin View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Bilbo View Post
Quote Originally Posted by JazMerkin View Post
You could certainly make an argument that the Klitschkos don't take risky fights, but I'd agree they probably meet the criteria, although I personally don't consider them truly great in the way guys like Pac, Floyd & B-Hop are.
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huh? Who have they ever avoided apart from each other? Ok Vitali was inactive for a few years but they have both fought and beat the best opposition available to them. How could they have taken any riskier fights?

Also, I object to the veneration of Ivan Calderon as if he did something amazing in ebating Hugo Cazares and then getting battered by Segura.

He was a decent little fighter in a weight class hopelessly devoid of talent. Segura was hardly a big man either. 108 lbs, that's like the weight of an average 5 year old American child.

Plus Calderon started out his career at 107 so it's not even true he climbed up trhough divisions.

When you have Manny who went from 104 to 154 and smashed everybody up and Ivan gets battered by a man who even I look physically imposing against I just donn't see how he can be considered just short of great.

If Calderon had been 147lbs he would just be another Malignaggi, a decent fighter, maybe capable of winning a belt, but not of challenging the top guys in the weight class.

He fought in a division with about 300 pro fighters, versus the 1000/1500 in most of the others. None of them are fulltime professionals, in football terms it's like being top of the Isthmian League and then struggling when they got promoted to the Conference South.

Sure he was skilfull and elusive, but he also had a crippling lack of power and phsyical strength that would have been considered far more of a weakness had he not operated in such a weak talent pool.

Hey, my view may not be popular but's it the truth.
Read my above post about the Klitschkos. It's not something I believe, just an argument I've heard given.

On Calderon you are clearly off on one. No one in this thread is saying he's the greatest fighter of all time & if you read my post I argued he fell just short of being great. However, what he showed is what you want to see a fighter doing. Always turning up to fight in shape, always taking on the best opposition, showed heart in the ring & was an intelligent fighter. Him not having power is besides the point, it only re-emphasises how impressive it was that the could beat bigger men through skill.

Segura walks around at 135lbs, Calderon at about 115lbs. That is quite a difference at that weight. Quoting numbers of available fighters tells you nothing about how good he would have done with a wider pool. It's like saying that Manny Pacquiao & Floyd Mayweather would have been contenders in the 60s & 70s because there were more welterweights back then.

Many boxers are not full-time pros, shockingly unless you're at the very top, it's not the best paying job in the world. The very best little guys can be just as good as any other fighter. Trying to say you look physically imposing is laughable. I've seen a light-flyweight amateur knock a 6'2 guy who looked about 200lbs unconscious in a nightclub. Ivan Calderon might not be a huge puncher in pro boxing,
I don't really have anything decent to come back with so I'll just resort to childish insults.

Fuck off Jaz you prick.