I don't get this lack of middle ground with Calzaghe. What. You either have to worship the ground he walks on..... or you're a hater? It doesn't work that way. There's pluses and minuses, as far as I'm concerned.
Pluses
- He did finish 46-0. Not easy to do under any circumstances.
- He did have two very good fights (Lacy, Kessler). Those shouldn't be held against him.
- He was busy (workrate). Quality of punches wasn't the best.... but I'll mention that later (see minuses).
Minuses
- He fought exclusively in the UK. Only for his last two fights did he venture to the U.S. In the global world of boxing, sorry..... that's a minus.
- He followed up Lacy with Peter ("Are you kidding me??") Manfredo two fights later. What the hell was all THAT about? He beats a Jeff Lacy, only to retreat to a Peter Manfredo?
- His win over B-Hop was highly disputed. Hardly a career-defining fight. He then ended up by getting a decision over an over-the-hill RJJ, and called it a career.
- What Calzaghe fans "love" to hear: His pitty-patter punches, delivered in slapping fashion... particularly in his flurries. He did it against Manfredo... he did it against B-Hop... he did it all the time. When shown in slo-mo.... the slap-fests were almost comical. He hurt his hands? Fine. But his fights were definitely not fan-friendly for me.
(Cue to Fuckster. Come running in here and express your outrage.)

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