When was Joe Calzaghe's Prime?

[Dark Lord Al]

When he beat a weight drained Eubank , Calzaghe for me looked like a potential wrecking machine , he threw the left cross like he was wielding an axe.
The rest is history as he evolved into Calslappy.

[ukansodoff]

Calzaghe didnt have a prime, He was a class boxer with decent power in both hands. Then the hands got injured to the point he couldnt afford to land many power shots so he become more of a boxer and his talent just kept improving.

A prime Calzaghe would of had the power and the skills at their very best but the 2 never combined. Maybe they would of at some point but the hands gave in too early for that to happen.

[Pugilistic]

Calzaghe's prime is like Hopkins prime.

Very hard to pick out where he was at his best.

I personally think he was at his best around 2002-2003.

[Gandalf]

It's hard to say, I think Calzaghe's toughest opponent was Kessler and it brought out the best in Calzaghe.

[Britkid]

Did he have one?

Well arguably no, as he was that consistent!

But if pushed, I would say Joe peaked the night he beat Lacy. I think people sometimes forget how hot Lacy was going into that bout, and yet Calzaghe absolutely dominated, in a manner that I doubt even Joe's biggest fan would of called.

[Quinito]

When he fought Lacy.

[AGM]

He may have hit harder when he was younger but I'd have to put his prime at Lacy-retirement mainly because I don't think even he realised how good he was until the Lacy performance. I remember him saying how he didn't sleep the night before the Lacy fight, which was the first time he was ever like that pre-fight. Also, his whole personality and demeanour changed after that victory... He believed he was unbeatable from that point on imo.

[WelshDevilRob]

Hard to tell as his career suffered at times due to injuries that sidelined rather than him gaining momentum.

I prefer his performance over Lacy to Kessler as he was punching with authority in the fight while against Kessler he didn't have the power and only through really solid shots when going for the body.

The Kessler fight while a great win signalled the decline of Joe - he was slightly passed his best that night and his hands were gone.

Possibly 2000 onwards was his prime from the Sheika fight to the Lacy fight but still at times he was sidetracked by hand injuries - also an ankle injury.

Great fighter and I agree with many like Master, Fenster, Tins and Ross regarding the physical and mental (experience) primes. Lennox Lewis is another who it is hard to pinpoint a prime.

[CFH]

I'm far from an expert on Calzaghe, but I feel that the period between Lacy and Hopkins has to be considered his prime. What he had lost physically due to his age he made up for with intelligence and experience and that was the only period of his career that he tested himself against world-class opposition. The Kessler, Hopkins, and to a lesser extent Lacy victories were the best of his career (though I feel Hopkins edged the fight, but that's immaterial).

[Dark Lord Al]

Hard to tell as his career suffered at times due to injuries that sidelined rather than him gaining momentum.

I prefer his performance over Lacy to Kessler as he was punching with authority in the fight while against Kessler he didn't have the power and only through really solid shots when going for the body.

The Kessler fight while a great win signalled the decline of Joe - he was slightly passed his best that night and his hands were gone.

Possibly 2000 onwards was his prime from the Sheika fight to the Lacy fight but still at times he was sidetracked by hand injuries - also an ankle injury.

Great fighter and I agree with many like Master, Fenster, Tins and Ross regarding the physical and mental (experience) primes. Lennox Lewis is another who it is hard to pinpoint a prime.

Rob the reason i went for his fight with Eubank , was although beating Kessler etc , he won big. When he fought Eubank his delivery of his punches was much better, he got so much leverage and shoulder into his shots , also his body shape and foot positioning was much better. In later fights he became an arm puncher ( a very good one i may add ) but he was awkward and not to good for the boxing purist to watch.

[rjj tszyu]

It was when he retired for me. Kind of like Lennox, he got better with age but he didn't wait for someone to come along (Vitali) to show him he was finally on the decline!

Joe was never my favourite fighter but I really respected his decision to retire when he did rather than go on and be finally embarassed by someone with far less quality.

[smashup]

I say Kessler!

Against Lacy he looked incredible but Lacy did nothing other than plod forward in straight lines,made Joe look good and threw no combinations at all and hardly landed a punch.
Considering the hype that came over with him i think we can all agree he was just a bit over rated.

Kessler had Joe matched until the 5th or 6th when Joe changed tactics and ran away with it and took some thumping right hands in the process.

The fact Kessler was definately more "live" and the fact Joe adjusted to what he brought mid fight took his best shots and still beat him are signs of just how good he was.

IMO only great fighters can do that and add to that the occasion of 50,000 (or whatever it was in Cardiff) and the thousands of Danes who came over just made that night so special.

That for me was his best ever peformance because he was in a real fight with someone of near equal skill and well into his mid thirties still pulled it out the bag and showed so much diversity and heart in the process.

Lacy was there to be hit and lost before he got in the ring where as Kessler came to damage and put Joe in a dark place for a good few rounds.

the way Joe got out of that place was through superior boxing skills and a huge heart.

Great fight.