Joe Calzaghe undefeated how long?

by amazen on Apr 20, 2008 12:34 AM EDT

Tonight's fight (Bernard Hopkins vs, Joe Calzaghe) showed only one thing to me, that Joe Calzaghe will be knocked out when he faces a opponent like Antonio Tarver or Glen Johnson. Why? Simply because fighters like Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver, are natural light heavy weights and natural punchers with power! Joe Calzaghe is a slow starter that can not find his range until the middle rounds, and if Antonio Tarver lands a big punch in the early rounds (which is not hard to do with fighter like Joe Calzaghe), he will not be allowed to recover or might not even recover from the initial punch. Joe Calzaghe's chin is revealing to be suspect! A few of Bernard Hopkins's clean punches on the chin hurt Joe Calzaghe, not a good look for Joe Calzaghe, being that Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver hits much harder. The light heavy weight division might not be the right division for Joe Calzaghe. Joe Calzaghe's win over Bernard Hopkins proves nothing, he did not impressively win, but he should of got a unanimous decision. The split decision was straight bogus! Bernard Hopkins did not follow up when he hurt Joe Calzaghe, and when a fighter fights peddling backwards he better get the best of the exchange of punches in every round, which Bernard Hopkins did not do. Joe Calzaghe won this fight because he out worked Bernard Hopkins and was thee aggressor in the fight, but frankly both fighters performance's looked quite amateur.

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re:

Tarver would have no chance against Calzaghe. Tarver is no puncher anymore and still hasn't looked good since Hopkins destroyed him. He won convincingly against Woods, but I really chalk that up more to Woods barely showing up at all. I have no idea what Woods was doing that night; it was like Adamek against Dawson.

Now Glen Johnson is a guy I think Joe would have real problems with. Unlike Bernard, Johnson is more than willing to mix it up and fight. Johnson hurt Dawson a few times in their fight and still looked fresh at the end. Calzaghe wore Hopkins out. Johnson wouldn't let himself get chased around the ring like that. I really think the constant movement killed Hopkins last night. He's 43. I don't care what shape you get yourself in with Mackie Shilstone, at 43, things like that are going to tire you out. He was huffing and puffing through a good portion of the fight.

Joe could use his peppering style to neutralize anyone, but a guy willing to stand in there, take it, and hit him back could trouble him at 175. Johnson is exactly that kind of fighter. Lucky for Joe, Glencoffe doesn't figure to offer enough money for that fight to happen.

by SC on Apr 20, 2008 12:55 AM EDT 0 recs

Counting Out Antonio Tarver, Bad Move!

Granted Antonio Tarver has had some bad fights lately, but a fight with Joe, would put him on the map! Antonio Tarver still possess that power that knocked Roy out cold! sleep if you want to, but Joe wouldn't be able to take that type of punch. Glen Johnson would be nightmare for Joe Calzaghe!

by amazen on Apr 20, 2008 1:27 AM EDT 0 recs

re:

I think Tarver is shot and that the style matchup just kills him. And I do not at all believe in his power anymore. Johnson I agree on completely. That's a guy that would give Joe serious problems.

by SC on Apr 20, 2008 3:31 AM EDT up 0 recs

Johnson

Johnson would have to knock Joe out. Not to lend any steam to his recent "I been robbed" tirades (which are a little ridiculous) but the judges would crucify Johnson on the cards. The one thing about Joe is that he always looks like he's doing a lot more than he actually is. Johnson's the opposite - he always looks like he's doing less.

by jrok on Apr 20, 2008 6:24 PM EDT 0 recs

No Way

Let me preface this by saying that I was one of Joe Calzaghe's biggest detractors up until his fight with Jeff Lacy. Not because I thought he wasn't talented but because he seemed unable or unwilling to step up the competition level. Now that he's finally stepped up to the plate we all see that this man was not just smoke and mirrors across the pond.

That said there is no way that Tarver even competes at this stage with Calzaghe. Johnson because of his size, style and conditioning I'd make a solid underdog but I'd still favor Joe.

Tarver looked like a spent fighter against a Clinton Woods who was there for nothing more than one more payday. The guy simply wouldn't let his hands go. Despite this fact Antonio was content to simply let him sleepwalk his way through twelve thorougly boring rounds. If Antonio would've just let his hands go he could've had the Brit outta there. The guy clearly didn't want to fight. But for whatever reason Tarver refused to go after him. If you watched the Showtime broadcast Al Bernstein said over and over again that all Woods needed to do was apply some pressure and he'd give Tarver fits. There's no way Tarver gets away with that against a pressure fighter like Calzaghe. He'd lost every round if not get stopped.

Glen Johnson is another issue. He's rugged and would give Calzaghe perhaps its toughest fight. Johnson showed against Chad Dawson that even at 39 he has a lot of fight left in him. I think Calzaghe would have some rough spots here and it would be close but he'd win a decision.

Let's not forget people that before we pronounce Calzaghe as overrated he WAS in there with Bernard Hopkins. Even at 43 and clearly a step below his best Hard Nard is still a chore in the ring. Nobody matches his savvy, smarts and yes he knows every clean AND dirty trick in the book. Calzaghe didn't fight his best fight, but who has against Bernard, but he did enough to win a close but in my view clear decision. Tarver has no shot and Johnson probably isn't even on the radar.

by SecondsOut on Apr 21, 2008 10:46 AM EDT 0 recs

Disagree

I don't think Hopkins's flash knockdown of Calzaghe proved much at all. If you look closely at the replay, you'll see that just after BHop popped him, Joe starts to lose his balance but moves to correct it with his arms. Before he can regain his balance, Hopkins, being the cagey fighter that he is, quickly moved forward and pushed Joe down with his upper body, finishing the job that his punch started.

Was it a legit knockdown? Absolutely. Hopkins pressed the case and made it happen by thinking quickly on his feel. Was Joe hurt? Not much. He defended well for the remainder of the rounds and fought cautiously in the next to feel out the situation. I don't think Joe's chin was in anyway exposed by that punch. His balance? That, I might agree with.

by Matt Miller on Apr 23, 2008 3:07 PM EDT 0 recs