ATE: Calzaghe Career Special

By Ant Evans: Last week, I penned an appraisal of IBF/WBO super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe’s 20 ’world’ title fights thus far. Grading the bouts from A to E on both the quality of opponent and quality of Calzaghe’s own performance, I hoped to offer a fresh perspective on the undefeated Welshman’s standing in world boxing and among the great champions of British boxing history.

I’ve been overwhelmed by the feedback. Within hours of the piece going live on SecondsOut, I was taking phone calls from colleagues in the boxing world offering their own views on Calzaghe. One writer for another website joked that I am a hard man to impress, a broadcast journalist colleague said I went ’too soft’ on Calzaghe’s reign as champion and, then, a fighter I am friendly with called to say he’d been waiting to read a proper critical piece on Calzaghe ’for f**king years’.

The responses email in through the ’Ask the Editors’ facility here at SecondsOut was a similarly split decision. Up to now (Monday 23 Oct) I’ve had nearly 100 ATE emails (thank you, everyone) and, below, I’ve tried to publish a representative sample of your thoughts and opinions. Let’s get to it.

Deep breath now...

WAY TOO LENIENT, EVANS!
First Name : Damien
Last Name : Mooney
Country : Ireland
Your Question : Calzaghe better than Conteh, Minter, Lewis? I don’t think so. Of his 20 defences you’ve got 5 decent opponents, 13 club fighters and 2 guys who won’t fog a mirror. Add to that his refusal to fight Jones, Ottke and his disgraceful avoidance of Glen Johnson. All he had to was drop his WBO belt and he would have immediately been ranked by the WBC, WBA, IBF and maybe we would have the titles unified. Don’t get me wrong I used to be a big fan I jumped off my bar stool after he decked Mitchell! But who did he fight next; the Armenian? Why not capitalise on that and fight Hopkins, Jones Ottke then? Excellent appraisal/critique but way too lenient! hopefully all his fans will read your well researched article! I say Joke V Froch or Kessler

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: There are more reasons that a big fight may NOT happen than there are atoms in the universe, Damien, but I, too, think that there are so many fights that haven’t happened for Joe (Hopkins, Jones, Thomas Tate multiple times, Johnson thrice, Reid rematch, Ottke, Mitchell and the rest BEFORE they was defeated) that, sooner or later, you have to admit it has hurt Calzaghe’s standing.

I’ve bought tickets to see Calzaghe myself - so I too consider myself a fan - but while I think everyone in British boxing should be proud of the guy and his achievements I think he could have done (and, of course, may yet do) so much more.

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OTTKE, GERMANY AND JOE
First Name : Mark
Last Name : Skene
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : I very much enjoyed Ant Evans’ article about the career of Joe Calzaghe and for the most part I agree with the assessment of his opponents. to think Calzaghe the greatest British fighter of all time on the back of one win, albeit a great performance and win, is ridiculous. I do however think he gets a raw deal about the quality of his opposition at times. for example he never fought Ottke but everyone knows Ottke wouldn’t fight outside Germany and who can blame Calzaghe from not going to fight him in Germany after all the gift decisions he was given. there haven’t been many really good super middleweights around during his career and he’s fought most of them. there are plenty of good fights out there for him now though and he not only needs these fights he needs to start looking like he wants them. although it’s not the most marketable fight in the states i think the best fight out there for him is Kessler. I also think ,as long as it’s done in the next year, Calzaghe beats Kessler in a close points decision. Then as a 4 belt holder talk of him being the best British fighter of all time wouldn’t sound so ridiculous. What do you think is the best fight for him? And do you think he’d beat Kessler?

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Some good points there, Mark. What I’ll add is that while Ottke never wanted to leave Germany he was getting paid massive money and drawing big, big crowds and doing huge TV numbers (don’t ask me why, Germans have strange tastes) and, as the WBA/IBF champion, he had a better claim than Joe to being ’the champion’ of the super-middleweight division until he retired. I interviews Ottke in 2004 about why the Calzaghe fight never happened and he said bluntly "I care about the WBO belt like I care for shit", which was to the point and gross at the same time.

So, Joe should have gone to Germany if he really wanted to be undisputed No.1 at that time. He went there for a massive payday against Viet (second time) so why not for a three-belt unification bout? After all, Kessler went to Australia, which is a lot further away from Denmark than Germany is from Wales, to face Anthony Mundine and beat him out of sight. Plus Chris Eubank went to Germany to face Graciano Rocchigiani, Nigel Benn went to Italy to face Mauro Galvano. Heck, Lacy went to the UK to face Joe. This is what a "world" champion is supposed to do.

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DIE YOU UNPROFESSIONAL EVANS DIE!
First Name : Steve
Last Name : Crozier
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Of course Calzaghe is not the greatest British fighter of all-time. Who exactly said that? Lets not get carried away and start doing a stitch up job on Joe because you disagree. The article where Ant Evans combats the view that Joe is the best ever is pretty poor at best and like on one of his previous articles (when Joe pulled out v Lacy) it is bordering on unprofessional at worst in my opinion. The bias against Joe and the little digs are obvious. The little bits of praise are cancelled out in the next sentence. It does not fool anyone. Joe is not the best but I would put him in my top 20 British fighters of all time. Currently I would put him ahead of Ricky Hatton and Clinton Woods. Finally guys what is your prediction of Joe v Kessler and I may be jumping the gun (I doubt) but why does Kessler win in your opinion.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: FYI Barry McGuigan has been quoted as saying "Calzaghe is arguably the greatest British fighter there has ever been" and there were several pieces in several newspapers and on websites running along this theme. Also, Frank Warren has gone on record saying that Joe is the biggest talent he’s ever worked with, and that takes in pretty much every major British talent of the last 18 years or more.

I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the article, Steve, but from the emails I’ve gotten since the story was published four days ago it appears you are in a minority. And Your ’unprofessional’ jibs is sophomoric; I get paid to write about boxing and give my opinion on boxing and boxers, and that it what I did. I understand that your view is different to mine but that hardly renders my own views ’unprofessional’. I took great care to be even-handed.

Personally, I would rank Hatton way above Calzaghe (as do most knowledgeable experts in the field, including HBO, who signed Calzaghe up for less money than Ricky Hatton, reflecting his market value, and then debuted him on Boxing After Dark) and think there’s nothing to choose from between Joe and Clinton Woods. You disagree, and that’s fine, but there’s no need for name calling.

And I slightly give Kessler the edge because of his youth, skills and punch power. Plus, I think Lacy flattered Calzaghe by coming in nervous and with no gameplan. Let me ask you this: look at Joe last five fights - wasn’t the Lacy fight the aberration and the other mauls and less than awesome showings v Bika, Ashira, Veit and Salem the norm?

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NOT EVEN BEST WELSHMAN OF ALL TIME
First Name : Andrew
Last Name : Russell
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Dear Ant, Good article about Joe. Entirely agree that he is not the best British boxer of all time - he’s not even the greatest Welsh fighter of all time. Surely that honour must go to Jimmy Wilde? That said I am a proud Welshman and a massive fan of Joe. I believe his carry has been dogged by injury and many good boxers avoiding him. If he had boxed in the era when Benn/Eubanks/Collins were at their peak he would be a superstar in the UK. As for being considered a boxing great I feel he needs to take on another couple of the American big guns. A win over Clinton Woods certainly doesn’t propel him to greatness - as you noted, Starie even beat woods, probably by inducing him into a deep sleep through sheer boredom!

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Personally, I’d rank Joe over Wilde but I know where you are coming from. Wilde is an icon in Wales and rightly so. As for Woods, I am convinced that it would be a 50/50 fight with Joe. Woods is a completely different fighters now than he was when he was a super-middleweight and, aged 33, is now peaking as a professional. I think he is capable of out boxing and out brawling Calzaghe, although I am sure the Sheffield man would start the underdog.

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DEFINE THIS!
First Name : Thom
Last Name : Wilhelm
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Dear Anthony Evans, After reading your article on Joe Calzaghe, regarding your annoyance to the phrase "career defining fight" I find it rather hypocrite that you will happily use this phrase in YOUR (Yes, written by the same Anthony Evans) article about Diego Corrales.

I really cannot help but feel after reading the Calzaghe article that your problem is not the phrase, but the fighter who people have applied the phrase too, Joe Calzaghe. What makes it rather more ironic is that YOU used the phrase before Calzaghe fought Lacy, pointing out "The hard-hitting Welshman has yet to land a career-defining fight." Why do you have such a problem with the phrase now? Is it that you don’t like the fact that he did get a big fight, so you now feel the need to make him jump through even more hoops to be seen as having a "Successful career"

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Yes, I’ve been guilty of using the dread phrase in the past. Then, my friend and Boxing Monthly editor Glyn Leach challenged me to explain what exactly I meant when I used it - and to my embarrassment I couldn’t come up with a coherent answer. I came to the conclusion that "career defining fight" means nothing if not that one fight is all that it required to make a champion an all time great and, for me, that is just rubbish. So, I’ve stopped using the phrase and, moreover, have thought very deeply as to how I judge ’greatness’ in fighters and will apply those thoughts when I next vote on a Hall of Fame ballot.

And you used some daft phrases yourself: "making (Joe) jump through even more hoops". Jump through even more hoops, Thom?!?!?! By expecting a man who proclaims himself the best to actually prove it by fighting the best? Hoops, Thom? To expect Calzaghe to engage in a series of top quality bouts just like every elite fighter in the world has to in order to justify that status? Hoops? Really? Are you sure?

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CALZAGHE AGAINST 1990s ICONS
First Name : ian
Last Name : benson
Country : Canada
Your Question : Hi found the Joe C article both fair and on the whole I agree with the points raised. I was fortunate enough to be around at the time when the middle/super middle class was alive in the UK .It was a great time for fight fans in the UK ,we had an era to be excited about ok I know the guys involved were not everyone’s faves but hell we had Eubank ,Benn, Graham ,Collins and of course the sadly later injured Watson. One could raise an argument for each winning against each other ,they all had different qualities and the fights that were made mostly were of good quality. Which brings me to my conclusion ,would Joe C have beaten any of them at their respective best .In my humble opinion i think ,even taking into account he did beat a weight drained Eubank who was past his peak ,i think he would have struggled to shine with anyone of them and we wouldn’t be looking at his career in the same way

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Let’s see, I’ll play fantasy sportscaster here:
Calzaghe v Eubank: Eubank never did work for three minutes of every round and wouldn’t have liked Joe’s pace and stamina at all. I’d go with Joe on points, but with a scare along the way much like Chris gave him in the final seconds of their 1997 bout.

Calzaghe v Benn: Regular readers will know Nigel was my childhood hero, so I’ll take the Dark Destroyer in 30seconds! Seriously, Benn was really a blown up middleweight and could have been a little underpowered for shrunk down light heavy Joe. I’d go with Joe say 7 times out of 10, but the Benn who beat the G Man would have bested any super-middleweight in history.

Calzaghe v Collins: I think it would be a bar room brawl with neither guy taking a step back. Joe could outspeed Steve for the points win; however, as he showed v Bika and the others, Joe can get draw into a brawl. And Collins liked to brawl. It would depend how much Collins wound Joe up before hand to take him off his game.

Calzaghe v Watson: On his day, Watson could beat anyone but I’d tip Calzaghe on points.

Calzaghe v Bomber: Herol would have given Joe fits but I think Joe’s extra power would tell in the end. Joe by TKO round eight.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
First Name : Alexis
Last Name : Zis
Country : USA Your Question : Solid points, Ant. Here is some food for thought from my column on HBO Boxing:

While Bika was a credible, perhaps even dangerous opponent, the fight will take place in England for the 23d time, and it has raised some of the same question marks that have dogged Calzaghe throughout his career. Chief among them --besides the constant home court advantage -- is the quality of Calzaghe’s opponents. It is a legitimate question, but one that should be tempered by the fact that the division itself, which was created in 1984, has not had a superstar champion since Roy Jones Jr. held a super middleweight title from 1994-1996. In fact, beginning with the first super middleweight champion, Murray Sutherland, you can count the genuine stars who have owned belts in the division on one hand - Sugar Ray Leonard (1988-90), England’s Nigel Benn (1992-96), James Toney (1992-94), and arguably Michael Nunn (1992-94).

It is an axiom in boxing that it is very hard for a fighter to define himself without beating a great opponent, and there have precious few out there during Calzaghe’s reign. That being said, negotiations with Jones and Bernard Hopkins several years ago fell through largely because Warren insisted the Americans fight in England, which led to the oft-repeated charge that Calzaghe was being coddled by his promoter. Besides fighting in England, all 16 of Calzaghe’s bouts in Wales took place in his home city of Cardiff. If Calzaghe wants to cement his legacy, he will finally have to kiss the home-cooking goodbye and rack up some frequent flyer miles. A cursory glance at Calzaghe’s record gives the impression he has faced pretty good competition. His last 19 opponents have a combined record of 628-41.

Of those 19 boxers, 15 went into the fight with two or fewer losses. But on closer examination, the vast majority of these competitors - roughly 14 of them - had beaten very low-caliber opponents prior to earning their title shots. A small sampling: Before facing Calzaghe, Rick Thornberry (23-2) had beaten boxers with records of 5-26, 18-23, 1-0 and 5-17; Juan Carlos Ferreya (51-8-3) had victories over boxers with records of 1-11-2, 3-4, and 1-1; victims of Will McIntrye (29-2) had records of 9-3-1, 0-3, 30-9-2 and 4-24-2. Only five, maybe six of Calzaghe’s opponents, including Lacy, were genuine top fighters: Charles Brewer, Byron Mitchell, Richie Woodhall, Robin Reid, and Chris Eubank, from whom he won the title back in 1997.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Dear Alexis, thanks for writing in. I think we’re singing from the same songsheet but I’d respond with the following:

1) Joe has only fought in England three times in the last 5 years. I think you’re making a common American mistake of confusing ’England’ with ’Great Britain’. Believe me, as an Englishman who spends a lot of time in Wales there’s a big difference (language, culture and lack of choice at fish and chips shops etc) . However, that detail aside, you are correct in pointing out Joe likes to be able to walk to work. I don’t think it is vital for Joe to go to the US right now, not in the absence of a fight v a Hopkins etc, but his career would have been enhanced if he had travelled to Florida to face Lacy or to Germany to face Ottke, Australia to face Mundine etc.

2) Chris Eubank, for good and ill, was also a super-star in the division. He and Nigel Benn hold the record for attendance for a 168lbs fight (48,000 from memory) and draw over 12million viewers - records I can’t see getting bested for a long, long time.

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MALICIOUS ATTACK
First Name : Rob
Last Name : Lewis
Country : United Kingdom Your Question : After reading the Joe Calzaghe’s legacy and career defining fights article by Ant Evans; I wonder was this article to give people an in-depth look at the career of Calzaghe, or a sneaky way to maliciously attack the great welsh man and a true elite fighter? First off the ’career defining fight’ Calzaghe was given very little credit in the US, thought to be a home town boy who wouldn’t leave the UK in fear of losing.

Next major point is about Calzaghe NOW being touted as the best British boxer in history, claiming it is nonsense, and that in his "8 years of penning articles about him" that this is first time people are saying this because of the Jeff lacy win. But let’s look at what the British experts have to say shall we? John Rawling: Saturday July 12, 2003 Jim Watt, Richie Woodhall, Duke McKenzie, Glenn McCrory all discus the best British boxer. The result? A then 31 year old WBO super- middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe! [Source from http://sport.guardian.co.uk/boxing/story/0,,996634,00.html]

Let’s look at how the Editor viewed the Lacy fight. Before the fight he was saying things like... "Joe Calzaghe is an outstanding talent - but this fight has come two years too late for him. Physically, Calzaghe still has the tools to win but psychologically I think Lacy has him at a disadvantage. The endless injuries, the pull-outs, years of dream fights getting snatched away, and the very public divorce which robbed him of much of his earnings... he’s had to contend with a lot. Meanwhile, Lacy, improving with every fight, is frighteningly focused and has never entertained a moment’s self-doubt. Lacy on a late stoppage or close points victory."- Ant Evans (Editor)

And after the fight (in hindsight) he now rates lacy as a B class fighter, yet another way to discredit Calzaghe by discrediting his opponent. Where is the mention of his 18 month divorce that clashed with many big fights? It’s easy to demote the Byron Mitchell win because he was coming off a loss to Sven Ottke - controversial SD - but you can equally point out the positive that Calzaghe destroyed him in 2 and was the first and only man to stop him. It’s the same as he rightly points out Pudwill and Ashira were crap opponents, but Pudwill was a last minute stand in that got spanked in two - as he should of been, by any world class fighter - and Calzaghe beats Ashira with one hand, again proving what a world class fighter he is.

One must wonder if Calzaghe is not the best British boxer, then just who is? Where is the mention of how very little sparring Calzaghe done before a lot of his fights due to the continuous hand injuries he picks up? Since when was blowing a way a fighter like Mario Veit inside one round only worthy of a B? Maybe if Ant Evans wasn’t PR for Fight Academy he wouldn’t have such a problem with his employers biggest rivals [Frank Warrens sports network] star Joe Calzaghe. Overall some very fair points made, but too many key points conveniently missed out that would explain a lot more to you about certain fights, certain performances.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Let me compartmentalise your correspondence, which I had to edit down for brevity and clarity. First to suggest I am "maliciously attacking" anyone is plain wrong. I’m not a malicious type of guy and, as you can see from your fellow readers, my "malicious" view of Calzaghe’s career seemed to be quite widespread. You may think Calzaghe is a "true elite" fighter but that’s not my view, not if by "elite" we are talking Floyd Mayweather and Marco Antonio Barrera. As I stated in the piece which so got your back up, I think Calzaghe is a handful of big fights away from that status and I look forward to him having those fights. That’s hardly an unreasonable position.

As for the Rawling article - sorry I am just not impressed at all and don’t accept the TV pundits John interview as major experts .Watt is easily the best of the lot, and having worked with him I respect his views greatly even though they sometimes differ from my own, but I take what the others say with a dose of salt. McCrory and Woodhall’s knowledge of boxing history isn’t exhaustive by any means (otherwise they wouldn’t need to be briefed before they go on-air) and to be blunt, Duke McKenzie, has yet to establish any credibility as an expert of this particular field. Lovely man and all that, but he has made some howling factual mistakes in his TV career thus far and seems to lack any perspective on modern boxing. He’s entitled to his views, but I don’t have to extend them any respect until he established them as worthy of that respect. I mean, even in that same article you are waving around declaring "Calzaghe in our time" Neville Chamberlain style, Duke says that lethargic waste of talent Howard Eastman’s biggest strength is his concentration! Is that supposed to be funny?

Plus, the article does not make it clear who put Calzaghe at No.1. Was it Rawling himself, and others were invited to comment or did everyone have a vote and then Rawling used some sort of methodology to average out his panel’s score? Who knows?

And I DID make it clear Pudwill was a late replacement and that Calzaghe had only one arm v Ashira. But beating someone with one hand means that the opponent was so crap that he can be beaten with one hand, doesn’t it? Plus, as you saw yourself, I described Calzaghe as "an outstanding talent" BEFORE Lacy, so to then accuse me of not giving the man a fair break is silly.

As for praising Joe in one sentence and criticizing him with the next, well, that’s the very nature of doing a fair critique. Yes, I could have pointed to Joe’s lack of sparring etc etc for certain fights but those excuses are well-known and as it was, my article was nearly 2,600 words long, which would be too long for inclusion in a quality magazine like Boxing Monthly or the Ring. I could have written more, but only at the risk of out-staying the reader’s interest.

As for me writing press releases and programme notes for Fight Academy, what of it? Writing about boxing is how I made a living. In total, I’ve worked for six promoters, three television companies about 15 newspapers and magazines and I also edited Audley Harrison’s and my friend Danny Williams’s websites. I am perfectly capable of keeping track of my own opinions while writing PR material just I am was capable of appreciating the fine female forms of Girl Aloud while still loving my girlfriend just as much. By your reckoning, I should be biased against everyone (which would actually mean I’m biased against no-one).

By your logic, Steve Farhood shouldn’t be allowed to write about HBO fights, as he serves as a commentator on Showtime. Surely you don’t believe that?

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MORE OF THAT, PLEASE
First Name : JUSTIN
Last Name : MARSHALL-CLARKE
Country : United Kingdom Your Question : Great article on Calzaghe I agree with all points made. Ant I would really like to see this formula applied to the careers of other fighters. A similair assessment of the careers of Mayweather , Hopkins, or Jones for example would provide a good comparison. I believe a beaten opponents achievements after a fight often demonstrate how great a victory was, Corrales and Castillo after Mayweather, Hopkins after Jones and Johnson after Hopkins for example. In this respect the imminent return of Lacy will tell us more about Calzaghe’s greatness. However I fully appreciate certain defeats are so devastating the loser is never the same again.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Yeah, I enjoyed writing the piece, even though it took me an age. Thanks for the kind words. Maybe next I’ll do one on Oscar De La Hoya, who is one fight away from retirement and all. As for Lacy, it will take incredible force of will to overcome the kind of beating Joe gave him. And, having seen first hand how Lacy collapsed during fight week v Joe, I doubt he has that kind of mental strength.

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DON’T OVERRATE THE DANE
First Name : Matt
Last Name : Ince
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Following Ant Evan’s article discussing the greatness of Joe Calzaghe I felt compelled to offer my opinion. Having been at the M.E.N. on the 4th March when Joe destroyed Jeff Lacy over 12 rounds I witnessed at first hand how good a fighter he truly is. Ant mentioned the fact that Lacy was inexperienced but that didn’t stop literally all the American and British experts picking against Joe that night-many predicting that he would get stopped.

That proved not to be the case and I feel strongly that should Joe meet Kessler early next year which I hope happens, he will beat him and become undisputed Super Middleweight Champion of the World. While Kessler looked great against Beyer let’s not get too carried away-although I notice a lot of comments flying around on boxing websites, including secondsout.com that Kessler is the true #1 at Super Middle. It was apparent before the fight in Denmark that Beyer was damaged goods; he was never much of a puncher and was looking for one last payday. I don’t think the result was ever in doubt and if Joe had got to him first he would have laid him out inside the distance, probably just as quickly! Consider this: Joe could quite easily surpass Joe Louis’s 25 world title defences and retire undefeated World Super Middleweight Champion but he’d be compared to Sven Ottke-who hid in Germany and never took any risks. I think by taking the Lacy fight Joe’s shown through necessity more than choice, that he was willing to put his head on the block and will do so again against Kessler. Let’s be honest, while I really respect Ricky Hatton let’s not forget the calibre of opponents he vanquished in the numerous defences of his old WBU belt prior to humbling Kostya Tszyu? Lay off Joe and let his fists do the talking, hopefully in the very near future against Kessler! Apologies for the long ramble, any thoughts at all?

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Thanks for the well considered view. I, too, paid to see Calzaghe v Lacy and was wowed by Joe’s performance. That win cemented him as the No.1 in the division in my eyes and there he will remain until he is beaten or until such a time Kessler (or whoever) overtakes him by consistently fighting better opponents over a extended period. I think Kessler could beat Joe, but the fight has to happen either way. I know Hatton feasted on a lot of lower class foes, but since winning the world title in June 2005 he’s fought more world champions than Calzaghe has in his nine year career. He’s also gone to another champion’s backyard and got a win (Collazo) and, above all, his win over Tszyu is worth a lot more than Joe’s over Lacy. So that’s why I have Hatton significantly ahead of Calzaghe in terms of achievement.


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MUSIC TO MY EARS
First Name : Simon
Last Name : Davis
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Re : Your appraisal of JC. Dear Ant, I have been an examiner for the associated board of the Royal School of Music. We mark musicians in a variety of ways ; accuracy, technique, phrasing, appropriate interpretation etc...I enjoyed your careful and considered analysis of each fight. I could not disagree with much of what you said. Joe has heart, guts, and can be a virtuoso boxer, capable on a good night of beating anyone.

Most people feel that Joe rarely really extends himself to the max but I think as his career has progressed, his whole strategy has been geared around ’ the hand ’ Joe’s ’ hand ’ has been a gradually reoccurring theme throughout and what started as bad luck has become an actual ’ weakness ’. If this had not been so, I have no doubt he would have at the very least KO’d Ashira possibly Brewer and maybe Reid in the later rounds. His weak hand has ’ dictated ’ his strategy but he has compensated by being such a good boxer ( last fight not so much in evidence ! ) with great hand speed and footwork. If he moves up to Light Heavy with this handicap ( no pun ) of the hand ’ going ’ during the fight, then he will have to box like he did against Lacy to compensate for a lack of power.

If he can’t put away super middle weights then he definitely won’t hurt a good Light Heavy. The problem for Joe is that Other fighters now ’know’ what he ’knows’ about his hand and Bika’s strategy illustrated this. Bika could not hope to outbox Joe. He tried to bully him, hope his hand went, and capitalise by drawing him into a war. It partially worked, and made Joe look bad in winning. This would resemble a decline if Joe were to buy into this - It would be a big mistake If he fought Clinton Woods as he did Bika. I reserve full judgement until he retires but I feel history will say he was an extremely gifted but slightly flawed champion but easily the best Welsh fighter ever, and one of the finest boxers the UK has seen.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: Well said. Excellent email, thanks Simon.

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SPOT ON ANT!

First Name : rich
Last Name : Haines
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Ant - spot on with the JC analysis, I have been saying for ages that JC career is basically rubbish. Whether he beat the likes of Brewer and Mitchell easier than Ottke - the simple fact is that Ottke beat them first and recently. The embarrassing this for me regarding JC’s career if you just look at the record instead of analysing the actual fight Ottke probably has a better CV than JC. For me when you look at Joe’s WBO career and every fight other than Lacy it is the same as Hatton pre Tszyu - the likes of Phillips and Tackie who had recently lost to Hatton’s rivals were shipped over for Hatton and that is basically what has happened for Joes whole career. For me he makes all the noise about wanting RJJ and Hopkins but for 8 years never beat another champ, never stepped up in weight, never left home - just not good enough for me to gain the status that his talent could have got him.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: I agree that Ottke’s achievements are under-rated but think that the Lacy win establishes Joe as a better fighter than Sven. I know Ottke unified the IBF and WBA titles v Mitchell, but that’s a verdict that could have gone either way while Joe spanked Lacy.

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GREAT PERFORMANCE FIRST AND FOREMOST
First Name : James
Last Name : Martin
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Ant, I’ve already asked one Joe Calzaghe-related question this month, but i wanted to say that i agree in the main with your article suggesting Joe has work to do before he can be classed as anywhere near the greatest fighter Uk has had. I think perhaps the claim was made due to the sheer quality of his performance against Lacy. He was simply punch perfect, no-one had seen such quality in a UK ring for a long time. Maybe their point is that, on his day, he’s the best pure boxer we’ve ever had? Is he the greatest champ? No way, that has to be Lennox who ruled the heavies for a decade and is 3rd in the all time list of successful heavyweight defences. Has he produced the greatest UK performance? Arguable. The ones you mention certainly compare, especially Hatton v Tszyu given RIcky’s lack of top flight experience and Kostya’s indestructibility over such a long time. It’s certainly up there though. Before he can be put on a similar level toi the likes of Lewis, Calzaghe simply HAS to unify the division and beat more world class fighters - Kesser, Woods and Hopkins/Taylor would all qualify and victories over those would probably also give him a LH belt. Then you could start talking about hims as maybe the greatest. Not until.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: I steer clear of terms like "best pure" boxer because technique is in the eye of the beholder. I know some very good trainers who think Calzaghe’s technique is poor ("he slaps, he’s straight up" etc) and I know others who swear that Roy Jones was just an amazing athlete with super-human speed but no boxing talent ("he couldn’t even jab" they cry) but you can’t deny that FOR THEM, their own unique styles work. Interesting view, though. But wasn’t Lennox Lewis’s easy win over David Tua (who was a lot like Lacy in terms of strength, punch, hype and, ultimately, disappointment) comparable to Calzaghe v Lacy?

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LOUIS RECORD SAFE FROM JOE
First Name : Chris
Last Name : Melia
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : After reading Ant’s Calzaghe career review I’m happy to say that I’m not the only person to put things in perspective when it comes to him. The fact that he wants to defend as many times as Joe Louis is a disgrace to British boxing. He claims to want big fights but do you believe him. He’s always seemed happy taking an easy fight for a big pay day.

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: My honest opinion is that Joe would quite like the big fights but, as long as he’s champion, is getting paid and doesn’t have to travel, he’s not that bothered. Boxing isn’t a sport that lends itself to stats but while Louis fought his share of so-so opponents, I think Joe besting the Brown Bomber’s record would be a stain on boxing history.

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CALZ-SLAPPY DON’T IMPRESS ME
First Name : Matthew
Last Name : Blackwell
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Spot on the money for me Ant. Despite what commentators and paid ex-pros say; Calzaghe is not a great. True he needed the sort of competition that Benn, Eubank and Collins had; however he has never put it on the line in an even money fight outside the UK. He prefers to stay at home and go on about how talented he is whilst beating up (or not) people from lower weight categories. My biggest dislike (and I’ll admit that I have a few) of Calzaghe is his use of the inside of the glove - it’s no wonder people refer to him as Calslappy.

Close second in the dislike list is his penchant for making excuses for lacklustre (and your guide shows there have been a fair few of them) performances." My hand hurt", "I haven’t had any sparring", "I missed Eastenders"; the list goes on (alright, I made the last one up). Great champions just get on with it - and aren’t afraid to admit that they have come up short. He always calls out people for fights that he knows he won’t get - or as with RJJ and Hopkins - people who are well past their best. What will beating RJJ prove now? Furthermore, as a person, Joe comes across on TV with about as much personality as a dish mop. Whining about how he won’t win the BBC sports personality of the year - it’s called "personality" Joe, in order to win it you need some. He doesn’t seem to attract fans the way Ricky Hatton - or any other recent champions do; he just doesn’t inspire like a champion should and that for me is why he isn’t a great champion - much less the best British champion of all time

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: I admit when Calzaghe started to go through the same old excuses post-Bika, hand injury, no sparring etc etc, post Bika I wanted to turn the sound off my TV. We’ve been listening to this stuff for a decade now, it is beyond boring I am afraid even if it is the truth (and I am sure that it was). Maybe that’s not fair but there comes a point when you tune out when the same old record is put on.

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VERY GOOD, BUT NOT YET GREAT
First Name : Nick
Last Name : Watkins e
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question : Joe Calzaghe’s legacy and career defining fights. Great piece by Ant Evans, I really enjoyed the read. I have to say I do think Joe C is a great fighter and I think he has/had the potential to be one of the best but for one reason or another the really big fights have passed him by. As Ant said no way can he be considered as THE best British fighter EVER at this stage of his career. My question would be, why in your opinions have the big fights never happened? Why didn’t he fight Ottke? Why does he always accept fights against the likes of Bika instead of pushing on and chasing the big names? I’m sure part of the answer will be hand injuries and for me taking a fight against an Ashira or a Bika is just not worth the risk anymore for Joe, he always ends up hurting his hands and being out for 6 months!

ANT EVANS ANSWERS: As I said above, Ottke was getting paid B-I-G money in Germany and made an absolute fortune by fighting four, even five times a year. He had no great need or desire to travel to Joe, esp as he didn’t much care about a place in boxing history unlike Joe does.