Johnnyp Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 9 hours ago, sheepyvillian said: I agree. He certainly has a penchant for distasteful behaviour. I remember wanting Eubank Jr to knock him spark out. I think the telling is in the number of trainers he's had throughout his professional career. He seems to be a law unto himself, which is a shame really, when you consider the talent he possesses, if he had a punch, he would take some beating, let's be honest. Glad he's wound back up with Mark Tibbs lately again though. Spent most his career with his old man and with Mark as chief second. They won't let him cut corners in training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 20 hours ago, Johnnyp said: Glad he's wound back up with Mark Tibbs lately again though. Spent most his career with his old man and with Mark as chief second. They won't let him cut corners in training If he cuts corners in preparation for the Canelo fight, then he will certainly be found out, very early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 (edited) Not a new documentary but watched Foreman on sky documentaries last night, think it is from 2017. He has had a remarkable life and even though I remember watching him winning the world title for a second time at 45 I don't think it really registered what an unbelievable achievement it was given he had retired for 10 years and completely changed his boxing style from what he had been in the 70's, due in part to being about 5 stone heavier when he came back. The documentary takes you from him starting out and winning Olympic gold right up to him winning the world title for the second time. Well worth a watch. Edited March 10, 2021 by markavfc40 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted March 10, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted March 10, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, markavfc40 said: Not a new documentary but watched Foreman on sky documentaries last night, think it is from 2017. He has had a remarkable life and even though I remember watching him winning the world title for a second time at 45 I don't think it really registered what an unbelievable achievement it was given he had retired for 10 years and completely changed his boxing style from what he had been in the 70's, due in part to being about 5 stone heavier when he came back. The documentary takes you from him starting out and winning Olympic gold right up to him winning the world title for the second time. Well worth a watch. The Bruno Tyson one on there is worth a look as well. Could not believe how out of control he was at that Miss black America contest before he got accused and later convicted of rape. Proper creepy noncey behaviour Edited March 10, 2021 by Follyfoot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted March 10, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 10, 2021 The Bruno - Tyson one was very good in that I think it showed how alike they were as kids and then how after the death of Cus D'Amato Tyson went off the rails and Bruno got married and changed himself. I think it was really interesting to see the way in which the media then used that to create cartoons of both of them, ultimately to the detriment of both - creating and encouraging Tyson the monster to the point where he became it and then making Bruno the comedy pantomime softie and pushing him into having to constantly deal with accusations of being an Uncle Tom - the media's desire for simple narratives can be an evil thing. I thought there was a sort of recognition between them that these two opposite men were nearer in reality than on paper. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 I loved that 70's/80's and even 90's eras of boxing. The 70's with the heavyweight division with Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, the 80's with the welterweight/middleweight division and Leonard, Hearns, Duran, Hagler. The heavyweight division in the 90's whilst not up there with the 70's era was still very competitive with some great boxers and match ups with Holyfield, Lewis, Bowe, Tyson, Bruno, Moorer, the fairy tale story with Foreman and even Holmes getting himself back in the mix. Also in the 90's the middleweight/super middleweights and Benn, Eubank, Collins, Watson. Some great fights. I used to love boxing and be well into it but over the last 10 years or so aside from the big fights I can't say I am massively into it. I don't know if that is down to it not being as easily accessible as it was and no longer on terrestrial tele or a lot of the fights even on sky sports other than PPV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted March 10, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted March 10, 2021 34 minutes ago, markavfc40 said: I loved that 70's/80's and even 90's eras of boxing. The 70's with the heavyweight division with Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, the 80's with the welterweight/middleweight division and Leonard, Hearns, Duran, Hagler. The heavyweight division in the 90's whilst not up there with the 70's era was still very competitive with some great boxers and match ups with Holyfield, Lewis, Bowe, Tyson, Bruno, Moorer, the fairy tale story with Foreman and even Holmes getting himself back in the mix. Also in the 90's the middleweight/super middleweights and Benn, Eubank, Collins, Watson. Some great fights. I used to love boxing and be well into it but over the last 10 years or so aside from the big fights I can't say I am massively into it. I don't know if that is down to it not being as easily accessible as it was and no longer on terrestrial tele or a lot of the fights even on sky sports other than PPV. Have a read of the book 4 Kings, it’s about Leonard, Hagler Duran and the Hit man. Absolute quality 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 4 hours ago, markavfc40 said: I loved that 70's/80's and even 90's eras of boxing. The 70's with the heavyweight division with Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, the 80's with the welterweight/middleweight division and Leonard, Hearns, Duran, Hagler. The heavyweight division in the 90's whilst not up there with the 70's era was still very competitive with some great boxers and match ups with Holyfield, Lewis, Bowe, Tyson, Bruno, Moorer, the fairy tale story with Foreman and even Holmes getting himself back in the mix. Also in the 90's the middleweight/super middleweights and Benn, Eubank, Collins, Watson. Some great fights. I used to love boxing and be well into it but over the last 10 years or so aside from the big fights I can't say I am massively into it. I don't know if that is down to it not being as easily accessible as it was and no longer on terrestrial tele or a lot of the fights even on sky sports other than PPV. I would of loved to of seen Calzaghe come earlier in the Benn/Eubank/Collins era. He bet Eubank, and a good name to have on your CV at any stage, but Eubank was old, Calzaghe a novice pro. Similarly, Joe was coming up on retirement when the new brood of exciting super middleweights were coming through. Ward, Froch, Kessler. Beat a prime Kessler prime, handed him his first loss. Pity he fell between both era's where he didn't have lots of top guys to fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 11 hours ago, Johnnyp said: I would of loved to of seen Calzaghe come earlier in the Benn/Eubank/Collins era. He bet Eubank, and a good name to have on your CV at any stage, but Eubank was old, Calzaghe a novice pro. Similarly, Joe was coming up on retirement when the new brood of exciting super middleweights were coming through. Ward, Froch, Kessler. Beat a prime Kessler prime, handed him his first loss. Pity he fell between both era's where he didn't have lots of top guys to fight. I know Calzaghe divides opinion but I think he would have held his own in with prime Eubank/Benn/Collins. He could only beat what was around during his time which isn't his fault and in fairness to him he destroyed highly rated, or at least hyped, fighters like Lacy and comfortably beat Hopkins and Jones Jr although past their best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted March 11, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted March 11, 2021 10 minutes ago, markavfc40 said: I know Calzaghe divides opinion but I think he would have held his own in with prime Eubank/Benn/Collins. He could only beat what was around during his time which isn't his fault and in fairness to him he destroyed highly rated, or at least hyped, fighters like Lacy and comfortably beat Hopkins and Jones Jr although past their best. 'Left hook Lacey' 'I'm coming for you Joe' That ended rather well, 1006 punches later 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted March 11, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted March 11, 2021 12 hours ago, Johnnyp said: I would of loved to of seen Calzaghe come earlier in the Benn/Eubank/Collins era. He bet Eubank, and a good name to have on your CV at any stage, but Eubank was old, Calzaghe a novice pro. Similarly, Joe was coming up on retirement when the new brood of exciting super middleweights were coming through. Ward, Froch, Kessler. Beat a prime Kessler prime, handed him his first loss. Pity he fell between both era's where he didn't have lots of top guys to fight. Prime Joe would beat a prime Froch and Kessler (the 2nd fight with Froch is a proper warrior battle and one of my recent favourite bouts) Would be a very interesting fight with Ward as he was technically as good as anyone in the era if not better (also vastly underrated) Ward by split decision maybe ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted March 11, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 11, 2021 Calzaghe suffers a lot in terms of his reputation in that he fell into the period between traditional old TV coverage where there was only terrestrial free-to-air TV and the modern day free for all. He boxed in an era where there was only Sky and that the only way to access Sky was by paying to have a dish on your house. There were no YouTube highlights, no boxing opinion channels, no streaming services - so for the most part, Joe's fights were watched by a few hundred thousand people a time. I love boxing, I watch it whenever I can and the only time I ever saw Calzaghe fight was in twenty second clips on the news. It's a pity for him and to an extent for Lennox Lewis too - both of whom should be held in higher regard by the sporting public, but both of whom were rendered almost invisible in their prime by the way TV worked. We went from 18 million and 16 million watching McGuigan and Eubank to 300,000 watching Calzaghe - such a shame and I'm not sure boxing has ever quite recovered. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 @OutByEaster?I think you are spot on in terms of Calzaghe. Had he have been around in the days of boxing being shown on terrestrial tele he'd have been a lot bigger name and much more revered. Ricky Hatton also missed out on that era but was slightly behind Calzaghe and at a time when Sky and then PPV were much more subscribed to. Hatton is probably the last boxer that I followed religiously actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart_75 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I used to enjoy hearing Calzaghe referred to as "Joe Slappy" on this board. Always made me chuckle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Calzaghe was a very good technical fighter. I think he would’ve beaten Froch quite easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 On 11/03/2021 at 11:57, Follyfoot said: Prime Joe would beat a prime Froch and Kessler (the 2nd fight with Froch is a proper warrior battle and one of my recent favourite bouts) Would be a very interesting fight with Ward as he was technically as good as anyone in the era if not better (also vastly underrated) Ward by split decision maybe ? Ward - Calzaghe would of been a horrible watch i think. Ward is too hard to nail down. Joe wasn't a puncher. Can't try the rough stuff either on Ward, Froch tried that and Ward ended up hurting him on the inside up close. Ward points in a messy fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 On 11/03/2021 at 11:28, markavfc40 said: I know Calzaghe divides opinion but I think he would have held his own in with prime Eubank/Benn/Collins. He could only beat what was around during his time which isn't his fault and in fairness to him he destroyed highly rated, or at least hyped, fighters like Lacy and comfortably beat Hopkins and Jones Jr although past their best. Absolutely. I mean you had Sven Ottke. Retired undefeated. But got some gift wins when Germany had a rotten reputation for screwing away fighters. Calzaghe was miles better than Ottke and he could of made some big money going to take on Ottke in Germany to unify. He was offered it. Glad it never happened. They'd of done him dirty. As you said, he bet who was there at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted March 12, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted March 12, 2021 6 minutes ago, Johnnyp said: Ward - Calzaghe would of been a horrible watch i think. Ward is too hard to nail down. Joe wasn't a puncher. Can't try the rough stuff either on Ward, Froch tried that and Ward ended up hurting him on the inside up close. Ward points in a messy fight. Quote Froch on Ward, slippery and very clever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 Just now, Follyfoot said: Quote Froch on Ward, slippery and very clever Froch looked exhausted at the end. Beaten up. There's punchers and then there's guys who work you over constantly and beat you up. Ward is that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 Dunno is it a wind up or what but rumours going around social media that Saunders is injured. I'd believe it. I knew he wouldn't get in the ring with him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts