Is Joe Calzaghe in the top 5 boxers of all time?
I would put Calzaghe in the top 50 because of his record and his style, but not because he beat an againg Hopkins and a totally washed up Jones. The great fighters make their reputations in the ring by beating top opponents. Calzaghe didn’t do that. His camp talked to both Hopkins and Jones some years ago when both were in or near their primes. But Joe insisted they come to him in Wales. Calzaghe was little known here and the only way they could have made any money fighting Joe was for him to come here and have a promoter hype the fight against “The Great Champion from Great Britain!” [No offense, but most Americans probably don’t know where Wales is.] Rocky Marciano is regarded as a great fighter, but he came along in an era when the competition was not what it was in the previous era or in the one that followed. He beat two great fighters in Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott, but they were both past their primes. He also beat Joe Louis, who came out of retirement to fight Marcian
