Joe Calzaghe retires

A pretty good fighter. Nowhere near the best of his generation.

he was top 5 of the last 15 years.

Don't mean to call you out, Kunk, but that's a bit of a blanket statement. I agree Calzaghe had a nice career, but there's just not enough on the guy's resume to put him in the top 5 of his generation. Here are Calzaghe's major victories: Chris Eubank Jeff Lacy Mikkel Kessler Bernard Hopkins Roy Jones Jr. A few convincing wins over nice, albeit not great, fighters like Lacy and Kessler. He beat Jones Jr., who was a shell of himself when they fought, a good 5-6 years past his prime. He beat Hopkins, who was 43 years old when they fought. Sorry -- that's too little, too late. It's a different story, obviously, if he beat Jones Jr. and Hopkins at their peak, but that's not what happened. The guy just waited too long to finally square off with some legitimate stars. After Eubank in the late 90s -- who was past his prime and near retirement when he fought Calzaghe -- all of Calzaghe's big fights came after 2005. Bottom line: It's a pretty empty 46-0 record. You can make an argument that he had the talent to be an all-time great, but he didn't pursue the big fights until much too late in his career. If he truly cared about his legacy in the sport, he should be building on it right now, not cutting it off when he's arguably one of the top pound-for-pound fighters. It's pretty disappointing news. All things considered, I wouldn't put Calzaghe ahead of these guys' careers over the last 15 years: Floyd Mayweather Jr. Roy Jones Jr. Lennox Lewis Evander Holyfield Bernard Hopkins Felix Trinidad Marco Antonio Barrera Erik Morales Manny Pacquiao Kostya Tszyu You could add Oscar de la Hoya to that mix. Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez didn't make the 15-year cut.

^ Holyfield's best was pre 94 ? Do agree with most of your post.

You're right. I was including his victory over Bowe, which happened a year or two earlier. Still, his win over Tyson in '96 -- the first fight, not the one where Tyson bit his ear off -- was one of the best fights I've ever watched live. He also avenged his loss to Michael Moorer. Maybe not enough to rank him above Calzaghe in the last 15 years, but I wouldn't argue with anyone if they did.

what about mike tyson, mosley, gatti, n more im missing.

The guys you mentioned belong in a "great fighters of the last 15-20 years" discussion, but we're talking about guys we'd rank ahead of Joe Calzaghe. Tyson after 1994? Who'd he beat, Peter McNeeley? Orlin Norris? Lou Savarese? Little Mac? Sorry, doesn't make the cut. Mosley and Gatti are a little more interesting. Mosley had some big wins in the last 10-12 years -- Margarito, De La Hoya, Vargas, JJ Leija, Diaz -- but when he loses, he loses BIG. His 5 losses to Wright, Forrest and Cotto were all embarrassing, lopsiding decisions. Gatti, despite his defeats, might have a case just because he had so many classic fights in the mid-late 90s, esp. the Ward trilogy and those blood baths with Robinson and Ruelas.