They were all similar ages and in the fights between them Calzaghe came out on top. In reality the greatest of the 3 is Roy Jones Jr. He went from MW to HW and was rarely challenged during that time. The huge weight gains and weight losses he needed between fights damaged him unfortunately. No doubt that prime RJJ would beat any MW ever IMO including Sugar Ray Robinson.
It's between b hop and calzaghe as Roy didn't have much of a career at middleweight so he isn't a great fighter at the weight like the other two. Most of his achievements came at light heavy. Anyway calzaghe and bhop, both had about 20 defences middle and supermiddle, and both held every title, WBO WBA IBF WBC and Ring. One difference is bhop never left America as champ. But calzaghe left wales and fought away from home all over Europe. Both had similar level of opposition as champions also as hopkins beat , Johnson, Trinidad, del a Hoya and joppy and Calzaghe beat Eubanks, Reid , lacy, bika and Kessler. I think that overall bhop might edge it on greatness but if your only looking at middleweight than its calzaghe by a mile
you could get 3 different answers here , i don't think anyone would doubt that a prime super middle jones was the best fighter of the 3 ,then next it's quite obvious as joe calzaghe beat hopkins who was still champ 5 years laterand of course jones beat hopkins .
i don't understand why calzaghe would be critized for fighting at home when in fact he fought away from much more than roy jones and hopkins put together .
as crafty and skilled as hopkins is he lost to the two other boxers so he can't be better than them .
Since you have limited the question to who is the best middleweight boxer of the previous era among the three, then the answer is easy---It's Bernard Hopkins who won the vacant IBF middleweight title in 1997, unified all the belts by 2001 and reigned as undisputed champion until 2006. Along the way he made a division record of 20 successful title defenses. Overall, he figured in a total of 25 world title fights at 160 lbs. class, losing in his first bid against Roy Jones, Jr. in 1993, held to a draw in his second bid against Segundo Mercado in 1994, finally winning his first middleweight belt in 1995 against the same Mercado, adding the WBC and WBA belts by beating Keith Holmes and Tito Trinidad in 2001 and defending the unified belts against the likes of Carl Daniels, William Joppy, Oscar de la Hoya, Robert Allen twice and Howard Eastman between 2001-2005 before losing the titles to Jermain Taylor. he would also lose to Taylor on points in their rematch.
Calzhage never fought as middleweight, at least in his prime. He spent most his career at 168 lbs. or the super middleweight. So that cancelled him in this issue.
Roy Jones Jr. won the vacant IBF middleweight title left by James Toney in 1995 by beating Hopkins on points but he would just have a single title defense beating Thomas Tate by TKO before moving up to the super middleweights where he would win the IBF title by defeating Toney. Aside from Hopkins, the only prominent middleweights in his resume included Jorge Vaca, Jorge Castro, both of whom actually primed at welterweights and junior middleweights, respectively and Thulani Malinga.
So speaking of the best middleweight fighter of the past generation, hands down it's Bernard!
Who was the best middleweight boxer in the previous era?
Is it Joe Calzaghe who spent most of his career protected in Europe toslightly beat both greats when they were old.
Is it Roy Jones Jr. who looked invisible in his short prime, did ok against a young Hopkins but tainted his career with PEDs, he later lost to Hopkins & Calzaghe,
Or the old Bernard Hopkins who lost to prime Jones but as a senior citizen beat him and gave Calzaghe a close fight?
Give me a reason.
