We all know SOG beat up, knocked out and embarrassed Hopsy's daddy aka Chad Dawson. Imagine what SOG would do to Slappy Joe?
his stamina was elite, but nothing else apart from man management picking weaklings for almost a decade, outstanding that is. no one else came close to achieving that. his skills are wayward, looking at his stats versus better boxers he was always trailing in % punches landed.
I think this is accurate. It could also be said that Joe Calzaghe keeps working close up, so Andre Wards tactics of constantly changing the distance wouldn't be as effective as it was against his other opponents. Besides, Ward isn't a Floyd Mayweather or even a young Bernard Hopkins. Fella is good, but a bit overrated. I'm fairly confident Calzaghe could handle him.
I'd give a young Hopkins or a peak Eubank better odds to beat Calzaghe than Ward, actually. If Calzaghe is allowed to roam freely, he gets impossible to handle. What it takes is figthers who can back him up. Ward lacks the power and the killer instinct.
Ward on points for me. The only real area where Calzaghe has an advantage is in work rate, but Ward is the perfect guy to shut that down. He's an excellent inside fighter and a real bully there, whereas Calzaghe couldn't fight inside for toffee. The Starie and Hopkins fights are a good indicator of why Calzaghe's normally high output won't mean much here. Ward is too good at dictating the range, I think. He's either right inside, closing the gap quickly and smothering your work as he lands good shots inside, or he's right at range using the jab and legs where you can't just open up and throw a load of shots. Calzaghe ain't throwing his usual 900 - 1,000 shots here, and as I said that's all he has to rely on, for me. Ward better defensively, better inside, more accurate etc. Ward's not going to be gassing and crawling around on the floor like a mutt feigning low blows after six rounds like a 43-year-old Hopkins was. Ward 116-112.
Zaggers won a controversial decision against a 42 year old hopkins, what do you think a prime Ward who beat a guy in Dawson who beat Hopkins more convincingly than Zaggers did will do to him?
1.) The decision was only controversial to people who can't score. 2.) 42 year old Hopkins was more prime than 36 year old Zaggers 3.) Ward beat the zombie formerly known as Chad Dawson very convincingly indeed. :good