Prime Calzaghe vs Andre Ward

I'm aware of this, but Calzaghe slapping down WBO-mandatories was actually a step above Ward targeting a 2nd round Groves KO victim. But by all means, lets see what Ward does next. If he goes after Bardau, Groves or DeGale, the tune up he had against Smith won't be much to ***** about.

 

80% of Joe's resume is filled with a bunch of Paul Smiths. And Lacy and Kesselr are no Ward. He would never fight him in his prime. His actions have proved it.

 

Calzaghe would easily out work ward - impossible to score against the guy throwing 3x as many punches. Not all that close 8-4.

Problem for ward is he couldn't rely on his head butting, wrestling, and hugging to win it. Calzaghe plays that game a lot better than him - always working in the clinch and getting leverage.

 

ward is fighting smith because hes fougth everyone else that was a geuine challenge, including destroying joes best opposition (all one of them).

calzaghe was fighting bums because he didn't want to fight anyone challenging, and could get away with it using his blind local fanbase who were happy to watch anyone since they had no titlist almost never.


they are polar opposities.

 

How's things?

Joe was great, but his opposition was very poor for a long time. So what if they were top ranked guys? Top ranked in a weak division, and by who? The WBO. That's who he fought for. From about 98-2004, Joe's SMW division was one of the weakest in boxing. And the worst point is, if you look at who Joe fought from Eubank to Lacy 97-2006, only a handful of those guys were actually mandatories.

Paul Smith (no disrespect intended) was nothing but a tune up.

What was Joe's excuse?

 

I also have doubts whether Joe would have fought Ward.

How is Joe's resume much better?

Could I imagine Joe fighting Paul Smith in his prime?

YES!

Go and look at who Joe fought in his prime.

Paul Smith was used as a tune up, from a long lay off.

What was Joe's excuse?

 

:deal

 

How many WBO mandatories did Joe fight?

Paul Smith was used as a tune up.

Seriously, just look at some of the guys who Joe fought. I read a Frank W interview a few years ago, where he said Joe was the greatest fighter he ever worked with. But he had confidence issues, and he was open to fighting guys such as Freeman Barr. He was basically just content to fight B and C class fighters for the most part. You can view his resume at an instant, and then pull interviews up where he's bragged of his number of WBO title defences. This was a guy who was obviously more than happy to fight all of the guys he fought from Eubank-Lacy.

Then you can also factor in that he wanted to fight Pavlik in 2006 when he was an unknown NABF champ, yet he wouldn't fight him in 2008, because apparently he hadn't done anything.

That's how Joe worked. He wasn't interested in Pavlik, Tarver, or Dawson etc, because he didn't rate them and they'd done nothing to him. Yet he fought Bika and Manfredo etc, as well as a near 40 year old Roy.

 

I think they resemble each other. Ward may be a bit more hesitant when it comes to making big fights and travel, though.

 

wow the only resemblance is no being keen to travel, not about "big fights" joe was the personification of not taking any tough fights until Kessler picked up an injury.

 

theres not even a comparison - smith wasn't a title bout, just a warm up as you say.

almost every joe calzaghe defence before kessler was "a smith" that joe conned his fans into accepting as title fights.


again, ward and calzaghe prove polar opposites.

 

I'm doing okay

We're talking about different degrees in hell, here. I'm under no illusion when it comes Calzaghes intention to milk his title, and in general having an easy time. But being in the upper ranks of a backwater sanctioning body is at least somewhat legit. What on earth is Smiths credentials? That it wasn't WBO who concluded he's a no entity?

Calzaghes never made any excuse, he just stated he didn't want tough fights. End off. I'm fine with Ward having a tune up, but Smith could just as well have been hired as a sparring partner.

 

smiths number 8 in wbo, on par with a calzaghe defence, and acceptable for 2 current wbo champ AA defences - only wards bout wasnt even a title defence.

 

Right now, Ward is on the path of becoming a more reluctant version of Calzaghe. Relying on dodgy home town refs, avoiding big fights in his path etcetera.