I think this is close, but Ward’s best win (Kovalev) was much better than Calzaghe’s best win IMO, but does Calzaghe having a longer career make up for it? Who had the better career?
Both were dominant at super middleweight before moving up and winning several fights at light heavyweight. At super middleweight: Ward beat Kessler, Froch, Abraham, and Dawson. Calzaghe beat Kessler, Lacy, Eubank, and Reid. At light heavyweight: Ward beat Barrera and Kovalev. Calzaghe beat Hopkins and Jones. On pure names alone, Ward might have the edge, but context diminishes some of his wins. He fouled excessively against Kessler, and Dawson was weight-drained, far from the fighter he had been at light heavyweight. So Ward’s two best wins at 168 are Froch and Abraham. Calzaghe, on the other hand, beat a prime Kessler cleanly without controversy. Lacy was highly regarded at the time, though in hindsight, he didn’t have a great career. Eubank was past his best, and while Reid was a solid fighter, that fight was close. At light heavyweight, Barrera was a decent win for Ward, but the Kovalev fights are controversial. Many felt he lost the first fight, and in the rematch, he was getting outboxed before resorting to fouling to secure the win. For Calzaghe, Jones was well past his prime, so that win doesn’t hold much weight. However, Hopkins was still an elite fighter, coming off wins over Tarver and Wright, and he would later beat Pavlik and Pascal. In fact, Calzaghe remained the only fighter to beat Hopkins at light heavyweight until Hopkins lost to Dawson at 47 years old. While their fight was close, most observers had Calzaghe winning clearly, making it a legitimate victory over an all-time great. Overall, it’s close, but I’d give the edge to Calzaghe for having cleaner, more dominant wins and for his victory over Hopkins, which aged exceptionally well.
Ward has the deeper resume but i think he has a lot of asterisks atrached to his career.. SNAC, excessive fouling, home town comforts.. never left the states.. & I tell you one thing, I prefer watching prime Joe than prime Ward anyday.. Wards best wins are Kessler, Froch, Abraham, Bika, Dawson & Kovalev .. Calzaghes are Kessler, Hopkins, Eubank, Lacy, Mitchell, Bika, Reid & Brewer... Mitchell win is a little underrated for me.. he is a 2X WBA champion & had KOd the likes of Frankie Lilies , Siaca, Green etc.. he was absolutely jobbed v Otke too.. depends how you look at things.. i mean Calzaghe overcame adversity time & again & was plagued with injury.. so what he did was remarkable all in all.. I've rarely seen a boxing performance that's as good as the Lacy fight as well.. wheras almost every Ward fight is filled with fouls & groping.. all in all I'd actually say Joe even though I think Ward has the deeper resume
Ward for me. Calzhage's longer undisputed steak is impressive, but Ward has the better resume despite less fights.
