Andre Ward vs Joe Calzaghe

Sheika coming off a win over a prime Glen Johnson

 

Omar Sheika dude?

Sheika was never more than domestic level. He is a journeyman.

 

if calzaghe didn't spend so much time calling out Hopkins and jones I wouldn't be talking about it now
look what happened once they hit 40 and were beaten by someone else...

why would jones or Hopkins call out a fighter who had zero international profile?
calzaghe never made his name in the US because he knew it was a sure fire way to fight jones and Hopkins in their prime

instead, he waited until they lost their mantle, were in their 40's, and beaten by someone else. then he fought them both and retired

 

I see it the other way around. Joe wanted the fights but Hopkins especially and Jones weren't interested because Joe was too high risk/low reward. Later after they had been knocked of their perch's and Calzaghe was a bigger name then they wanted him. You can't avoid someone if they are in a different division and have no interest in fighting you because you're not a big enough name. If he wanted to avoid them, he wouldn't have mentioned them. If calzaghe was avoiding Hopkins and Jones, Ward is/was avoiding Bute, GGG, Stevenson and Kovalev. which was my point in reply to a post claiming Joe wouldn't have faced a prime Ward. It works just as much the other way around.

 

yes he was, so it was joe's job to change that if he really wanted it
he was a frank wa+ren fighter then - look at the career path of frank wa+ren fighters...

now look at hatton and khan's career path after they left him
this isn't a coincidence

if you want the big boys, you go after them

 

Well he trusted his promoter to do the job which is understandable. His promoter was one of the main promoters in the UK and Joe doesn't seem smart enough to be able to do a better job than his experienced promoter by himself.
Anyway the point is someone said you'd never get Joe in the ring with a prime Ward which is unsubstantiated because Joe never ducked a top SMW threat. People say he didn't like to leave home well neither does Ward. People say Joe avoided guys well if that's the case so has/is Ward.

 

Nah people have been saying it about Calzaghe for way longer.

 

joe knew wa+ren's agenda and he embraced it

the difference between calzaghe "leaving home" and ward doing it is huge - calzaghe becomes a player on the world scene if he made his name in the US, which means he would have become a legit opponent for jones and Hopkins
ward has made his name there by default, and because the US is the boxing hub (apart from HW and SMW to a degree, at least pre-ward) its the best place for him to fight

 

only because there's a british - US rivalry and fans line up ward as a threat to calzaghe's rep at SMW

 

Joe said he wanted them, but had no interest in raising his U.S. profile.

He said he chased Roy for six years etc.

But the facts are, he never fought in Roy's weight class or his Country unitl 2008.

How can you chase someone when they're at 175 in America, and you're defending the WBO, 168 belt in Britain?

It was totally unrealistic.

 

Ward was nearly KO"end by a journeyman.:yep