JOE CALZAGHE-" I would beat Andre Ward"

this...^

 

Why is it beyond some fools' comprehension that Calzaghe was pushing 37 when he fought Hopkins. He too was 'old'.
Ward would be Calzaghe's toughest challenge, because not only is he a very smart, versatile and schooled boxer, but because he's quick too. Calzaghe didn't have to contend with that with Kessler or Hopkins. Still, I think Calzaghe was correct. His workrate alone, coupled with his versatility and angles would be enough to ensure the win, though it would be tough going.

 

Personally i do not even feel Calzaghe won vs Hopkins simply because he was just flailing like a amateur never landing anything of note.
I do not consider blocked or missed punches as scoring and i actually do score defense (as it should be according to the rules)
So effective defense + even low output effective aggression trumps throwing and missing in my book.

The other 40+ win was Jones which was a completely meaningless win as Roy is shot to absolute **** and its STILL 1 of his more telling wins which just shows how weak his resume is.

Kessler at least was still on the better side of 30 when Ward beat him unlike Joes "win" vs Hopkins and the one vs Jones.

Joe was a good boarderline great fighter but extremely overrated by the Brits on here.
His standing is actually getting lower in international public opinion now that he is retired, which i think is correct.

 

^Agreeed. Guys don't score defense and effective punching which is in any legit scoring criteria. Still, this is a Calzaghe-Ward thread soooo....



Sure Calz would at least present problems to him. Calz never fought a young fighter like Ward or Bute. Ward never fought someone as good as Bute. Difficult fight to predict.

Ward could win by a close decision in an ugly yet decent fight or Calzaghe could keep him guessing using different angles and outwork him.

Closest we'll get to this fight is Bute-Ward but Bute is a power puncher though still smart. Not Calz smart but he does well. Still think Bute and Ward are better but time will tell.

 

Jones Jr was 38/39 when he fought Calzaghe. As someone's already pointed out: Calzaghe was no spring chicken himself by the time of the Jones Jr and Hopkins fights. He beat Hopkins, despite Hopkins best dirty tricks.

 

Yeah, Joe's punches were being so ineffective, that's why Hopkins had to break the rules faking lowblows to catch his breath

RJJ was not 40+, he was 39 in fact. But yes, it was meaningless.

Kessler was still older than when Calzaghe beat him so your argument (which I'm not even entirely sure what point you're trying to make with this) is moot. Calzaghe beat Bika more convincingly (a younger Bika), whatever that means for you I don't know.

And extremely underrated by americans ever since he smashed Lacy (and their stupid predictions that he would smash Joe), so it works both ways. Considering what Hopkins has went on to do since losing to Joe his standing is getting better if anything.

 

Well he beat Bernard Hopkins. What's so ridiculous about him suggesting he'd beat Ward?

 

Calzaghe would have and could have done other things.

Andre Ward is still in the middle of his career, let's hope he will and can go on fighting in big fights, and then compare

 

Woulda Coulda Shoulda Gone

 

There is a big gap between a early 30s of age fighter and a 40+ fighter.
Which makes Wards win over Kessler a lot more comparible.

Calzaghe has THE PERFECT sylistic matchup vs someone like Hopkins and still barely scraped by (with a lot including me think he lost)
Its a long going trend in the last few years where ineffective aggression is being scored (look at Pac vs JMM3)

Joes resume has been picked apart over the last few years and its just very very weak, and on a stylistic matchup he just matchesup poorly vs Ward.

The same tired old arguement gets made by his obessesive fans "he would outwork him"
You can make that arguement for every single theoretical matchup with Joe but the fact is it does not hold up.
If just "outworking" would be the key to any victory, people like Sam Soliman among others would be undefeated ATGs.

Vs someone as versatile as Ward who can fight on short, medium and long distance, who has much more intelligent movement and can smother Joes looping work up close he would be ineffective.
Just saying he would outwork him is a cheap meaningless arguement that you can use vs a 40+ year old Hopkins who throws 25 punches a round not vs a prime Ward.

 

If you are actually going to count Joes win over Roy i suggest you stop watching boxing.
Not all boxers age the same and if you think Roy was even 5% of what he used to be you dont know ****.

Hell im not even a Roy fan and im of the opinion he always had a glass yaw but Joe would have been annihilated prime for prime.
There is a reason why Joe spend his entire prime away from any meaningful competition.

 

Not all fighters erode with age at the same rate, Hopkins is a perfect example of this. I'm still waiting for you to say what your point is exactly. Ward beat Kessler more convincingly, Calzaghe beat Bika more convincingly? So, what? Styles make matches, you know?

Was Hopkins faking lowblows to catch his breath or not? Why did he resort to such tactics if Calzaghe was so ineffective?

Joe's resume is ok, not the strongest but not weak, it's difficult to build up a great resume when people (like Hopkins) were ducking you.

Yeah, Ward would beat him because you say so, but people saying Joe would beat him don't matter since they don't think like you, right? The only way to know for sure how that fight would go is to have them fight, which obviously won't happen, since what people think (you, me or whoevere) is MEANINGLESS. How many people thought Lacy would smash Calzaghe? So we can only compare what they have done. When Ward gets a win as good as Joe's win vs Hopkins, get back at me.

 

If Kessler was told in advance it was an MMA-event he would have been better prepared. (Not that Wards level of streetfighting is allowed in MMA, but you get the point.)

 

Fair enough on the first point but i think Kessler rates a lot higher than a Bika but you are correct styles make fights.

Hopkins did not JUST fake them he did also get hit low, but someone being ineffective does not make them not exhausting to fight against.
Hopkins had to work extremely hard ducking, dodging and making Joe miss.
So he needed a breather and? still made Joe look like a amateur from round 1 till 12 and came out completely unscathed.

How does anyone liking eachother have anything to do with how fights would play out?
I think Ward would beat Joe based on styles, does that mean im correct? no its just my opinion.
What i am getting tired of is people saying "he would outwork him" its a meaningless point.

Outside of the Hopkins "win" Wards overall body of work is already superior to Joe's and Ward is still in his prime with many more years to go, if he racksup some more wins his resume will EASILY be better than Joes.

Once you recover from that little factoid get back at me kid.

 

Ward would beat him head to head as well as be ranked much higher in any all time rankings especialy at SMW.