If a 43 year old Hopkins gave callaghan a beating and ran out of stamina I would expect ward to be even more dominant
Of course that's not what happened when Hopkins fought Calzaghe. But don't let the facts get in the way of your conclusion. Calzaghe would win by clear decision. I assume the question is prime SMM Calzaghe against current Ward. Ward is very good. Calzaghe was great, despite what the Calzaghe haters on this forum say. That 43 year old Hopkins would have shut Ward down as well.
Ward is still too green for calzaghe. if he continues to develop, then in a couple of years i think he could beat calzaghe pretty clearly. at this stage, calzaghe's work rate, experience, and awkwardness would make ward look silly. but if he fights calzaghe in oakland, he wins any day of the week.
Ward Unlocks Calzaghe.. I say in a SD for Ward... Joe Defense is not as tight as Wards.. Somehow I think Ward uses Calzaghe workrate against him by setting traps.. Ward has just been winnning of late, doing what he has to do to get the win, not winning in spectaular form.... he hasen't yet pulled out all the stop in game against any fighter to date.. a fighter like Calzaghe most likely would bring out the best in Ward..
Ward doesn't punch hard enough to discourage Calzaghe, or often enough to compete with him. Joes style gave judges every reason to score rounds for him, if the man throws 110 punches a round to Wards 30ish, it may even be less considering Joe's bombarding him with shots, how can you score that round for Ward? He would hit Joe clean because he squares his sholders from time to time, but he wouldn't hurt him, and likely wouldn't even make it to a combination before Calzaghe fired back. 117 - 111 Joe Calzaghe, the best SMW there's ever been.