Froch was a tough fight for anyone but stylistically Calzaghe outworks him and would be way too fast and the angles and output would have overwhelmed Carl. Calzaghe by UD
I just think Joe was all wrong for Froch. His footwork was way too good for a plodder like Froch. His hand speed would make Froch look like he was underwater. Froch holds his own against a lot of top fighters at 168, and i was a fan, but not against a guy like Calzaghe. I think Joe would put the work on him (in a different way) as good or better than Ward did.
On paper, Joe was Carl's worst nightmare stylistically. But you have to account for the following factors: 1. Both guys have huge egos which meant that there would have been a lot of emotion involved. 2. All throughout his career, Joe dropped rounds to physical and aggressive fighters. 3. Carl was a warrior who would have pressured Joe constantly. In my honest opinion, Joe would definitely have won on points. But any talk of an easy win by a landslide etc is a fantasy. Go and watch Joe's fights against the likes of Reid, Bika and Kessler etc. He didn't win any of those fights by a landslide. It would have been competitive. And I've no doubt that Carl would have lured him into a macho tear up at some point.
The fight was never viable. Joe left the SMW division a year before Carl won his first World title, and he retired a month before Carl won said title.
Those are all great points, and you may have swayed my opinion a bit. Either way, a clear UD for Joe. You're right Carl had a lot of dog in him and shouldn't be written off so easily. Maybe it would just take the right night, but I always thought throughouteach of their respective careers that it would not go well for the Cobra if the fight happened.
