Would Calzaghe have "Lacy'ed" Froch?

Carl Froch's recent success (and name-heavy resume) has led to many inevitable comparisons with Joe Calzaghe. Indeed, Froch spent the early part of his career very much in the Welshman's shadow and his resentment of this was blatant, leading to baiting and trash-talking even after Calzaghe had announced his retirement. Soon enough it became perfectly clear that Joe was not going to step back into a ring and the bad-blood has seemingly cooled. However, there does appear to be a growing sentiment (mainly amongst Froch fans) that Froch would've had the measure of Calzaghe should they have fought, and also that Froch's resume and career has cast a shadow over Joe's and that history will treat him more favourably than the Italian Dragon.

It is my opinion that both of these are flagrantly untrue. I argue that not only can Calzaghe be seen to have a more successful career (irrespective of the outcome of the Super Six) but also had the two have shared a ring, Joe would have put a beating on Froch so one-sided, that it would have matched his destruction of Jeff Lacy and potentially ended Froch's career as a legitimate super-middleweight contender/champion.

Compare the two on a purely technical/tactical basis and it is shockingly apparent that there is a huge gap in class between the two of them. Calzaghe has very significant advantages in hand-speed, footwork, ring generalship and boxing intelligence. Despite Froch's history of finishing fights well, Joe also has a sizeable stamina advantage, being renowned for throwing over 100 punches per round. Both have very good chins. This is a matter for debate as Calzaghe has been put down more than Froch (but never looked seriously hurt) although one may have to slightly lean towards the Cobra, as he tends to block most punches with his chin rather than gloves! The only area one can see an advantage for Froch is with punch power, due in large part to the brittle hands Joe possessed.

Froch has struggled with fast, technical fighters, most notably Andre Dirrell. I am of the opinion that had Dirrell entered the fight with a better mentality then he would have completely taken Froch to school. He made Froch miss all night and, to be honest, made the Cobra look embarassingly sloppy at times. Jean Pascal also gave Froch all kinds of problems until he ran out of steam, and (despite Froch's protestations) a below-par Kessler had him well beaten. Calzaghe's handspeed and volume of punches, coupled with the angles and variation, would have been murder for Froch and (considering how low Carl keeps his hands) I could see him landing with the ease and frequency he did with Lacy and gradually busting him up.

Also, despite being exciting, Froch gives judges many reasons to score against him. He sticks his chin out and holds his hands low. With a boxer as eye-catching and fast as Joe (who gives judges every reason to score for him- see fight against Hopkins), I feel Froch would be tagged all night long and would stand no chance of out-pointing Joe if the fight went the distance. Furthermore, Calzaghe has consistently shown he can adjust under pressure and has always had a "plan B". He demonstrated this against the greatest "thinking fighter" of the modern era in Hopkins and I feel would be too smart for a one-dimensional fighter such as Froch.

Froch's only chance would be to stop Calzaghe. No fighter has ever been close to doing so. It would probably play into Joe's hands for Froch to have such a gameplan as it would leave the Cobra even more open and give the Welshman a chance to really let those hands go.

In essence, Joe wins by an embarassingly wide UD in which he probably wins every round.

In terms of resume and pedigree, remember that Joe beat a prime, undefeated Kessler with ease (Froch lost to a recently-beaten, rock-bottom version) and got a decision against Bernard Hopkins in Vegas- a result which keeps getting better for Joe the further Hopkins goes on. Froch arguably lost against Dirrell, struggled with Pascal and I think will lose comfortably to Ward (a modern SMW that would have been a very competitive fight for Calzaghe, although Joe would have won by 4 rounds or so). Remember also Calzaghe reigned for over 20 defences, held the Ring title at LHW, retired unbeaten and was regularly at number 2 (never lower than 3) on pound for pound rankings- Froch doesn't make any top ten at the time of writing this.

Don't construe this an anti-Froch tirade and I welcome any comments, whether you agree or oppose.

Thanks

 

Possibly, but do you not think that a few of these (Jermain Taylor and Abraham to pick two) have just been names as opposed to legitimate challenges? Taylor was ruined by Pavlik long before Froch got to him and I think Andre Dirrell's win over Abraham did half of Froch's work for him- Abraham was no longer a feared entity in the Super Six. I'm not saying they're as meaningless as Joe's win over Jones but I think people hype them up more than necessary.

Also, I think whichever way the Super Six goes, it would be nice to see Froch have a domestic dust-up with Nathan Cleverly. I think Froch would be fine at LHW and it gives him a chance to emulate Calzaghe in the step-up in weight. If he won that no-one would be able to shut him up!