Ward vs. Calzaghe... who wins?

[The Can Opener]

In the US probably Ward by decision.

In the UK without a doubt in my mind Ward loses by DQ probably in the first half of the fight. All his best shit would be nullified by the ref. The low blows obviously but even the in your chest stuff and fighting rough would be getting him warned and deducted and disqualified whether he deserved it or not.

 

[RudimarChute]

Joe is overrated and was a B+ fighter that never fought a great in their prime. Ward beats him

Calzaghe is the Rodney Dangerfield of boxing he gets no respect.

Calzaghe has a better resume than Ward. B-Hop beat Tarver and Winky, lost to Calzaghe, then beat undefeated Pavlik and RJJ. That was a very legit win for Calzaghe. Roy was past prime but Calzaghe totally clowned him for ten rounds.

If Calzaghe is overrated then Ward is overrated, period.

 

[Marc A]

Ward does what Hopkins did but has the stamina to go 12 rounds.

Ward wins a comfortable decision.

Could be true , when i spoke to Naz he said it wasn't a tired thing that he surprised him and was better than they thought

I guess game plan?

 

[PUO3]

Calzaghe is the Rodney Dangerfield of boxing he gets no respect.

Calzaghe has a better resume than Ward. B-Hop beat Tarver and Winky, lost to Calzaghe, then beat undefeated Pavlik and RJJ. That was a very legit win for Calzaghe. Roy was past prime but Calzaghe totally clowned him for ten rounds.

If Calzaghe is overrated then Ward is overrated, period.

Rofl.

In no way shape or form is Calzaghes resume even close to Wards.

 

[PUO3]

I cant believe I just read that lol.

 

[ironfist05]

Eh. I think a lot of excuses get made for Calzaghe. He was fighting a 44 year old.

Calzaghe would get the points if Ward stayed outside, but he wouldnt stay there. Itd be inside and ugly. Hed probably get tagged up coming in but theres basically zero fear of power so its not going to do much good.

I disagree. His hand injuries, weight problem, and coke addiction rarely gets mentioned IMO when discussing how his career went out. He was fighting a 44 year old, but that's also a 44 year old that managed to keep himself relevant against Pavlik, Pascal and a few other guys, not some shot-to-shit geezer.

I agree that Ward would be best off inside, but like I said, he's not getting htere easily and if he does get in, he's going to have to take some leather to get inside. It might not do the most damage, but the judges will see it. Also, I wouldn't be so sure about him not having power. The Calzaghe htat faced Hopkins didn't have a lot of power, but earlier Calzaghe was a puncher, no questions asked. You don't knock down Eubank Sr without at least some power. Also, Calzaghe was good at adjusting, he isn't the kind of guy who only has one set gameplan, which makes this fight interesting because these are two of the best at making adjustemtns in the divisions history.

i'm not even necessarily set on a Calzaghe win, but comfortable? nah, if there's one thing Joe was good at, it was making his opponents uncomfortable.

 

[asdffdsa]

This seems like a competitive matchup. Ward takes it by a couple points, but a lot of people here are underrating Calzaghe IMO.

Ward's defence would stifle Calzaghe's volume. Calzaghe was slick enough to make a lot of rounds close.

 

[RudimarChute]

Rofl.

In no way shape or form is Calzaghes resume even close to Wards.

Your bias has been showing for a while now.

Kovalev beat B-Hop 6 years after Calzaghe, but Kovalev isn’t overrated, correct?

Who else...

Froch, Kessler, Dawson... what am I missing here?

 

[PUO3]

Your bias has been showing for a while now.

Kovalev beat B-Hop 6 years after Calzaghe, but Kovalev isn’t overrated, correct?

Who else...

Froch, Kessler, Dawson... what am I missing here?

My bias is irrelevant. No way on earth is Calzaghes resume better than Wards. That is completely and entirely ridiculous.

I shit on Kova for fighting Hopkins so try again. No, I dont think Kova is overrated. Think people see him right where he fits.

Calzaghes best wins are two guys well, well beyond their best. This is a fact.

 

[PUO3]

I disagree. His hand injuries, weight problem, and coke addiction rarely gets mentioned IMO when discussing how his career went out. He was fighting a 44 year old, but that's also a 44 year old that managed to keep himself relevant against Pavlik, Pascal and a few other guys, not some shot-to-shit geezer.

I agree that Ward would be best off inside, but like I said, he's not getting htere easily and if he does get in, he's going to have to take some leather to get inside. It might not do the most damage, but the judges will see it. Also, I wouldn't be so sure about him not having power. The Calzaghe htat faced Hopkins didn't have a lot of power, but earlier Calzaghe was a puncher, no questions asked. You don't knock down Eubank Sr without at least some power. Also, Calzaghe was good at adjusting, he isn't the kind of guy who only has one set gameplan, which makes this fight interesting because these are two of the best at making adjustemtns in the divisions history.

i'm not even necessarily set on a Calzaghe win, but comfortable? nah, if there's one thing Joe was good at, it was making his opponents uncomfortable.

His career went out against past their prime fighters. Thats all there is to it at the end of the day.

Calzaghe never hit hard enough to keep Ward off of him. Calzaghe wouldnt land enough before Ward got inside to win the majority of rounds. Calzaghe would get destroyed inside.

 

[PUO3]

Gonna toss up a poll if you dont mind.

 

[RudimarChute]

Gonna toss up a poll if you dont mind.

Cool, ya go for it!

I still don’t really get how Ward has the better resume. I have my biases too and maybe I’m missing something here but I just don’t see it.

 

[Sunfish]

I’be seen a ton of calzaghe and he’s one of my favorite fighters. Break it down someone who thinks he beats ward. He is an awkward southpaw who relies on volume. He isn’t going to flatten ward, what now?

 

[ironfist05]

His career went out against past their prime fighters. Thats all there is to it at the end of the day.

Calzaghe never hit hard enough to keep Ward off of him. Calzaghe wouldnt land enough before Ward got inside to win the majority of rounds. Calzaghe would get destroyed inside.

That's not entirely true. RJJ was shot, no debate. Hopkins still had it though. I mean, think about it this way: a 49 year old Hopkins was considered Kovalev's best win. I don't see why we can't be impressed with a much better Hopkins. Calzaghe also ended up facing Kessler, Manfredo Jr (who isn't particularly good), Bika, and Lacey, in his last six, none of whom I'd say were past their primes (I'd argue he beat Bika even cleaner than Ward).

Again, late Calzaghe did not hit hard, but earlier Calzaghe could definitely punch and he liked to sneak in his own dirty awkward punch/elbow combinations. I don't think Calzaghe gets destroyed inside either, he has faster hands and the stamina to get some shoe shining going whenever Ward really tries to open up inside. Maybe Ward can shut him down some, but I think Calzaghe's footwork was good enough that he could get out enough that he'd be flurrying combos as he moved out, which would even the score in the judges eyes. When Ward starts realizing that there's more to Calzaghe's punches than he's initially anticipated, he's going to be a bit more reluctant to go to work inside.

 

[aries]

I'm a big Calzaghe fan and I think he is very underrated as an elite boxer, but I think Ward would find a way to win. Just like Hopkins saw the opening to land his right hand that dropped Calzaghe on his pants I think Ward would be able to figure out how to beat the Welshman.

Calzaghe had blistering speed and a very high work output coupled with underrated power but he fought pretty much the same way every time whereas Ward had different looks depending on where he wanted the fight to take place. I think he'd close the distance and work Joe on the inside. Hopkins managed to tie up Joe pretty well and Ward could follow the same road map.

It wouldn't be pretty but I think he'd find a way to shut down Calzaghes offence while opening him up for his own work. It would be a hard fight for both guys though and Ward certainly wouldn't dominate Joe. But in a close fight I'd give the edge to Ward.

 

[Snowball]

PUO wants to force his personal opinion on everyone.

We're talking about two undefeated world class boxers. Theres no blueprint on how to beat them. Yet one guy claims that its not even up for debate, that its pretty clear who would win.

Mate, you wouldn't even bet 500 bucks on Ward.

 

[Mr2urbo]

Calzaghe is the Rodney Dangerfield of boxing he gets no respect.

Calzaghe has a better resume than Ward. B-Hop beat Tarver and Winky, lost to Calzaghe, then beat undefeated Pavlik and RJJ. That was a very legit win for Calzaghe. Roy was past prime but Calzaghe totally clowned him for ten rounds.

If Calzaghe is overrated then Ward is overrated, period.

Ward has one of the best resumes for 168

Im pretty sure the version of Froch he beat would have probably beaten Cal

 

[RizinSon88]

Why not say Ottke would have outsmarted/outboxed/outran Calzaghe since they all retired undefeated who can say really, and if Ottke could KO Mundine in his prime after getting worked over for 90% of the fight don't say he couldn't do the same to Calzaghe. He would certainly win a UD in Germany.

<45>

 

[JayE]

Calzaghe is the Rodney Dangerfield of boxing he gets no respect.

Calzaghe has a better resume than Ward. B-Hop beat Tarver and Winky, lost to Calzaghe, then beat undefeated Pavlik and RJJ. That was a very legit win for Calzaghe. Roy was past prime but Calzaghe totally clowned him for ten rounds.

If Calzaghe is overrated then Ward is overrated, period.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone argue this after Ward stopped Kovalev. Ward clearly has a better resume.

 

[ironfist05]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone argue this after Ward stopped Kovalev. Ward clearly has a better resume.

yeah I like Calzaghe a lot more than Ward, but Ward had the better resume, no question. If you're looking at 168 only, then its debatable, but the wins over Kovalev (and Barrera, who is also a good fighter) set Ward apart.