Joe Calzaghe: "I would have beaten Andre Ward"
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Would have been a close fight and people would forever disagree who won it. Would be sorta like the Hopkins fight I imagine.
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To me, Andre Ward is a very good fighter, but he's not yet proven a "greatness" that would allow me to pick him over Calzaghe
I'm not saying Calzaghe was a "great", he himself didn't prove it, but I do think you would need to be "great"to beat him.
Ward's best wins:
Kessler, who was already proven one dimensional by Calzaghe when he was unbeaten and in the fight of his life, Kessler took Ward likely, thinking like most of us that he was just there to make the numbers up
Abraham, Had already been badly exposed twice
Froch, Good fighter but one dimensional, and has struggled before at top level in fights against Taylor and Dirrell and even at times against old Glen Johnson lets be honest
Dawson, weight drained front-runner
You know, Ward has some good wins, but personally he's not faced a variety of styles really, his super 6 could have been Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell and Glen Johnson, maybe we'd have seen some weaknesses
I like Ward, he can mix it up inside and out, and that's been his advantage thus far hasn't it, he's faced one track fighters who he can just shift into a style that nullifys them. I don't think there IS a style than nullify's Calzaghe, maybe an expert counterpuncher with big power would be the biggest danger for him, that's not Ward.
It would be a close fight, but I think Joe would take it on workrate, Ward was sucking in air in the Froch fight from about round 9, and that wasn't a furious pace, only Carl didn't let him have it ALL his own way, how will he be in the second half of a fight against Joe?
Joe close decision for me, that could change once I see Ward fight someone who's not a plodding, flat footed stiff "european".
People online love wanking off over Ward but to me I need to see a little bit more yet because i've not seen him do anything I don't think Calzaghe could have done in equal fashion.
Calzaghe-Kessler 2?
Calzaghe-Abraham?
Calzaghe-Froch?
come on..
I'm not saying Calzaghe was a "great", he himself didn't prove it, but I do think you would need to be "great"to beat him.
Ward's best wins:
Kessler, who was already proven one dimensional by Calzaghe when he was unbeaten and in the fight of his life, Kessler took Ward likely, thinking like most of us that he was just there to make the numbers up
Abraham, Had already been badly exposed twice
Froch, Good fighter but one dimensional, and has struggled before at top level in fights against Taylor and Dirrell and even at times against old Glen Johnson lets be honest
Dawson, weight drained front-runner
You know, Ward has some good wins, but personally he's not faced a variety of styles really, his super 6 could have been Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell and Glen Johnson, maybe we'd have seen some weaknesses
I like Ward, he can mix it up inside and out, and that's been his advantage thus far hasn't it, he's faced one track fighters who he can just shift into a style that nullifys them. I don't think there IS a style than nullify's Calzaghe, maybe an expert counterpuncher with big power would be the biggest danger for him, that's not Ward.
It would be a close fight, but I think Joe would take it on workrate, Ward was sucking in air in the Froch fight from about round 9, and that wasn't a furious pace, only Carl didn't let him have it ALL his own way, how will he be in the second half of a fight against Joe?
Joe close decision for me, that could change once I see Ward fight someone who's not a plodding, flat footed stiff "european".
People online love wanking off over Ward but to me I need to see a little bit more yet because i've not seen him do anything I don't think Calzaghe could have done in equal fashion.
Calzaghe-Kessler 2?
Calzaghe-Abraham?
Calzaghe-Froch?
come on..
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Yeah and that's something Joe has in his game that the aforementioned lacked.
The way I see the fight going
Rounds 1-4 Joe starts fast and overwhelming, wins the early rounds
rounds 5-9 Ward starts to make adjustments and finds some success
Rounds 10-12 will be the deciding rounds, can Joe shift pace, is ward gassed? has ward figured him out completely?
Personally I think Joe will finish the stronger, and that's where the fight would be won, down the stretch
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I agree with Earl in that Ward is overrated at the moment, but I still think he'd just edge Calzaghe. Would be a very close fight though.
I disagree with the way the fight would go though. Ward would have the early success for me, Calzaghe would then adjust to take some middle rounds but Ward would finish stronger.
At the end of the day we'll never know and it's all guess work really.
I disagree with the way the fight would go though. Ward would have the early success for me, Calzaghe would then adjust to take some middle rounds but Ward would finish stronger.
At the end of the day we'll never know and it's all guess work really.
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It's a shame Joe had bad hands. If they could have stayed strong then his legacy would be a lot better. He certainly had power that could take people out. I've only seen a few fights of Ward & he's a decent fighter, not exciting but skilled. The thing that annoys me is why didn't he go up to 175 to take on Dawson, that win for me is nonsense, Chad weight drained was so weak.
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Dawson tied his own noose, but I agree that is a meaningless win, something that seems to get overlooked though, as Ward is currently in the "can do no wrong" phase.
Tough fight to predict. Both guys can adapt and are are capable of fighting using different tactics and techniques so the fight could be a one that shifts direction every other round as they look to to take the momentum.
Let's say its the latter version of Calzaghe, the one that most people class as at his best. He had the speed but was a bit slappy so he's going to try and get on top of Wardand outpoint him, he doesn't really have the power to get him out of there but still enough to gain his respect. I could see him taking the early rounds as Ward isn't always the fastest starters but then again Calzaghe could be sloppy early as well, getting dropped in the first round in his final two fights basically from piling on pressure without respecting his defence.
Either way I can see Joe taking three of the first four before Ward starts implementing changes to his inside game and taking some advantages of Calzaghe's leaky defence when he's on the offence. I could see a switch of ace as Ward picks his shots and starts landing the cleaner punches and picking up points.
Again, if things are going wrong then Joe would usually switch up, box more from range and be more cautious in his approach to offence, letting less get through. I could see it swing again going into the final stretch whereby Ward would most likely have to either hang back and wait on counters or really push forward and force himself on Calzaghe and to be honest he can do both.
It would be a great fight though, I could see it being controversial with fans swaying to whose work they like better. Shame they found themselves just missing each other really. At this point I'd probably favour Calzaghe based on experience but Ward seems to be getting better still and I can see him surpassing Joe in the coming years.
Let's say its the latter version of Calzaghe, the one that most people class as at his best. He had the speed but was a bit slappy so he's going to try and get on top of Wardand outpoint him, he doesn't really have the power to get him out of there but still enough to gain his respect. I could see him taking the early rounds as Ward isn't always the fastest starters but then again Calzaghe could be sloppy early as well, getting dropped in the first round in his final two fights basically from piling on pressure without respecting his defence.
Either way I can see Joe taking three of the first four before Ward starts implementing changes to his inside game and taking some advantages of Calzaghe's leaky defence when he's on the offence. I could see a switch of ace as Ward picks his shots and starts landing the cleaner punches and picking up points.
Again, if things are going wrong then Joe would usually switch up, box more from range and be more cautious in his approach to offence, letting less get through. I could see it swing again going into the final stretch whereby Ward would most likely have to either hang back and wait on counters or really push forward and force himself on Calzaghe and to be honest he can do both.
It would be a great fight though, I could see it being controversial with fans swaying to whose work they like better. Shame they found themselves just missing each other really. At this point I'd probably favour Calzaghe based on experience but Ward seems to be getting better still and I can see him surpassing Joe in the coming years.
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So hard to predict this. Two truly elite fighters going at it.
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SRL "I would have beaten Floyd"
Joe "I would have beaten Ward"
Tyson "Iwould have beaten Wlad"
Same shit everytime.
Joe "I would have beaten Ward"
Tyson "Iwould have beaten Wlad"
Same shit everytime.
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What a boring fight that woulda been.
Ward would win a razor thin decision though (unless the fight is in Oakland).
Ward would win a razor thin decision though (unless the fight is in Oakland).
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calzaghe would've beat him easily.
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Ward by close but clear decision based on more effective punching.
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Just by hearing Calzaghe's over confidence I think Ward beats him.
Ward doesn't battle his ego when he get's into the ring, and by skipping this he fights with clear intelligence.
This in turn makes him quick to adapt to his opponents flaws as opposed to trying to outdo the opposition's strengths.
I can't say the same about Calzaghe although he does usually adjust in the end.
Ward doesn't battle his ego when he get's into the ring, and by skipping this he fights with clear intelligence.
This in turn makes him quick to adapt to his opponents flaws as opposed to trying to outdo the opposition's strengths.
I can't say the same about Calzaghe although he does usually adjust in the end.
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