• Super-middleweight

Calzaghe confident he would have had measure of Ward

ESPN staff
May 17, 2013
Joe Calzaghe is confident he would have remained unbeaten had he fought Andre Ward © Getty Images
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Former super-middleweight world champion Joe Calzaghe is adamant he would have beaten the division's current consensus top boxer, Andre Ward, if they had ever met in the ring.

Welshman Calzaghe, 41, went unbeaten in an illustrious 46-fight professional career that saw him claim five different belts in the super-middleweight division prior to announcing his retirement in 2009.

Ward, the current WBC and WBA world champion, has won all 26 of his professional fights to date - including the notable scalps of Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler - although his counter-attacking style of fighting has divided some within the boxing community.

The American is now considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the sport, but Calzaghe is confident he would have found a way to beat him had they met in the ring.

"I would have beaten Ward," Calzaghe told Sky Sports. "Like I say, people can judge styles, but I can adapt to every style and mine was harder to hit."

He added: "I think Ward is good in his comfort zone, but I would have got him out of that and [he] wouldn't have fancied it.

"It would have been a good fight. There's no ego. It's belief. I think it would have been a chess match."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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