BoxRec

What happens?

Good fight. Calzaghe would hit the deck but his powers of recovery were amazing. His hand speed and workrate may well prevail. I'd go Calzaghe on points.

Calzaghe was always open to a big right hand and Kovalev would have nailed him. Calzaghe's heart and workrate would have kept him in it but I think Kova would have won. Maybe by late stoppage.

Calzaghe was at his best at 168 pounds so if Kovalev could drain down to 168 I would favor Calzaghe over the drained Kovalev.
Calzaghe was a light hitting not as exciting fighter as Kovalev but a better fighter to this point in measuring their careers.

Calzaghe on points if Kovalev hurt calzaghe it would be the undoing of him, Calzaghe was like a man possessed when hurt.

Super Joe would box his ears off.

In the accent of Harold Letterman: "I've got it 12 rounds to zip all Calzaghe. he's pitching a shutout, Jim!"

Ian1973 wrote:Good fight. Calzaghe would hit the deck but his powers of recovery were amazing. His hand speed and workrate may well prevail. I'd go Calzaghe on points.

x2

Calzaghe UD, no question.

It's a hard fight to call given the Calzaghe fought at 168 and only moved to 175 for a couple of fights at the very end of his career..
(as was wisely pointed out in an earlier post)

On the one hand, I don't think Joe C seemed to travel up in weight very well..

On the other hand, many people seem to overlook that he still managed to win both fights and then retired, which should tell you
something about where he was mentally and physically for those fights...

Very tough fight to call, but Kovalev is the bigger guy and he can fight, I find it beyond hard to believe that Joe could go out and dominate him. Kovalev has a great right hand and Joe was a lefty and he was no runner, he came to fight. That dynamic alone would produce a decent percentage chance that Kovalev could win.

Fifty fifty fight for me...

at super middleweight a weight drained kovalev losses to calzaghes workrate

at lh kovalev wins, more power, strongter, bigger etc.

I think Calzaghe is a better athlete, faster in every way especially intelligence. Joe had a great chin, and even better recuperative powers. He beats Kovalev on points, because in his prime he was outstanding.

Calzaghe won his last 2 at LHW but was nowhere near his best, the guy was a 168lb fighter and would have struggled against a monster like Kovalev at 175lb.
He'd have boxed his ears off, for periods, at any weight, but ultimately he'd have eaten a few solid rights. Calzaghe's beard was tough but I don't think he stands up to a full LHW Kovalev.

Talking about the fight at 168lbs is irrelevant as Kovalev is never and has never been a SMW, don't think it's a fair comparison.

Problem is Calzaghe is hard to judge. His "peak" came when his hands were shot and he'd lost most of the power he had prior to then and he did have power in younger days. He probably became as better boxer because he lost his power. But so many times he was expected to lose and he didn't, as has been said he has an incredibly stubborn mentality. Most analysis says Calzaghe loses and reality says he would almost certainly win in that situation. Bearing in mind he took a full on forearm smash in the face from Jones in the first round and got back up and dominated. He just seems tough to call against even though Kovalev is an underrated boxer with serious power. I think maybe Calzaghe is one of the few where the power doesn't make the difference for SK here.

Prime for Prime, regardless of weight - Joe boxes his ears off.

Tough one. Think of kovalevcaught joe he'd be in serious trouble, I like kovalev but I think joe would of boxed to a points victory

Wards better than Calzaghe was.

I think people are likely overrating Calzaghe if they think he wouldve breezed to a landslide decision (lol at 12-0).

He was very good, but he was sloppy at times, could be hit and hurt, and never faced an elite LHW with power. I'd lean toward him on points, but I think there's a good chance that he'd be dropped and hurt a few times in the process o losing some rounds. I also wouldn't be shocked if Kovalev were able to beat him.

lefty wrote:Wards better than Calzaghe was.

He may well be.....certainly tougher to hit than JC was.

Who is the fighter like Kovalev that Calzaghe beat in his career? Or even faced? Not joking here - is the best analog Kessler? Because my sense is that Kovalev is probably a great deal tougher fight than Kessler would have been.

I'm on record as feeling that Calzaghe is ridiculously overrated and it probably isn't a surprise that I'd pick Kovalev to knock his ass out. More important, prime Calzaghe probably never fights Kovalev to let us make that determination.

This discussion goes to show what joe achieved towards the end of his career. As some may recall he pulled out of a big fight with lacy a couple of times before it happened and at that point he was seen as somewhat of a fraud.

Victories over lacy, kessler, and hopkins followed and he's now looked at as one of the greats, and rightly so.

As for kovalev, he's a unique type of monster and one would think he'd give anyone fits. Then again i'd have to favour a pure boxer over a puncher and imagine that a prime (younger) calzaghe would have been even better at light heavy than he was at the end of his career and would have taken a points win.

A ward fight will do a lot for kovalevs legacy and we may have to re-evaluate after that happens.

To the post above - kessler was a very good fighter indeed and whilst kovalev maybe tougher and more powerful he would not be as fast.

zorndeslammes wrote:Who is the fighter like Kovalev that Calzaghe beat in his career? Or even faced? Not joking here - is the best analog Kessler? Because my sense is that Kovalev is probably a great deal tougher fight than Kessler would have been.

I'm on record as feeling that Calzaghe is ridiculously overrated and it probably isn't a surprise that I'd pick Kovalev to knock his ass out. More important, prime Calzaghe probably never fights Kovalev to let us make that determination.

Kovalev on the other hand hasn't even faced a prime fighter even similar to Calzaghe or even a prime top level LHW. Only Hopkins have similar chin/ recouperative abilities but not the workrate.

And old Jones still could punch.

I think more people would have chosen Kovalev before the Chilemba fight. Despite that I think Kovalev would land something big at some point during the fight. Would be a close one though

IKSRTFO wrote:What happens?

Kovalev wins by KO... Calzaghe arguably lost to Hopkins in that close SD... He was knocked down by Jones, Hopkins, and Mitchell... Calzaghe got hit with cranked up swings by Mitchell and hit the deck hard... He never fought a good prime fighter... He either fought guys with no boxing skills like Lacy and Kessler -- or he fought old men like Jones or Hopkins... Kovalev has a superb jab and right hand... He would murder Calzaghe.

I believe Andre Ward would beat Calzaghe too.. He outboxed Kessler by a much wider margin than Calzaghe did, and made a Danish pastry out of him.

IKSRTFO wrote:

zorndeslammes wrote:Who is the fighter like Kovalev that Calzaghe beat in his career? Or even faced? Not joking here - is the best analog Kessler? Because my sense is that Kovalev is probably a great deal tougher fight than Kessler would have been.

I'm on record as feeling that Calzaghe is ridiculously overrated and it probably isn't a surprise that I'd pick Kovalev to knock his ass out. More important, prime Calzaghe probably never fights Kovalev to let us make that determination.

Kovalev on the other hand hasn't even faced a prime fighter even similar to Calzaghe or even a prime top level LHW. Only Hopkins have similar chin/ recouperative abilities but not the workrate.

And old Jones still could punch.

Jones hadn't stopped anyone in 6 years when JC beat him.

Kovalev wouldve made mincemeat out of people like Anthony Hanshaw, Prince Badi Ajamu, and old blown up Trinidad.