Calzaghe reacts to Froch comments on Canelo

By Boxing News - 11/04/2021 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Former super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe doesn’t agree with Carl Froch’s comparison of Canelo Alvarez to that of Arthur Abraham that he made earlier today.

Froch said that Canelo’s performance against Sergey Kovalev in 2019 was similar to that of Arthur Abraham, who he trounced in 2010. Carl went on to say that he believes he could have beaten the version of Canelo that fought Kovalev.

“I feel like I’d have been able to do that to Canelo when he fought Kovalev, that version of Canelo,” said Froch on Fighting.

Calzaghe didn’t deny that Froch could have beaten Canelo if the two had met in their primes, but he feels that it’s a lot easier to say than it would have been for Carl to do.

Froch did look very good in his victory over Arthur Abraham in November 2010, and if you compare his performance to that of Canelo in a fight with Kovalev, you could argue that he would have given the Mexican star fits.

“That’s easier said than done, isn’t it?” said Joe Calzaghe to iFL TV in reacting to Carl Froch saying he’d have beaten Canelo like he did Arthur Abraham. “I wouldn’t really put Canelo in the same league as Arthur Abraham if I’m honest.

Image: Calzaghe reacts to Froch comments on Canelo

“I see what he [Froch] means, but, no, Canelo is a different sort of animal to Arthur Abraham. I don’t see that. When it comes to the fight with GGG, yeah. I think he [Canelo] was quite fortunate to win the first one.

“I thought GGG did more than enough to win the first one, but I can see what a great fighter Canelo is. He sorts of adapts from the first one and then he fights well in the second. So, styles make fights, and I think speed is what beats Canelo.

“If you look at [Danny] Jacobs, [Erislandy] Lara. I know it was a long time ago and a different weight division, but Lara, speed, people that move his feet.

“If you move left and right, you can give him [Canelo] problems, but I think Plant can cause problems early on [for Canelo]. It’s just whether he’s got the 12 rounds in him, especially when he hasn’t fought anybody nearly near the level of Canelo,” said Calzaghe.

In the same interview, Calzaghe pointed out that he was on the verge of becoming the first undisputed super middleweight champion years ago. Robert Stieglitz got a hold of the belt, and he never fought him.

IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) is up against it this Saturday night in taking on WBA/WBC/WBO champion Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) for the undisputed 168-lb championship at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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