Having previously fought Andre Ward, Carl Froch has considered how his old foe and fellow Hall of Famer would fare in a prime-for-prime battle with Canelo Alvarez.
‘The Cobra’ defended his WBC super-middleweight title against Ward in 2011, only to get tactically bamboozled by the elite technician and lose a unanimous decision.
Ward would then score a 10th-round stoppage of Chad Dawson, before moving up to 175lbs and completing his unbeaten record with back-to-back triumphs over Sergey Kovalev.
Both encounters were controversial for different reasons, but the American ultimately became a two-division world champion and is now considered one of the all-time greats.
Canelo, meanwhile, has not yet hung up the gloves but, when he does so, he too will become a Hall of Famer.
Having already cemented himself as a super-middleweight legend, the 36-year-old reclaimed his WBC title by unanimously outpointing Christian Mbilli last month.
In terms of his prime, though, the Mexican was arguably most formidable during his undisputed title run at 168lbs, when he scored victories over Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Froch said this version of Canelo would certainly cause Ward problems but, ultimately, he finds it difficult to look beyond the size and awkwardness of his former opponent.
“That’s a tricky fight for Ward, because he likes to get close and hold and mess up, and Canelo’s quite smooth inside.
“Andre Ward’s naturally bigger … Ward’s tricky. I’m going to give that one to Andre Ward, but what a great fight that would be. I’d love to see how he copes with Canelo’s aggression and accurate punches.”
Indeed, Ward would boast natural physical advantages over Canelo, who won his first major belt at 154lbs before becoming a four-division world champion.
