Both Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward retired with their undefeated records intact, and former IBF super-middleweight champion James DeGale has named which 168lber he believes to have been the better fighter.
Calzaghe hung up the gloves with an unbeaten record of 46-0, defeating the likes of Mikkel Kessler and Jeff Lacy as a super-middleweight and then moving to light-heavyweight and overcoming Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr.
Ward then took over from Calzaghe and also defeated Kessler to claim world honours for a first time, before getting the better of Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch to stand out as the best super-middleweight of a golden era for the division.
He later ventured up to 175lbs to defeat Sergey Kovalev on points for the unified crown, before claiming a stoppage win in their rematch in what proved to be the final fight for the American as he retired with a 32-0 record.
Speaking on the Fight Your Corner podcast, DeGale compared the two legends but declared his believe that Calzaghe was the better fighter, labelling the ‘Pride of Wales’ as one of his idols.
“Calzaghe is the number one. The amount of punches he threw, he was super fit, he was a southpaw, he was brilliant. He is one of my idols. I remember growing up watching him, I loved him.
“Ward was unbelievable, as well. He was just a genius in the ring, it’s hard to even say that you would beat him.”
Since their retirements, Calzaghe and Ward have discussed how a fight between themselves may have played out, with both men happy to settle for a draw.
