Hopkins didn't have the skillset to deal with Calzaghe? You wouldn't have known it from the judges' cards or the knockdown. You're kind of moving the goalposts a bit when you talk about Ward/Kessler and Calzaghe/Hopkins. You say that Calzaghe/Hopkins "wasn't clean, but it was decisive." Well, Ward/Kessler, even if it wasn't clean, was decisive.

At a comparable age, there's no contest in their resumes; Ward has it all over Calzaghe. He's beaten the Ring Magazine #2, 3, 5, and 9. Calzaghe's level of competition at the same age pales in comparison. Calzaghe's resume was made in the later years. We'll have to see what Ward does in the next 10 years. That doesn't mean that a 27 year old Ward would beat a 27 year old Calzaghe; but he's certainly demonstrated his clear superiority over more of the top 168-pounders than Calzaghe did at this stage.