I agree too , Hopkins who got beat by Jones jr would not have been able to handle Calzaghe in his prime. Its no surprise Hopkins backed out of a fight with Calzaghe after already signing the deal by demanding double the money. Hopkins trainer at the time Bouie Fisher said this about Calzaghe "he was a tall order. he was by far the fastest fighter bernard had seen since jones and had an un-dentable chin."
Yea its about styles. Calzaghe has the perfect style to beat Hopkins. If the fight is slow paced Hopkins will out box you. You have to take Hokpins out of his comfort zone. That is exactly what Taylor and Calzaghe did. RJJ was just a better fighter. That is part of the reason why I believe Floyd adjusts better in fights than Hopkins. No disrespect to Hopkins but Floyd can adjust to basically any style.
If joe calzaghe was a italian american fighting out of brooklyn or the bronx instead of newbridge wales he could run for president.Beat every yank he faced comfortably.He is an all time great. Cymru am byth
Hopkins picked the wrong guy in Calzaghe! A guy he cant get under his skin, and a guy he cant control the fight.. Hopkins was ****ed from the beginning!
You are right. Its all about hype and promotion. Calzaghes fight with top 10 SMW contender O Sheika would have been a big fight, and wins in America (if he were American) over Eubank, Reid & Woodhall etc would have been news and the wins over Brewer and Mitchell would have been big fights as would the Lacy fight. Just look at how people have gone mad about Ward for beating an unwell Kessler and Bika who are Calzaghe victims. American victims - Sheika, Manfredo, Brewer, Mitchell and Lacy were all top 10 rated SMWs and the fights would have been massive
I am not interested in a Calzaghe comeback and in a possible rematch even tho that seems highly probable in case he does comeback. I would like to see Bernard and if he's successful against Chad to step up and possibly shut James Toney's mouth for good at cruiser, that would be his ultimate accomplisment against a fellow great and vet, not Calzaghe again, not Haye, not Adamek, not Tarver again, no other LHW or SMW such as Johnson, Bute, Froch or Ward, just Toney for one.
So you would rather see Hopkins fight another old fighter in Toney rather than the best at 168 or someone else who could beat him :think
Hell yeah. James Toney has beaten so many World Titlists at this point and that is a fight that never was put on perspective either cause Hopkins was a MW stepping up to LHW and Toney was stepping up from LHW to CW and from there to HW, You gat to see, Hopkins himself admitted that he can no longer avoid punches coming from young guns like Pascal in his last post-fight interview so why is he gonna compete with another Ward or Bute if he can fight a guy who is from his generation and an incredible dirty mouth who deserves to get a lesson? Hopkins beats Dawson and simply gets on with Toney in a farewell fight b4 he gets his ass in serious trouble and his legacy tarnished and that comes from a huge Hopkins fan.
Hopkins is an outstanding fighter, but Calzaghe proved he was on a different level altogether. The ease with which Calzaghe beat Hopkins was ridiculous. It also has to be said he was facing a DeLaHoya promoted fighter in Hopkins, on a DLH promoted show, with three American judges, and an American referee, and the fight was held in America.