Who is the greater fighter? Hopkins or Calzaghe?

How can someone bet that Tarver and Johnoson would have beaten Calzaghe. Isn't that impossible? And just who is Johnoson?

 

Now here is were the question is a little confusing for me as every one is quick to Answer B-HOP.

Now i like both fighters so im not Bias between one more than the Other.

But for me the Answer is Simple.

B-Hop has the better resume that is clear and we know that so B-Hop gets that hands down. Career wise B-Hop stands Out.

But I voted for Calzaghe and every one is saying you must be mad well not really.

Cos ive watched both for years and Joe outboxed B-Hop some 3 to 4 years ago.
And i feel he would beat with his style B-Hop 9 out of 10 times if they fought.

So for me you put Calzaghe in the Ring and remembering he never lost against B-Hop he wins most times with his skills and style.

That makes him a better boxer now does it not. I didnt take Resumes into this one.

 

The question was about which was greater. Therefore total resume plays a role.

 

Calsloppy is Calsloppy

 

Hopkins beats Joe prime-for-prime though.

Two can play the would've should've game. :deal

 

Calzaghe of course - look at everything that Hopkins has done in his career, and then recognize the fact that Calzaghe W > Hopkins L - it only makes Calzaghe look even better :yep

 

Hilarious to be honest.

B-Hop never had all four title belts in his division, had losses at parts of his career he could either be considered physically prime or boxing prime and didn't really have greater wins if we're being subjective about those he fought.

Take their five best wins and their five worst performances

Hopkins
Notable Wins: Glen Johnson, ODLH, Trinidad, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jean Pascal, Kelly Pavlik
Notable Losses: Jermain Taylor, Jermain Taylor, Roy Jones Jr, Joe Calzaghe
Notable achievements: Oldest champion of all time, 20+ title defenses, The Man at 2 different weights, Rated P4P #2

Worst Performances: The fights against Jermain Taylor where he could not get off and deal with the Jab, the fight against Calzaghe where he was hit more times in his career than ever before and turned the fight into a slow, dour exchange, faking low blows, head butting and refusing to admit what 80% of the AMERICAN audience admitted, he lost.

Subjective Analysis:

Glen Johnson was an easy beat for most fighters in the division, giving a few a scare and becoming a name solely due to Jones Jr. Arguably the same with Tarver.

Winky Wright, Tito Trinidad and ODLH were all at a weight they never achieved great success at, their performances in lower weights gave them namebrand recognition but their status as true MW challengers must be reviewed cautiously.

Calzaghe
Notable Wins: Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Starie, Mitchell, Lacy, Kessler, BHopkins
No losses:
Notable Achievements: Never defeated, Held all 4 belts at SMW + Ring, 2 weight champion, 20+ title defenses, beat and became P4P #2 at the time of fight
Worst Performances: Robin Reid (SD) - Joe won the fight comfortably, anyone making any noises differently needs to go review the fight, although Joe got a bit amateurish in there and scrapped rather than boxed.

Bernard Hopkins (SD) - Joe won the fight comfortably, cleaner punches landed by Hopkins made some believe Hopkins deserved the nod but on round by round bais, Joe had a clear victory despite playing into the hands of Hopkins in many exchanges.

Subjective Analysis:

While Lacy was a huge win at the time, his subsequent performances have lessened his status as a good win for Calzaghe, it's not known if Lacy was always that bad or beaten that bad.

Reid, Woodhall and Mitchell were all coming off close title defeats against fighters like Beyer and Ottke who refused to fight Calzaghe, he dominated most of these fights and except for awkward moments against Reid, beat him with boxing.

Hopkins was considered an old dog and well past his prime at time of fight, subsequent victories over Pavlik, Pascal and victories just prior to the fight against Tarver and Wright indicate he was still a P4P talent, as noted by the Ring who had him #2


Sorry, when stacked with the Win/Loss percentage of fighters they beat and the fact that Hopkins had 5 losses - in my view, Calzaghe wins on resume and Calzaghe won their fight.

Hopkins has shown since he was anything but shot - becoming "The Man" 4 years later.

 

Who was closer to prime when they fought? :hey

Look at what Hopkins has done since LOSING to Calzaghe :yep

 

No he doesn't.

Calzaghe wasn't exactly prime at the time he fought Hopkins and started to show it, being knocked down in fights against guys like Salem and KD'ed in the first round against Hopkins and RJJ.

What does Hopkins gain in his physical prime? Faster hands, more consistent power and better endurance.

What does Calzaghe gain in his physical prime? Faster hands, faster footwork, one punch power due to non hurt hands, more endurance

Hopkins was a lesser boxer at 25-30 then he was at 38-43. His best wins came at the tail end of his career and while losses to Taylor stand out as a huge beacon of "Maybe he's past prime" - subsequent wins and the fact he had already lost prior to Taylor come into account.

Sorry, but prime for prime? Calzaghe has even more benefits over Hopkins, in his prime, Hopkins was a much less defensive fighter, more aggressive and worked behind solid fundamentals but no where near the level he had late in his career.

In my view, Hopkins was less "damaged" as a fighter than Calzaghe was when they fought, the fact that Hopkins has continued to beat potential P4P talent long after Calzaghe beat him and retired shouldn't go unnoticed.

 

So if Calzaghe is better than Hopkins, that must mean Jermaine Taylor is better than both of them AT!!!! Twice!!!

 

So by that Logic

Jermain Taylor W2>>Hopkins- So obviously, Jermain Taylor is greater than Hopkins and Calzaghe. I mean he did beat a more prime B-Hop right?:think

For the rest of us with a half a brain the answer is clearly B-Hop. Calzaghe doesn't deserve to be in the same sentence with a legend like Benard.

 

Shut your ugly Ameri-centric face - Taylor never moved up to become lineal champ of a higher division like Calzaghe did - Calzaghe unified SMW then moved up and spanked the lineal LHW champ in his first fight at LHW - Taylor tried to move up and got sparked the **** out :deal

 

Hopkins dropped him and won the first 7 rounds with ease. HOPKINS

 

Oh go **** a koala you old miserable aussie *****. Lineal titles don't mean **** if you're not facing quality opposition. And that "Lineal title" was a questionable split decision against a 40 + year old man B-Hop. And what did the great Calzaghe do after the "dominating" victory over a 40 + year old Hopkins? Challenge himself against a young lion like Dawson or Pascal? No he chose to pick over the remains of Roy Jones Jr.

Face it. Calzaghe was a talented fighter with a terrible resume. The fact that you're even trying to put him in the same catergory with B-Hop speaks volumes about you and your agenda.

 

Hopkins overall body of work is better.

But I think Calzaghe would have always been a really, really hard fight for Hopkins to win. When I find people making threads where Calzaghe is compared to guys like Hopkins or Toney, I always come to the issue of their losses. Would Calzaghe have lost to a Thadzi? No. Would he have lost to a Jermain Taylor? Probably not. Would he have lost to Jones? I believe so.

The thing with Calzaghe is I don't know what it would take to beat him. That's partly because he didn't test himself the way everyone would have liked, but partly because he rose to every challenge that he did face. With guys like Hopkins or Toney, you know what it takes to beat them, because it happened.

Looking specifically at Hopkins/Calzaghe? I think Calzaghe would beat Hopkins prime for prime, not because he is necessarily a better overall fighter, but because his high output and stamina was the wrong style for Hopkins.

Better achievements? Hopkins.