Who was better, Calzaghe when he fought Eubank or the one that fought Hopkins???

calzaghe def lot faster years ago but not as smart so dont know wat to say

 

Open your heart to the truth, for verily, I say unto thee, the truth will set you free!

 

The Calzaghe that fought Eubank wasn't a complete a fighter as the one that is around today in terms of generalship and smarts but he was more agressive, could stand toe to toe with people and hit harder.

I think he would've beat Hopkins either way especially if Hopkins came to fight. The reason it was even close was because Bhop went into his shell, if he'd opened up he would've got a pasting in the last 5 rounds.

 

A prime Bhop beats the living **** out of any version of Calzaghe. Calzaghe through all these years is still a RAW fighter that makes abc 123 mistakes that gets him put on his ass by any seasoned counter puncher like Bhop or a Toney. If Bhop actually had a left hand to fight with he would of done Calzaghe in.

 

The Calzaghe that beat Eubank edges it for me but neither version of this Calzaghe are his prime.

I believe Calzaghe at his prime was around the time of the Mitchell fight. He still had the power and his hand speed was unbelievable.

[YT]J27JjNvYZ40[/YT]

 

Yeah, I just finished reading it myself, that's one of his favourite lines

funny book

 

My answer is the same as it was for the last one.

Physically, of course he was better (faster, stronger...didnt have the hand problems really just yet...etc.)...but not prime. Just like vs Bernard, he was mentally a better fighter (I dont see a young Calzaghe making the needed adjustments that he did vs Bernard...)...but again, not prime.

Thing is....he was much closer to his physical prime than Bernard was...hense why he still had the physical tools to be the stronger man toward the end of the fight (read my post on the thread about Bernard to see why this is relevant). So just like Bernard, his prime was in the middle of both respective fights.

 

Wow. Just wow at the closeness of the poll.

 

Calzaghe beat Hopkins with the amateur style shots, the slappy hooks. Something he was better at when he was younger. That Calzaghe likely stops an old Hopkins. he was faster and more powerful with his slaps back then. There would not need to be any adjustments, he'd just slap him about from the opening bell.

 

If a smarter...better defensively...better ring general Calzaghe fell behind early vs Bernard and had to make adjustments. A younger one would as well....problem is, back then he would be incapable of doing so. And those shots looked that way because that was what was given to him by Bernard defensively...not because of Calzaghe slippage offensively (who's TECHNIQUE gets worse over time...that doesnt make ONE OUNCE of sense....cmon).

 

if only JC was black eh?

 

I think what people are underating here is how experienced Joe was at the time of Eubank.

He wasn't your typical 25 yr old, this was a guy who had over 100 amateur fights and won almost every single one of them, he had been training since the age of 8 and those inbuilt adjustments you see him utilise were already there, Enzo Calzaghe trained him that way.

But in his youth, his physical advantages meant he was just standing up against fighters and beating them in brawls, the boxer that Calzaghe was didn't get recognised later down the line but it was always there.

Calzaghe was beating and stopping guys who had never been stopped in this era. My thoughts are he started his prime in 1999 and ended around 2003, with one final "prime" performance coming in 2006 against Lacy.

At 36, all the things that people say about Hopkins have to be said about Calzaghe.

 

The one that fought Eubank, while inexperienced by comparison, had many many amateur bouts and was uninjured. Calzaghe used to have very good power believe it or not. (I didn't use to believe it, but did go back and look at his earlier fights....he DID have good power). I believe that he beats Hopkins of 08 clearly and decisively.

 

LOL ... Joe couldn't punch then and can't punch now ... had zero upper body strength then has zero upper body strength now

No change as a puncher ... nut-huggers are dreaming some fantasy of Joe as a big puncher

The more recent version is a smarter fighter and ring general

 

His ring generalship hasn't changed much IMO. He is smarter, as all older fighters are, but at the trade off of his physical attributes.

Calzaghe used to be able to punch before his hands became a permanent problem. I am certainly not a Calzaghe nuthugger. Having this opinion doesn't make me so.