So, Calzaghe haters, what do you think now?

No. Calzaghe has been past him prime for a long time right now. He was clearly not the man he used to be against Kessler, Manfredo and Bika. I think the last time he seemed 100% was against Lacy. Even before that, he was having serious hand trouble, which had meant that he had to win most of the Evans Ashira fight with only one good hand.

Calzaghe peaked from about 2000-2003 before going into a gradual decline, which accelerated during his superfights beginning with the Lacy fight. Of course, even a deteriorated Calzaghe was able to beat Hopkins, something that Tarver, Winky and Pavlik all couldn't come close to.

I never said that. All I said was that Hopkins's key attributes are his strength and his skill, which haven't faded with age (if anything, they've improved). Now, YES Hopkins's speed has declined, as happens to all boxers. YES his stamina has deteriorated.

He obviously isn't in his prime anymore; however, it's clear that time has been kind to Hopkins, while it has been harsh on Calzaghe. This is because Calzaghe's key attributes are his stamina and speed, which have deteriorated faster than Hopkins since (I think we can all agree) Hopkins has aged freakishly slowly, probably due to the respective amount of punishment they've received in their careers.

Now, if Calzaghe was able to win a solid decision over Hopkins when both were past their primes, we can reason that the things that made Calzaghe win over Hopkins (his workrate and handspeed) would be MORE of a factor in their primes. On the other hand, Hopkins's key attributes (his strength and skill) would be largely unchanged, while extra speed wouldn't help much (he'd still be slower than Calzaghe) nor would stamina (because Calzaghe's style gives Hopkins no room to groove).

It's all about reasoning. Sure, it's all hypothetical and we can't really know for sure who would have won in their prime, but that's a price you have to pay in fantasy boxing.

 

Yeah. 168 definitly.

 

I thought Pavlik would take this and I'm quite frankly shocked at the scale of the victory, congratulations Hopkins.

I did, however, insist that Calzaghes win over a notoriously tough fighter was getting grossly underrated...mainly due to the haters agenda. This does reflect well on Joe but let Hopkins bask in the spotlight.

 

Go Roy Jones.

 

Excellent post :good

Many Calzaghe haters like to deal in 'reality' and often fail to note the genuine reasons that Calzaghe didn't fight certain fights that would have boosted his resume (Ottke's blatant ducking, Hopkins not fancying it with lucrative paydays on the horizon in 2002 etc)...the reality is however, that when they fought one man was widely considered the best at 175 (yes he was, beating Adamek did not give Dawson that right) and JC was the undisputed best at 168...it was a MUST make match...

Joe won and clearly. His resume is already appreciating right now.

 

i agree,i really dont see where the argument lies,iv watched it twice and i cannot see anyway in which hopkins won.

 

Calzaghe haters and Hopkins humpers see what they want to see...that being said mate the overwhelming majority of the board saw the fight in Calzaghes favour immediatley post fight...

I'm going to stop talking right now anyway....this is Hopkins moments and whilst this does elevate Calzaghe somewhat as it proves that the old man wasn't shot to bits as many would have you believe, his fans deserve to enjoy this one.

 

Lol

 

Just proves that Kelly was overhyped and I include myself in doing that.

Bernard took him to school and showed that Kelly only has one real way of fighting. People like Hopkins and Calzaghe are versatile and can adjust which is why they have been at the top so long.

It makes Jack Loew look like the mouthy clown he is, I bet Enzo Calzaghe is laughing his head off - They said Kelly wasn't upto it and Bernard proved them right.

For the record Joe beat Bernard by imposing his fight on Hopkins and clawed his way back from the early set back of a knockdown - thats proof of Greatness and Bhop schooling Pavlik, who couldn't impose his fight game on Hopkins, just emphasizes that Bhop and Joe are Great fighters.

You can moan and complain but you can't change the result.

 

After 12 rounds Joe sustained that brutal nose graze.

 

Without any doubt, the Hopkins/Pavlik fight solidifies Joe's all-time greatness. And for all those people who thought Pavlik could beat Calz, now you know the truth.

Hopkins is one of my favorite fighters ever, but this performance tonight should help people really understand just how special Joe Calzaghe truly is.

I was just reading a joke column by Michael Woods on tonight's fight. He said this should move BHop to the top of the P4P, above Pac.

Uh, Mike, I think you forgot about the guy who beat Hopkins.

Same old stuff. But Calz was a huge winner from what went down in Atlantic City. Great stuff.

 

Calzaghe is a thick *******, but his ring intellegence is completely underrated because of this and his style. He adjusted brilliantly against both Hopkins and Kessler to win both fights after a tough opening.

 

He's just a tall Hobbit :good

 

Idiot?...I'm not the person who's trying to make excuses for a fighter who "chose to lose"? Bernard chose not to? That has to be the dumbest response I have ever heard on this forum!! He chose not to? OMG, and you're calling me an idiot?

Dude, you have just lost all credibility!! :hi:

 

at the end of the day calzaghe went over to america for the first time at a new weight his style of fighting doesnt age well where as hopkins does plus hopkins style is a nightmare for calzaghes style plus benard had to cheat to make it through the last couple of rounds went to the wrong corner god knows how many times says alot for calzaghe to me and also i dont think calzaghe is suited at light heavy where as benard is better at light heavy than he was at middle weight and calzaghe still beat him so ave that u bunch of numtys who know **** bout boxing