Face facts here people.... Calzaghe's record is no better than B-HOP's..

Prime/prime?

Kessler KO Wright

Kessler KO Taylor

Kessler UD Tarver

Kessler KO Sturm

Now?

Kessler KO Wright

Kessler KO Taylor

Kessler KO Tarver

Kessler KO Sturm

Basically, Tarver, because of his size, has a chance, but this is a guy who in his prime almost lost to a shot Reggie Johnson and was outboxed by Harding also, despite avenging the harding lost, he was still being outboxed before he sparked him. Do you see him sparking Kessler? I don't.

So Tarver's best bet would be using his reach and trying to box Mikkel and win close, but I see Kessler picking threw his leaky defence all night. And now, Tarver is shot and has been since the B-hop fight, Santiago may even give him a hard fight.

 

I'd agree with those picks as well...

Kessler gets Wright in 8-10, Taylor in 4-7, Tarver in 8-10, and Sturm in 3-6

Aside from Calzaghe, I wouldn't favor anybody over him. Chad Dawson would probably be the one to beat him if somebody other than Joe did.

 

Dawson/Kessler is 50/50 and I can see Dawson having a lot of trouble with him even if he did win, but I'd be rooting for Dawson as I like him more than Kessler, but I also like Kessler, he's a credit to boxing and I will so furious if a classy fighter in and out of the ring like him ends up getting ducked and avoided like Joe was for years.

And I don't rate any of Hopkins wins up there with Joe's over Kesslers, Trinidad was dominated like the 1 dimensional fighter that he was, just like Lacy was dominated. The thing is, Trinidad at 160 and Lacy are not great fighters, they are just effective/good fighters who provide entertainment because of pleasing slugger styles. The reason these wins for B-Hop and Joe are so great is because it is so rare for any elite fighter to just absolutely dominate every aspect of a fight with a top class contender(both were), most people can't do that.

I also made the statement that an elite guy like Nunn at his best was dropping a whole lot more rounds against second tier crop than Kessler was.

CHJ made a great statement, he said 'I guess you can't get credit for dominating a limited, but very good guy unless his name is Felix Trinidad'.:yep

Now don't get me wrong, this just applies to the MW Trinidad, below MW Trinidad is a top form elite and an ATG WW.

 

I think another thing that some bozo's don't understand is cultural differences. Calzaghe, as with most European fighters, are well mannered and do the business in the ring, Miguel Cotto is the same way but has more of a 'wickedness' to his disposition and that provides the extra-fight charisma.

I guess Hopkins pretending to slap Wright in the press conferance as a show of 'fake thuggery' is more appealing than just being good sportsman and giving each other hell in the ring.

But then I think -

'Guzman is a ducked, loud mouth, machismo ego trip of the highest order, and they have reservations about him more so than **** prospects that get hyped frequently'.

Why are the Supernaturals doubted first hand and pieces of crap like Andre Berto getting sympathy?

And then I come to realise - 'Amsterdam, don't even bother, the majority lacks the intellect to appreciate a supernatural'

:yep :yep :yep

This type of crap logic is coming as a shock to Brooklyn1550, who as an American is not used to it as much, or maybe even missed it because international fighters have been coming up more recently, but we've been dealing with this idiocy for years upon years. I remember posting at a boxing forum in 2003 after Calzaghe annihilated Mitchell, nobody cares, but then some hype job beats a can and they flip out.

Then people wonder why and when CHJ lost his damn mind, well, here it is.:yep

 

The resumes are about equal. However Calzaghe didn't find the limit to his skills, Hopkins did.

 

What makes Calzaghe special is this man has totally derailed up and coming future "stars" with ease and at his age the man has STILL only lost a hand full of rounds in his ENTIRE career and that is f'n scary. The guy has put on a clinic in nearly every single fight and hes done so with a style that is always pleasing for us to see.

 

I literally read one reply. Probably shouldn't of, but thanks for that! All that really needs to be said...

 

What do you find funny?

 

He's dropped about 25 rounds in 44 wins roughly, not many.

 

I give the nod to Bernards resume, however Calzaghe has something Bernard does not. Thats a big ol ------->0<-------- in the loss department.

 

Dunno really. Suppose just the bluntness of the reply. Now that I look, the thread ain't that big. Thought it was bigger

 

i think basically JC has a lot more skills and to bring to the table then what hopkins has to offer. b-hop is good as what he does but i just think against calzaghe he will be just fall short... bad fight for b-hop and he knows it for sure. i agree with some posters on here kessler is much better then any fighter B-hop has faced for sure!

i mean hopkins peek a boo style is just to wrong for joe as he would just outwork him

i love this video of Bernard "runner" hopkins, heheeee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqlPY746k2A

 

Alot of good points on this thread. I say Calzaghe's record is more than slightly a bit better than Hopkins, not based on competition, but because he's undefeated and more importantly I think Calzeghe would have taken Taylor to school like he did Lacy. There would have been only 1 Taylor fight and a rematch would have been completely unwarranted.

I do lean slightly to Hopkins competition being better, but other than the Trinidad fight I don't think Hopkins is some dragonslayer. One other point in defense of both men, their victories over Trinidad/Tarver & Lacy/Kesser were damn good. Felix 1 dimensional, Lacy overatted, Tarver bad, Kessler robot are easy retro descriptions. They were all very good wins.

Pavlik's been mentioned. He's one of my favorites and he's a great, underrated by critics, fighter. I think Calzeghe could handle his power just fine, he's got an underatted chin, but mainly because he would'nt get hit the way Taylor did. I think Calz would pull out a UD like Kessler. I think PAv. vs. Kessler would be a better fight, I'd have a hard time picking in that one.

Calz. and Hopkins gotta fight next year and I'd pick Calz. UD @ this time

 

Calzaghe's record is much weaker than B-Hop's. I don't think any one would question that.