Great, the thread never said against this. At least not the first post. As you said, my scoring of the fight (116-111) was mimicked by one official judge and one longtime judge who scores fights for HBO. And another official judge had it just one point different. One judge involved was an outlier, and was criticized strongly for her scoring. The fight wasn't close. Hopkins simply could not keep up. Again, most shots ever landed on Hopkins and widest losing scorecard ever for Hopkins. It doesn't matter if you like Calzaghe, the numbers don't lie. I'm not a Brit, nor am I even all white (and I dont think of myself as white, but Latino). This is just what it is. Hopkins may be a larger legend, but this fight tonight seriously helps Calzaghe's legacy. Can't see any way around that. And that's what the thread is about, and says.
The vast majority of Calzaghe's punches didnt land. Look at Slappy Joe's face after the fight and look at Hopkins. Slaps maybe landed 5-6 clean shots the entire night.
Calzaghe always beats Hopkins. And likely does so easier at 168 pounds. Too much speed and workrate for Hopkins. And too much chin. Joe fights as he fights because he's not afraid to get hit. It's an awesome package, and there isn't anyone quite like him. Except a prime Jones, who was even better (because he was faster and had more power, especially after Calzaghe's hand problems; I'm not predicting here who would win a Prime RJJ-Prime JC fight, though. To be fair, Roy never seemed to have had Calzaghe's chin). Hopkins is great, but speed and workrate kill. Hopkins always would have had trouble in this match-up.
Calzaghe dominated Hopkins, and was pissed off about Hopkins' whining after Hopkins got basically shut-out after Round 3. I don't blame Calzaghe at all for not making the rematch given those circumstances. Joe was at the end, and had to deal with a lot of junk leading up to the fight. He whipped Hopkins in Hopkins' backyard, and then had to hear the whining after. Enough. Calz wanted the Jones fight, and he got it. That was it for him, he hung them up.
You're not going to get through to these people. They don't think objectively. Lets be honest, what Hopkins did was terrific. But this also speaks to some degree how unrefined a fighter like Pascal is. The idea that Hopkins at 46 or 43, is not very much past his prime because of the way he's performing is unrealistic. Saying otherwise is blatantly intellectual dishonest. Hopkins is a legend. He's the best technical fighter of our generation... this is part of the reason why he's such an anomaly, doing the things he's doing at this age (Besides discipline, hard training, and living a clean life). And he dogged a younger lineal LHW champion. Not a really superb fighter, but a champion. I thought early on that Hopkins lost some of his coordination but he finished well. He still may have, but he pressured Pascal and smothered him well which just took him out of any zone with his head getting snapped back from right hands. Still, let's be real. Hopkins is far farther from his prime than Calzaghe was when he fought him. There's little to suggest Calzaghe could have been much better than he was at that time of his career, except for maybe his power-punching because of his hands. At that juncture, he became a notorious slapper. And that fight was a close fight, a SD, regardless of what Paul says. The facts don't lie.
Nonsense. Reread what I posted. Calzaghe is sloppy, lacks confidence(Wrren said this) and has an amateur stye (Emmanuel steward said this). The only reason he won the fight was because he outworked an old man. Jermaine Taylor did the same thing. Calzaghe nearly lost to Robin Reid. Looked crap against Starie. He was lucky he fought in wales and caught Hopkins when he did. He is an A- level fighter at best. Nowhere near Floyd, B Hop or Roy Jones level in their prims. A old Hopkins neutralize Slappy Joe's speed easily. It was only Slaps workrate that won him the fight. Hopkins landed the cleaner harder punches in the fight. Slaps landed nothing of note, and maybe 4-5 solid punches the entire night. The rest was amateurish slaps as Manny Steward said. Not scorin punches. He fights the way he fights because he has no boxing acumen. He got where he got because of his natural talent and never challenging himself in the ring. One of the weakest reigns for a champion ever. No they dont. Technique and skill kill. The vast majority of the top 100 ATG's got where they are based on technique. Learn more boxing. :thumbsup
Said the "objective" man with a picture of Wlad as The Tin Man in his avatar. atsch Keep working, Pete. Just keep working. :bbb
I told you this before and will repeat it here, since you seemed not to have heard it: Calzaghe hurt his hand in the Reid fight, may have broken it. Like Mayweather-Castillo I. Do you understand that? Good. Learn something. That seemed to be the point in Joe's career where he had to change his style to protect his hands, after that fight. Calzaghe always beats Hopkins. As Roy easily dispatched a younger (though still not perhaps prime) Hopkins, so does a younger, faster Joe (who was 36 for the Hopkins fight). Hopkins is a tremendous fighter, but he simply didn't have the tools to beat Calzaghe. And it would have been worse at 168, where Hopkins would have had less power.
When you fight with the style Diaconu fights with -- mauling, straight ahead -- you age faster. And inactivity doesn't help, nor do two losses to a guy in your shared hometown. Shark is great, used to be better. At 32 years old, he just does not have the gear he once did. Reminds me some of Abraham now vs Abraham of a few years ago.
Hopkins won that fight, even if Calzonie landed more pizza slaps! HOpking used ring craft and counter punches never experience by jc in his happy slapping life!
Your thread title is bull**** because styles make fights. Who knows what Calzaghe would do against Ward, Pavlik, Taylor, Pascal. We can only speculate, we can't anoint fantasy wins to one fighter because he beat the fighter that's beating up all these other fighters. Boxing doesn't work that way, and if you think it does you're seriously ignorant. Greb at his best beat Tunney, and Tunney beat Dempsey. That doesn't mean we assume Greb would beat Dempsey or equate him with a win. Calzaghe's legacy barely moves, if it even moves at all after Hopkins win. And if you think it does, then you're implying that styles don't exist in boxing. And that A beating B, and B beating C automatically equates to A>C. That's simple-minded, ignorant thinking.
