Bernard Hopkins "Im going to walk Roy down"

Agree

 

Not so sure. I think Calzaghe was clearly faded by then rather than the other way around, his previously good punch power really down to next to nothing. BHop seemed to take him lightly by the way he fought, and that's what cost him the fight.

 

This has been discussed ad nauseum on here, but I have to ask you, if Calzaghe's punch power was next to nothing, why was Hopkins not just walking through his punches and doing the job?

Calzaghe has had brittle hands for a long time now - it is well-documented - but it hasn't stopped him from beating everyone in front of him.

Out of the 2 of them, Calzaghe had the much higher workrate and stamina-wise, he is light years ahead of Hopkins. Hopkins was looking for rest-breaks later in the fight by faking low blows. Calzaghe outworked Hopkins, and Hopkins was looking purely to spoil because he couldn't keep up.

I would say Hopkins is the more faded of the 2.

 

i going to tell you now RJJR will beat hopkins mark my words ROY is no where near what he was but hes still a smart fighter and i think hes motovated he just cant take a punch like he used too but hes still has the fastest hands even now

 

I'd say look at the Pavlik fight. I don't believe that Calzaghe was capable of that kind of performance any longer. His style, coupled with at least some of the punching power of his youth, peaked at the time of the Lacy fight.

I'd bet on the Hopkins of the Pavlik fight beating the Calzaghe of the Jones fight, just as I'd bet on teh Calzaghe of the Lacy fight beating virtually any version of hopkins.

Calzaghe landed a lot on Hopkins and didn't even slightly hurt him. A couple of years earlier had he landed like that BHop would have at least been a bit stunned, even with his great beard.

 

he tried - ornelas was a tough ****

 

Hopkins should feel ashamed, he`s fighting a man that just got sparked for the 3rd time in his career by a dud, a man that proved his superior in their primes.... all for money he doesnt need & the hollow claims of 1-1.

I hope Jones sparks him out... it wont happen but it would be funny as ****.... go Roy.

 

edit

 

Big words from hopkins... but who hasn't done this to this pitiful version of Jones?

 

Styles make fights and Pavlik was tailormade for Hopkins. He just kept following him around and getting hit.

Even if Calzaghe's punches weren't stunning Hopkins, they were doing the job of keeping Hopkins off him and tiring him out, hence Hopkins spoiling, clinching and faking low blows in the second half of the fight.

Calzaghe is so unorthodox it's not funny. Add to that his adaptability and I think a rematch would have resulted in a clear UD win for Calzaghe.

 

heard it all before from Hopkins!

Jeramine Taylor should be NEX!

 

I don't think Calzaghe was completely feather-fisted, even late in his career, so I'm not addressing this fight specifically, but in general this is a silly point to make.

The amount of power required to disrupt is a good bit less than the amount of power required to hurt. That's why the jab is such an effective punch. It doesn't have to be hard enough to hurt, it just has to be hard enough to make a guy move his head, put his hands up, stop moving forward, throw off his balance, force him to reset.

Even if you aren't bothered by a guy's power the simple fact that he's hitting you at all can make it very hard to land punches in return. Even a relatively light punch will obscure your vision, pin your hands, deprive you of an angle you had before, knock you slightly off balance...any number of things. Calzaghe threw a lot of leather at Hopkins (and everyone) and even if it doesn't hurt you still have to find a way around those punches to get your own properly leveraged punches in.

 

An even more pitiful version of Trinidad.

 

I think you'll find we are in agreement on this matter - I was answering another poster's claim that Calzaghe's power had diminished so badly that Hopkins would beat him in a rematch, hence my question "If Calzaghe's power was so poor, why didn't Hopkins just walk through his punches?"

I don't think Calzaghe's power has diminished dramatically, he still has enough power to keep his opponents off him, he just doesn't have one punch KO power anymore.

 

At 45 years of age, I don't care how good and in shape Hopkins is, the man can also gas out like Jones now normally does after a few rounds. It's not like Hops has been a head hunter in the last few years...

He was masterful against Pavlik but that will be 1 & 1/2 years ago once he fights Jones.

The fact still remains that Jones may have no legs left but he still has the faster hands. Hopkins ain't a high output kind of fighter, especially now at 45 !!

Roy needs to time Hopkins coming in and if he can land first often, then B-Hop will be a little bit more on the defensive mode..

It will be a closer fight than almost all of you may think. I'm going with a close Jones UD !