BHops gamble

Hopkins has nothing to lose in his fight with Calzaghe: If he gets soundly beaten then he was old; if he loses a competitive fight then he would have beaten Calzaghe in his prime; if he wins then he's the first to beat Calzaghe and will get massive props.

So this is a win-win fight for Hopkins if he survives 12 rounds. If he gets battered (as seems unlikely) then I don't expect Hopkins to use excuses but ready-made ones will be there.

So why has Hopkins taken the fight?

He obviously thinks he can come closer to beating Calzaghe than anyone else.

However, there simply is NO prescident for beating Joe Calzaghe. Nobody has come close to it (with Joe operating with two unbroken hands) so why should Hopkins be any different? Folks may argue that Calzaghe has never fought anyone like this Hopkins guy, and you'd be right, he's never fought anyone over 40 before. But he has fought people that are slower than him. He has fought boxers who are more powerful than him. He has fought hungrier fighters. He's fought fitter boxers. Calzaghe has proven everyone wrong so many times and he's still doing it. Hopkins has proved people wrong but he's also failed 4 times. Calzaghe has never failed.

If Joe is to come anywhere near losing this fight, he would have to be as fat as that plumpy Winky Wright, move like his laces are tied together (a la Jermain Taylor) and develop a chin like 39 year old Antonio Tarver. What do these boxers have in common apart from being Hopkins last few opponents? Answer: They are all part of the American Yankee merry-go-round that Calzaghe (unfortunately) wants to play on.

I believe this merry-go-round of geriatric bums will be absolutely exposed on 19th April when Calzaghe makes a mockery of the legend (apparently) that is Bernard Hopkins by boxing rings around him for a few rounds before realising that he cannot lose. Joe will then treat old Bernie with distain by walking through his best shots to end this fight before the 10th.

 

Edit: I respect everything Hopkins was when he was a live fighter but this fight is not one he should take at this point in his career.

This is my subjective opinion and should in no way reflect on Calzaghe fans in general or Joe Calzaghe himself (whom I dislike as a person).

 

"We all know" eh?

You want to prove that by setting up a poll?

I'll let you word it and set it up the thread if you want. I'd like to see the results. Be my guest.

 

Maybe I overstepped the mark when I said he'd make a mockery of him. But I believe he will make it look much easier than anyone else has done since RJJ.

 

Reid is the exception and "WE ALL KNOW" that Calzaghe suffered a broken hand after 3 rounds in that fight many years ago. Most people scored the fight to Calzaghe by a couple of rounds. Given the fact that he was operating obviously less than 100% tells me that it would have been a wider margin if he was fully fit. Besides, Reid was a world class operator at the time and no bum.

 

Katsidis has shown massive vulnerability in the past and has soaked up more punishment in one fight than Calzaghe has in his whole career. Sure, any boxer can be caught at any time and that's it, but all things being equal, it doesn't happen in this fight against this opponent at this point in time.