Calzaghe vs. Toney, Jones, and Hopkins

Jones and Hopkins prime for prime beat him, both competitive fights IMO (prime Jones not so much, but Calzaghe could take 3 rounds or so).

I'd pick Calzaghe to beat Toney.

 

I dont beleive Hopkins was ever much better than he is now. I think Jones pot shots would slowly break Joe down. The fight with Toney could have been legendary, i think it could have gone either way.

 

Calzaghe would have virtually no chance against these 3 in their respective primes. They all unquestionably beat him.

 

Calzaghe beats Hopkins and Toney, but loses a decision against peak Jones (8-4 or 9-3 over 12).

 

Jones and Hopkins would both beat Calzaghe in there primes,
but I think Joe could beat Toney.

 

Agreed.

 

I don't think Hopkins fought any differently in his "prime" whenever that was, to how he fights now.
Watching him in plenty of early fights to middle resume fights to later ones like Eastman to right now...

Always prone to not doing enough, always very crafty on the inside, fast hands, that look no slower than years back, disguises shots well, goes missing in some middle rounds....

RJJ whips Calzaghe prime for prime.
Hopkins would be close and could go either way, pretty much like their recent fight, but I favour the angles and workrate of Calzaghe to win a close decision.

Toney....tough one, but again people act like he was never outboxed for long spells like the Nunn fight, I think Calzaghe beats him by decision too.

 

A prime Hopkins is about 3 times faster and more mobile than the 43 year old version, just as defensively brilliant, and has the capability and stamina to throw literally hundreds more counter shots and leads without virtually any effort. Calzaghe was barely able to land a dozen or so scoring shots, without almost any return fire to deal with, and you say that Calzaghe beats a prime Hopkins? With a 7-8 year age advantage, and an attempted output of many many times the punches Hopkins threw, Calzaghe still got schooled by geezer Hopkins, and you think he beats Bernard in his prime? In his prime??? There are a healthy number of people out there that don't believe Calzaghe could win a rematch against a 44 year old Hopkins.

 

Whilst I agree that Jones prime for prime decision Calzaghe pretty wide-ish, but I think Joe gets a bit unfailry treated when this one's discussed. He would make it pretty competitive in patches and wouldn't get stopped IMO.


Jones beat a young Hopkins handily, though Hopkins haded rprimed by then I can see a 90's-early 00's Calzaghe decisioning Hopkins by about two-three rounds on workrate. Calzaghe beats Toney to a competitive enough but clear decision in my book.

 

But he virtually never did. He barely threw a punch against RJJ. He threw about 10 punches a round against Vanderpool.
In fact he was as active and aggressive against Pavlik and Tarver as he has been in pretty much any fight bar Trinidad.

 

Yes, that's something I've talked about at length here - innactivity has always been an issue for Hopkins regardless of the opposition. The difference would show up in all areas combined. That extra bit of step for Hopkins would set up alot more clean opportunities to score, and clear out defensively - the type of fight Hopkins feels naturally inclined toward. Calzaghe might not have landed almost anything whatsoever, literally, against a prime Bernard Hopkins based on what we saw with the 43 year old version. You cannot fight a defensive, cagey style of contest at advanced age. Not at maximum effectiveness anyway.. That has been Bernard's mistake on the occasions he has tried to do so beyond his late 30's and early 40's.

 

Jones/Calzaghe - Jones beats him convincingly.

Hopkins/Calzaghe -For me it's a tossup, I tend to go for Calzaghe in a close UD.

Toney/Calzaghe - I don't have a clue how this fight would go. Calzaghe maybe? lol