four things that Hopkins vs Calzaghe showed us

5. You're a ****

 

I dont think Pavlik, Taylor or Bute are as hard a matchup as even a 43 yearold Hopkins. Not at this weight. They really bring nothing Joe hasnt seen before.

Time will tell about the 4th point. But there is some truth in it.

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl

 

This from a Welshman, I tend to agree with a lot of these points. Calzaghe was not at his best , although that was mostly down to Hopkins' tactics.

However, Pavlik, Taylor and Bute are much easier fights for Joe, Hopkins made look Calzaghe look bad in this fight, in a way that no other current fighter could. I doint think the fight tells us anything about Kessler. Styles make fights at the end of the day, Kessler's was just better suited for JC.

He badly needs to fight Pavlik.

 

**** off Bernard.

 

It shows us that Calzaghe is over rated on these boards, WHICH HE IS!!!

Still, Calzaghe is a very good fighter, and sometimes i think because he was under rated by so many for so long, it caused people to over estimate his abilities. He is a genuine top p4p fighter..... However some people were claiming he gives prime Roy a very close fight at 168 prime for prime... This is ridiculous.

IMO it showed that a prime Hop would have probably beaten Joe in his prime, as he was a more versatile fighter.

 

1) Joe wouldnt be the ***** if he went to prision

2) calzaghe land more than any other boxer on hopkins

3) calzaghe knows what its like to fight a great fighter

4) calzaghe knows what it takes to win

 

3 or 4 years ago when Joe was in his prime he would have won a UD by a more comfortable margin something like 117-111. Joe,like RJJ, relies heavyly on his speed, reflexes, foot speed, combination punching, stamina all of the things that decrease with age. Hopkins has got some nice speed as well but thats not his main asset, his main assets were always his craftines, defense, roughhouse tactics, power, mental toughness, things that dont go away so fast with time.

 

IF Hopkins fought RJJ now he would beat him and Hops is 43 while Roy is 39 but in their prime Roy beat him easily.

 

It showed us their styles make for an awkward fight
Hops defence is still good, his offense and stamina have fallen
And this fight should have happened 5 years ago when it still mattered.

 

I find it hard to gauge Joe's prime.

Because 4 years ago he was fighting Salem and Ashira, a couple of guys that even current day Roy would look in his prime against .

But not long after he is bashing Lacy, and not long after that he is outboxing Kessler and in both those fights he looked as quick as ever. Maybe not relatively as quick but those two were the best fighters he had ever faced by a wide margin.
So when you are fighting guys like Ricky Thornberry, Tocker Pudwill, over the hill Charles Brewer and guys of the like of course you are going to look better than against guys like Jeff Lacy, Hopkins and Kessler. Even though the Lacy fight was probably the most dominant I had ever seen him.

My point is was Joe really fading when he fought those guys and how can you tell when he was fighting such average fighters throughout his so called prime period.

 

When people post things like Lacy was by a wide margin one of the two best fighters Calzaghe has fought it makes me discount the rest of their arguments.

 

Hopkins is similar to Glen Johnson in this aspect. Thats why Glen was able to beat RJJ even though Glen is older than Roy. Prime Roy would have toyed with any version of Glen just like prime Calzaghe would beat any version of Hopkins

 

1. For ESB sake, I'd like to argue with some points to make some things clear. 4 years ago Calzaghe was 4 years younger as well and a SMW, Hopkins a MW, so Hopkins would've jumped up in weight like Calzaghe did on Sat! Hopkins was very strong and big Saturday since he's bulinding his LHW for... 2 years now.

I also think Hopkins did really well vs. Joe, so he wasn't that better 4 years ago when he was a MW. Also, Joe's stamina, power and punch output seems to be a little bit better at SMW so a 4 years younger Joe at SMW is a lot better than a 36 years-old Joe at LHW. Why? Because he never ever built a LHW body and it seemed he wasn't as crisp as at SMW.

2. Dan Rafael considered putting Joe as P4P#1 before the fight which of course only happen now (since he scored the fight for Hopkins 114-113) if Floyd's falls out (in a couple of months since he's inactive). Still, Joe1s P4P#2 now whether you overrate or underrate him.

3. Joe's GREAT vs. predictable, one (1,5) dimensional fighters no matter how quick (Kessler), strong (Lacy) or crafty (Mitchell) they are. Everyone said Joe will have troubles with Hopkins since you can't adjust to his style - he's the one who makes you fight his style! In the end, Joe did fine and adjusted to Hopkins' style not getting hit by Bernard's nice counter rights anymore. Pavlik is Lacy with a jab with quicker hands but no defense (before you jump on me: Lacy was a decent fighter, just Joe was levels ahead in skills). Joe will own Pavlik. Bute is getting better and better and he's the dangerous one at SMW, however Joe is just levels ahead in skill. In fact, Kessler as well. Taylor can be abused at the ropes and frustrated with the jab. Calzaghe's jab is a quick, solid one and a 4-5 punch combination following it. Still, Taylor's chances better than Pavlik's since his defense is better and his style is more improvisational. Calzaghe-Taylor is a great fight.

4. Kessler is still regarded as The Man at SMW according to all US/UK etc. magazines. He'd lose to Hopkins but that does not make him overrated since he'd beat everyone else from MW to LHW.

Styles make fights. I see people sitting on their sofa looking at a glass of water in disbelief after Calzaghe destroys Pavlik: 'How can that be? How can a 43 year-old guy do more than a 15 years younger? Is Kelly overrated?' No... Hopkins is just the worst style Joe can fight against so he might've lost 6 years ago, who knows. But Pavlik has the perfect style for him.