I have seen the fight 3 times now. Once live and twice on TV. Joe won a crystal clear decision and in my opinion, this win is more impresive than both the Kessler and Lacey performances. Hopkins is a dirty nasty fighter who makes EVERYBODY look pretty awful. No fighter has their way with Hopkins, not Winky, not Taylor not Tarver. As well as outworking him Calzaghe took the best that Hopkins offered then outroughed him beating him at his own game.
Whats so great about the performance. He beat Hopkins by being busier than the old man, and that too barely 2 or 3 punches landed clean on Hopkins in the entire fight.
I wouoldn't say it was more spectacular then the lacy fight, but it was a good win for him. He has a "name" on his resume and Hopkins was no pushover...he beat Tarver (I don't care for him, but he's alright) after moving up in weight.
I did not see the fight when it aired. Many fights air on Saturdays when it is date night. Anyway, next day I saw only a highlight (round 4 and 5, rounds 11 an 12) and it looked to me like Hopkins lost.. Today I found the whole fight and I have to say it looked to me like Bernard won that one. Sure he was not throwing as much an he was moving backwards but he was landing hard straight shots whereas Calzaghe was landing off shoulders and arms and missing a lot. Bernard did win first half of fight, Calzaghe comes back in second half, but in my opinion not enough. I give him last two rounds and first half of round 10 (the one with the low blow and time out? -think it was round 10). I just don't think Calzaghe did enough to win. I like both fighters and was not partial to either so this is not nutthuggery.
Dude, no matter who you thought won...the fight wasn't that good. You watched it 3 times? Jesus. And compared to beating Kessler and Lacy this was crap. Especially since Hopkins is bloody 43. I mean, take nothing way from him, he got the win, but let's keep it real here.
It wasn't even a top 5 Calzaghe fight in terms of performance. Significant no doubt, but he himself said it wasn't a great fight. Kessler, Lacy, Sheika, Eubank and Brewer were all superior performances from Cal IMO.
I think the great performance was by Bernard. 43! Damn, and the ring intellegence is amazing. But his age did show, especially when he gassed out toward the end and threw wild swinging shots that threw him off balance. He did manage to make Calzaghe look not as great as he did against Kessler. I still think Hopkins real calling was a general or military strategist.
It wasnt his best performance. The guy got knocked down and won by a slim margin on my card. Lacy was the best performance
It was a good performance. He did enough to get the W! It was certainly not his best. He was knocked down, and caught with the cleaner more effective punches all night. He showed good adaptability though, and won a CLEAR but close decision. He looked much better against Kessler, imo.
WelshintheUS, doesn't your name say it all? "Great" should not be used to describe Calzaghe's performance. "Survive" is a better word. "Lucky" is another the way Hopkins' body finally gave out on him and he gased late in the fight which is unheard of for Hopkins in late rounds. A lot of media people had it a draw, which would give the nod to Hopkins due to the KD. There was nothing "great" about his performance. If anyone had a "great" performance, it was the 43 year old Hopkins who had to pull out every trick he knew, including the low blow rest, to make it as competitive as possible given his age and limitations.
I like how he came out of one of those endless hugfests initiated by Hops and had Bernard rubbing the back of his head and crying to the ref. I like how Joe would tap him on the groin and Bernard would cry to the ref and when Cortez waived the fight on Joe rushed in a landed a hard left and a good combination making Hopkins look slow and pathetic. I like how Joe walked through Hopkins many lowblows because he knew Hopkins was tiring and needed a rest. Joe just kept upping the pace forcing Hops to fake the low blow. I like how Joe simulated a sex act from behind when Hopkins faked yet another low blow making him metaphorically his *****. Yea Joe meant to defeat and humiliate the crazy old fart and he did just that.
It was definately entertaining. I don't agree that it was a bad fight. I think Hopkins did what he was supposed to do (given his options) and Calzaghe did what he was supposed to do (given his own options).