Hopkins: An Analysis

Remember that Oscar De La Hoya was also seen as the beautiful boxer, the much younger man who had faster hands and great boxing repertoire - he gave about 2 inches of height to Hopkins and moved up a division... I am not saying that Joe Calzaghe is now the Oscar De La Hoya of 2004, but at the eyes of the Old Man, he may look at the challenges the same exact way ( 2004-2008 ). I wish people to take some time to look back and realise exactly what it means to defend a middleweight title since 1994 in the States and unify the middleweight championship in 2001. Of course, Calzaghe showed great boxing ability, punching explosiveness and consistency since 1997 but he was defending a WBO title in boxing's poor division, in England and never went through a process of unification fights against Beyer and Ottke before 2005 - basically he appeared on the World Boxing Scene against Lacy and against Kessler from 05 until now... There are not many common aspects between both fighters but consider that Woodhall was stopped by Keith Holmes and Holmes was dominated by Hopkins, and that Sheika was TKOed in 3 rounds by Antwon Echols and Echols was beaten twice ( stopped and decisioned) by Hopkins. I feel it's fair to say that Calzaghe would have lost to Hopkins at a catch weight back then and in the States. Never mind Warren systematically mentioning that Calzaghe would fight in the States ( since the Branko Sobot fight in 1998 ), he mentioned some of the names that Hopkins faced time and time again and which are also brought up in this thread - Roy Jones Jr, Antonio Tarver, Ronald Wright - Calzaghe even was to fight on the undercard of the De La Hoya - Trinidad fight in Vegas but he hurt his hand in the third round against Rick Thornberry ( who was stopped in 5 by Henry Wharton and was the third man to go the full 12 with Joe) and that chance evaporated. The one thing that happened was Calzaghe moving to NYC to have conversations with former IBF Champion Charles Brewer for an american debut in 1998 or 1999 and came to face him in late 2002 and in Wales and Mitchell one year afterwards...

 

LOL. I've seen probably 80 or 90% Bernard's fights. Been following boxing for 31 years and always kept an eye on Hops.

 

It's funny to see that when Hopkins is clinched, he just pounds on his opponents leg that is not in view of the ref. Complete and total cheating. He does everything he can to get an advantage. That's one of the reasons why i like him. Not that he's cheating but that he takes this sport seriously and looks for every advantage. He is not special in terms of raw talent but his combination of work ethic, dedication, and somewhat good talents have made him a legend.

The term, "Protect yourself at all times" really applies for any Hopkins fight because if it's allowed and you aren't protecting yourself, you will get hit. Whether that's a hit to the back of the head or whatever. If Hopkins can get away with it, he will do it.

 

I love how you answer a sidebar comment about one thing...yet fail to answer anything that I posted (hmmmm, I wonder why???).

So much for your factual analysis.



BTW, the only thing Hop fans have said about Bernard at 175 is that he is better SUITED for it now that he is older and cant make 160 anymore....noone EVER said the opposite, or they wouldve been blasted much like you were by me for stating things that were ridiculously inaccurate.

So again, you were either wrong or misinformed (factual analysis...my ass :rofl ).

 

80-90% of his fights (something you would pretty much have to buy the DVD set I own of all of his unaired fights....so I doubt it...but whatever) and you still believe that Calzaghe will have the advantage if the fight goes on inside (and becomes dirty).

Sorry, I doubt it.

 

Man, I don't even care what you doubt! Buying the DVD set isn't necessary if you know where to find fights, btw. I could show you where to find 32 of them without even trying.

 

Well now that I know who you are (read it in another post...what did you get banned????), I can admit that you know more than most Calzaghe nutjobs. But still, you cant possibly tell me that if the fight gets inside and dirty that JOE HOLDS THE ADVANTAGE?!?!?!?

 

Wrong! at least 80% of his fights are easily available for download on the internet.

 

Underestimating Hopkins is a fools game and a game Joe aint playing.

 

Yeah, I know...I was more giving FRKO **** for saying Joe would have the advantage if it became a dirty fight.

 

I would say if it gets dirty Joe can hold his own. Advantage? No.

 

Calzaghe fought on the inside for 12 rounds with Brewer but they didn't fight dirty that much. In that fight, Calzaghe was able to hold Brewer's left hand whenever he needed to - he also can make good use of the head when he cut Starie in the sixth and Sheika in the fourth and the fifth... Joe is dangerous inside by holding one arm and pounding with the left the same way Bernard held Winky's right arm and double, triple hooked him in the blind side of the ref. Somehow, I think Bernard would be rougher but I don't think they will fight rough on the inside as much - Calzaghe has said that he would knock out Bernard in Wales many times ( post-fight interviews - Sheika, Pudwill and more) but he will definitely give Bernard a lot of respect at fight time.

 

I got banned for mentioning another boxing site, can you believe? I was careful not to post any links or anything, I merely talked about another website. The next thing I knew, my account was deleted. So now I learned my lesson. Don't even mention another rival site to ESB.

I agree man, and you know I also value your opinions -- Joe doesn't have an advantage but as Liam said, he can definitely hold his own.

 

Then we agree to disagree (yet again...LOL).

Banned for mentioning another site....lol. Terrible. Just do what we do...call them "the site that talks boxing" or "the site that has news about fights". Gawd I hope I dont get banned now....LMAO!!!

But I just dont see anything in Joe's past fights that shows me he can hang once it gets REALLY tough/dirty inside (and to Dorfmeisters point, Im aware of the Brewer fight...but Brewer aint Hopkins on the inside now is he??? Not even close to be honest).

 

All I can say man is I'm happy that ****ing Boy George avatar is gone! :happy