Hopkins from the Tarver fight vs Calzaghe from the Kessler fight

Hard to say cos I really dont know just whether Tarver is that good or not!!

I think Calzaghe beats Tarver so we're back to square one really....

There's no doubt a 30-35 year old Hopkins is way more dangerous than he is now

The best way to decide is if you say would the Winky Wright that lost to Hopkins beat the Tarver that Hopkins beat?? Then you could get a measure of how good Hopkins was over those few years that have gone

That said....its gonna be a 43 year old Hopkins that gets in there with Joe so thats all that matters....

 

The Hopkins from the Tarver fight was simply amazing. I'd say he beats the Calzaghe from the Kessler fight but remember it was about 2 years ago so we can't expect the same Hopkins.

 

I think Calzaghe would win still. Now, the Hopkins from late 90s-early 00s would be very interesting.

 

Considering Joe took Kessler's bombs like they were nothing and Tarver couldn't when Hopkins hit him speak volumes.

 

calzaghe had a easy night against an injured kessler.... sadly a rematch will never happen

but i see a very even fight in april... Bhop will hurt jc... but jc´s workrate will probably win him the fight...

but again... Bhop can really adapt if he is smart...not like the taylor fight... but the likes of the winky and tarver fights....although the winky fight was boring

 

Calzaghe. Although Tarver was so bad its hard to judge Hopkins at that point.
I'd take the Hopkins that battered Glenn Johnson to edge past the best version of Calzaghe you can think of however.

 

Lame comment! Go watch the fight again. You'll see Calzaghe freeze instantly from the hit of an uppercut (think it was rnd. 12). Also, you'll see Calzaghes whole body relocated from the impact of a hit in one of the middle rounds and there is even more to take from.

 

Your talking about Kesslers right hand? Well Calzaghes left is probably just as ****ed. There's a reason he's not been ko'ing opponents recently.

 

I'd suggest you rewatch that fight, one or two bombs may have 'halted' Joe's attack but they certainly didn't hurt him too much - rewatch it, you'll see Joe walk through those bombs most of the time.

 

He definitely felt a few Kessler blows but damn, the guy has a solid chin if I've ever seen one. Same as the Reid fight, I don't know how Joe managed to stay upright after soaking up all those right hand bombs. Overall, though, neither Kess or Reid gave him enough hammer to stop him, he was just breifly hurt for a few seconds but recovered pretty much instantly.

 

Yeah. Kess had some problems following up. Unfortunately it stayed with him the whole fight. I think I recall Kessler having a good chance to finish the party at about 50 secs into rnd. 1 or was it rnd. 2?

 

I don't remember that. Just watching again now.

EDIT: Nothing significant landed in round 1 by either fighter. Kessler caught Joe a couple of times in round 2 (with around 1 minute remaining) but joe was in no danger at all and he came back with some decent shots of his own. In round 4 Kess hurt Joe but it wasn't enough.

 

I think you have to look for a Kessler flurry that sends Calzaghe to the ropes at about 50 secs. into the round. I'm pretty sure about the timing but not the exact round (sorry). After Calzaghe bounces off the ropes nothing more comes of it. Thanks for looking anyway.

 

It was round 3 I believe, Joe threw some happy slaps and kessler whacked him sending him back for a moment with a flurry but Joe recovered instantly, the guy's chin = granite