Hopkins is going to Beat Joe up...and pretty badly.

Oh I forgot....

:roll:

 

all 3 lose to calzaghe.

 

Taylor in most of his fights has a great workrate...what is your point?

He outlanded him and did so at a much higher %...isnt that what boxing is about, landing punches, not just throwing them....

:huh

 

The quote during Calzaghe-Kessler said it best: Joe spoils your boxing. He didn't get to where he is today by not adjusting in fights and fighting the fight that makes you look bad. You guys are acting like he's never seen lead rights before. The angles Joe throws from combined with that workrate are going to make Old Popkins' head spin.

At this point, I also think he's quick enough to dodge out of harm's way before Hopkins can land meaningful counters on him. Calzaghe's going to win a wide UD when they fight.:!:

 

Who has Taylor put away recently?:yep

Couldn't do it to Ouma, who has been dropped by 154 pounders and is badly outsized at MW.

Couldn't put away shaky jawed Spinks, even hitting him with some good counters here and there.

Couldn't put away Pavlik and had him reeling from a freak blow.

^^ All of those guys have dentable chins.

Meanwhile Calzaghe has fought recently -

Kessler - Never has been stunned by a head shot in 40 fights.

Manfredo - Bad stoppage of course, but Manfredo has not been stunned by many people, he has a much better chin than Ouma or Spinks P4P.

Bika - Guy doesn't have a great chin, but he's solid and is very durable and fought dirty to stay in.

Lacy - Any problems with Lacy's chin?

Now,

Does Taylor stop any of those guys and does Calzaghe stop any of Taylor's recent opponents?

I see Calzaghe stopping Pavlik, Ouma and Wright personally.

 

You cant bring up Calzaghe spoiling others boxing without adding....

BUT, Hopkins is the best in the sport at it!

Its just unfair to do so. Noone in recent memory of the sport makes fighters fight their game like Bernard does.

This is not something you could put into a "strengths" category vs Bernard. Its why it isnt brought up often by the Calzaghe fanatics...because EVEN THEY know Bernard is better at doing it.

Sorry to burst ya bubble there bro...

 

Bhops by a controversial boring decission.

:yep

 

I am in complete agreement. Hopkins is as smart as they come and there's no way he would have taken the fight if he didn't think he could win. He'll have a great game plan, which I normally wouldn't think would be enough against Calzaghe, but I'd like to point out that the fight is in Vegas.

Come fight time there are so many variable in boxing that are out of the fighters' control (examples: ring size, gloves, referee, crowd, judges, weight class, etc.), and I am completely confident that all of these variable will favor Hopkins (think Mayweather vs. De La Hoya). Otherwise he would NOT have taken the fight. Regardless, superior talent can trump all this (again, Mayweather vs. De La Hoya). But if I were putting my money on Calzaghe, I'd be wary, but ONLY for this reason. Anywhere else, Calzaghe by comfortable UD.

 

Well, i disagree. JT is a guy with explosive power. He doesn't have the thudding one punch power like a Miranda but because of the way he can put combinations together quickly, he can hurt you with a combination of speed/power.

Joe C is more of an accumulation puncher. He simply doesn't have the type of explosive power that JT has.

 

At least this post made me laugh!!

 

Pavlik has a weak chin and would get tagged at will by those left hooks from Joe and Winky would get brutalised in a horrible stylistic contrast that doesn't go to his favour and likely wouldn't make it to 12.

Calzaghe, when sitting down on a shot, is more powerful than Taylor and when he was prime, he actually had really good power.

 

I'm just glad there are others out there that can interject some common sense into this debate. Hopkins is not some 25 year old fighter who lets emotion dictate how and who he fights just because someone goaded him into it. Both him and RJJ were desperately clamoring to get a fight with Calzaghe more so than each other because they see something in Joe's style that they can neutralize and/or exploit in a big way(Please don't tell me it's just about money as both these guys are beyond wealthy already and are now fighting more for legacy than cash). Joe has a lot of speed and a high volume of punches but he is hardly the last word when it comes to defense. Neither RJJ or Hopkins are hyper active anymore and in fairness were not so much even during their primes and you can bet that they both know that Joe throws a lot of punches. These guys have been around the game a long time and are thinking fighters not crude brawlers that need to overwhelm their opponents to win. Trust me, if RJJ thought JC hit hard or could remote hurt him there's no way he would be so desperate to fight him and that much should be obvious. I'm not saying BHop wipes the floor with someone the caliber of Calzaghe but I wouldn't be surprised if he won convincingly and all these people that are saying that BHop is going to be shutout might be in for a big shock when the bell rings.

 

I know Bernard feels his style is right to pick and choose his counters as Joe sometimes punches and falls into his punches, but I also see the Calzaghe workrate making Hopkins have to fight at a different pace. Long term I feel that Calzaghe will outwork Hopkins to a UD.

 

Bernard just doesn't have the power to stop Calzaghe, Kessler hits twice as hard as B-hop and couldn't do enough damage