Hopkins' Path To Victory

Hopkins' control on the ropes:

At some point in the fight Calzaghe will attempt to swarm Hopkins, chasing him to
the ropes. There Hopkins will gain Calzaghe's respect by bouncing off the ropes and
butting Calzaghe in a manner that appears legitimately accidental.

This will either continue until Calzaghe gets cut or he decides he can't afford to
attempt to flurry Hopkins on the ropes.

Hopkins' control in the center of the ring:

Hopkins will use constant lateral (side to side) movement to prevent Calzaghe from
setting up a good shot or a combo.

If Calzaghe attempts to get in close to force the fight, Hopkins will leap in with his
chin tucked to grab and wrestle Calzaghe.

Very quickly Calzaghe will become frustrated with Hopkins' tactics and begin to fight
more agressively, as Hopkins continues to stymie his attempts to force the fight, he
will become more frustrated, not only by the tactics, but the fact that Hopkins' can
get away with all sorts of dirty tricks in the ring.

Hopkins' control of the championship rounds:

Contrary to most people's firm conviction, Hopkins will be the fresher of the two in
the championship rounds.

Calzaghe will be worn down from the constant wrestling, clutching, clinching and
generally rough style. He will be lucky if he has not damaged either of his hands,
winging punches at the top of Hopkins' head.

He will mostly likely have a cut on one of his eyebrows from Hopkins' butts.
At this point in the fight, Hopkins will begin to become more active, targeting
Calzaghe's cut with his incredibly accurate lead right hand or lead left shovel hook.

The fight will either be stopped due to the worsening of Calzaghe's cut or Calzaghe
will survive final rounds tired and discouraged.

 

A young hopkins would be moving just as much laterally and actually forcing the pace, throwing more punches. A 43 year old Hopkins will have to rely on feints and accurate counter-shots.

Hopkins' style of wrestling conserves energy while draining his opponent, mainly because it occurs at a time when they are setting themselves to unload and all of the sudden they are trying punch against the resistance of wrapped arms or trying to wrench their arms free, while hopkins is using them to support his weight.

Hopkins and Bika are like apples and oranges comparatively.

 

He's already considered a modern legend. What does that tell you?