Hopkins Robbed.........Calzaghe Overated

I agree with all points. Hopkins play acting* after the low blow in round 10 was deeply embarrassing. Awful fight- as per norm with Hopkins (although Calzghe's been in his share of stench too). Hopkins was given a head start also, I think Calzaghe was really nervous until about round 4 as this was his first real 'away' test. Close fight, Cazaghe edged it. If the fight had have been here I think Joe would have ran away with it...but I agree that 5 years ago it might have been a different story but equally as dull.





* Cue the usual "how do you know he wasn't hurt? you want to get hit there see how you like it blah blah blah".

 

Finally watched the fight.

I had Calzaghe taking it by a point, but I have to say, I think that's the best I've seen Hopkins perform in about 6 years.

I don't think a 2003-2007 Hopkins does any better than what he did against Joe tonight.

It was quite amazing how sharp he looked, he really did make Joe look average in style, and it was only Joe's higher workrate that pulled it out for him.

I honestly feel that an argument can be made that Hopkins edged it, but you'd have to favour him in quite a few of the close rounds, of which there were about 4 by my count: the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 11th. I scored all those rounds even, but if someone forced me to pick, I'd give the slightest of slight edges in round 3 and 6 to Hopkins and 5 and 11 to Calzaghe. They were that close however, I decided not to make such fine dileneations, and called them even.

Joe looked a bit off tonight, timing wasn't there, jab went missing, and his footwork was stilted, but I suppose Hopkins must take quite a bit of credit for that with his shifty defense and movement. But in spite of that, Joe hung tough and continued to force the issue and got rewarded for it. Credit to him for putting in the hard yards down the stretch and getting the win. I can't remember the last time Hopkins got beat in the championship rounds, so it was quite an effort by Calzaghe to take it in the end after a slowish start.:good


My card: 116-115 Calzaghe

Rounds 1( 10-8 ), 2 and 10 for Hopkins.
Rounds 4,7,8,9 and 12 for Calzaghe.
Rounds 3,5,6 and 11 even.

 

Hopkins the executioner? Dont make me laugh he spent half the night holding the other half on the floor cynically taking a breather,it was a close fight ,but without Calzaghe in making it it would have been a non event respect to nbernard at 43 but he faded and spent too much time whining ,Cortez had another bad night he should have warned Hopkins for holding and got on top of the head work.Hopkins lost with his usual class I dont think he has ever congratulated an opponent yet,excuses excuses.Retire you are done!

 

By saying Hopkins looked the best he had in 6 years, I should put that in context a bit, because it should be noted that I haven't really been impressed by him in that time frame.

I thought he lost the first fight with Taylor and drew in the second, I had his fight with the smaller, way out of his best weight range Wright a draw, and I never really rated Tarver, so that he did a number on him didn't really wow me. The DLH fight was a non-event til the body punch as well...

Nevertheless, it is quite incredible how Hopkins has stayed relatively near his prime for such a long time, I give him heaps of credit for it, but I just happen not to be that enamoured with even the best Hopkins.

 

Okay, so maybe Calzaghe did as he planned, which to me looked like he was fighting to a pace that suited Hopkins for 3/4 of the fight. Calzaghe rarely landed anything remotely impressive (even in the broadest sense), and only outworked Hopkins in a couple of later rounds.

Hopkins delivered at least a few snappy counters, obvious and decent punches fairly flush, and that's what counts in the close rounds.

Calzaghe was falling over himself to land a few pushes or slaps in most of those rounds. Hopkins was half-evading even most of those pseudo-punches. And for every time Calzaghe landed a decent punch you can find one Hopkins landed with more snap.

That's the way I saw the fight. I'm not crying robbery though. I thought it was close.

 

I lost a lot of respect for Hopkins last night. Impressive for his age, but the way he fights is disgusting.


Faking those low blows was just disgraceful. Especially in the 11th when he thought he could get a breather after pulling a hurt face. The "punch" in the 10th was a light slap that landed above the jewelery.. and he was bending over asif it was a Holmes vs Cooney type of punch.

That is not to mention his constant holding. I counted the clinches in one round, number 6, and i counted 17 clinches, every single one of them initiated by Hopkins. When there's a close round, i score the round for the guy who is trying to fight, not for the guy who is trying to stall and stop the action.



Everybody knows those "low blows" were bull****. Bernard landed just as many, just that Calzaghe didn't act like a ***** to cheat it into extra time. You'll hear some people say that Calzaghe didn't win it because his slaps had nothing on them, but of course when it comes to those low blows, they were heavy as hell !


"The executioner" should change his nickname to "The Quiet Man", his tactics were that lame. Sorry, JT. :yep



On a sidenote, Calzaghe 36 year old and a swarmer relying on speed, conditioning and stamina. Hopkins is 43, but his tactics revolve around strength, clinching and potshotting. That goes a long way at advanced age. Basically it's a 36 year old with a young man's style against a prehistoric man with an old man's style.

 

There's definitely some truth in that, but I think Hopkins deserves some credit for his defense as well. It's simply of a higher calibre than Calzaghe's and always has been, and would always cause Joe serious problems in landing clean shots.

 

I had it 116-111 or 115-112 for Calzaghe. Hopkins did well early on. However, Clazaghe took over in the mid to late rounds. The bottom line is this. Clazaghe landed 100 more punches, was the aggressor, and Hopkins forced the clinches. While Hopkins landed the harder shots earlier, it was Clazaghe doing the damage from round 6 to finish. Hopkins seemed to weaken in the mid to late rounds. His older body needed a break. Hopkins invented one for himself. Hopkins disgraced himself with faking a low blow when he was gassing. I'm glad the crowd saw thought his facade.

 

Thats a good point what you made about their styles in conjunction with their age.

Hopkins' defence really is amazing though, i knew it was, but i concede before this fight that Calzage's attack would be too difficult for any defence to stop- i was wrong, B-Hop made him miss complete flurries time and again, what a ATG

 

Hey, each to their own. Being pro Hopkins i like to see it as an old past his prime fighter finding ways to be competitive. Haven't seen the low blows bit tho. Hopkins is finding ways to be uber competitive at a freakish career stage really. Caz was coming off a fantastic win and is a rather decent fighter. It's all good. Other greats by this stage were getting schooled or destroyed or enjoying well earned retirement

 

Good take. I can't beleive some posters think Hopkins won. One classic poster thought Hopkins won 117-110! I had it 116-111 for Calzage or 115-112 for Calzaghe.

I do think Clazaghe will look much better in his next fight. Hopkins is a very good defensive fighter, who can coutner, and clinch. Clazaghe's busy style gave Hopkins a chance to show his best.

 

This was even worse than his play-acting in the 10th. Cortez didn't even signal a low blow, yet Hopkins wanted the fight stopped. Should he perhaps even administered a standing eight-count? Becuase if the ref didn't think it hit him in the plums he must have reasoned it was a body shot.

 

I had it 117-110 Hopkins, I could go down to 114-113 to Hopkins but Hopkins made Calazage miss so much and countered him to pieces, it was a clinic. Most fans seem to count missed ineffective punches.

I think the punchstats are wrong in terms of what was landed (its not always easy to see whats landed) but even if they are right, would you rather take 2slaps or 1 flush on the button hopkins counter?

 

I think Cortez should've started counting on that last occasion. You can't just sit down, fake a low blow and think to get away with it.

I'm glad he didn't take a point from Joe though, it appeared that way for a moment. Just because Calzaghe didn't lay down like a ***** after all of Hopkins' low blows doesn't mean they didn't land. Good thing the crowd recognised the ***** move, it kind of surprised me because it was his hometown.