Hopkins v Calzaghe: The Resume

there are none.

 

They never have a legitimate answer for this very straightforward question

 

It's funny that 2 of the 4 wins you list happened when Hopkins was over 40 (his immediate two fights prior to Calzaghe, in fact), yet you conveniently add in that under 40 stipulation to make it so Calzaghe's win over that very same Hopkins doesn't count.

Get the **** outta here.

 

The win over Johnson at the time was on par or even below Calzaghe's win over Lacy. Johnson hadn't accomplished anything by this point and was nowhere near the fighter he'd become. Don't let the record fool you, Johnson had nothing to offer a guy like Hopkins at that stage of his career and fought with a completely different style. It wasn't until later years when he had aged a bit that he became a truly consistent pressure fighter and overall a much higher level of fighter than the one Hopkins faced.

The win over Hopkins himself was better than Hopkins's win over Tarver, or really any of the ones mentioned in Hopkins's favor.

Two of Hopkins's top wins were over smaller fighters who's rating was based primarily on their work at lower weights. Tito was a better win than Winky at the time probably.

I rate Calzaghe's win over Kessler as better than any of Hopkins's wins to be honest. Kessler is just a better fighter than anyone Hopkins beat(at the weight they were fought at anyway, not neccessarily P4P).

Bottom line, neither fighter has a great resume, at all. Their greatness is based on their dominance, consistency and overall skill level.

 

I cant really see how you rate Kessler so highly

 

:good:yep

 

Watching him fight, he's a very skilled boxer technically. There's not really much competition either when comparing him to Hopkins's top wins.

 

I used to feel that Calzaghe had a superior resume due strictly due to the fact that he holds the win over Kessler, looking back on it I don't quite feel the same.. even with Calzaghe's win over Hopkins. When really breaking it down, Hopkins overall competition was very solid.. I think even more so that Calzaghe's as a whole.

Take Syd Vanderpool for example.. he was past his best when he fought a prime Jeff Lacy and was giving him the fight of his life before being stopped.. well.. Hopkins dominated a prime version of this same fighter. When you really take a closer look at the fighters both men defeated you really can appreciate Hopkins legacy.



Oh, and to answer the question.. I feel their resumes are about even.

 

At any rate, wins over Wright, and Tito are far more impressive in my opinion. Trinidad wasn't very small, and definitely carried his power pretty well, he was a big favorite for this fight.

And the Wright fight, even though it was only a year ago and at a catchweight that was "too heavy" for Wright, i find it to be an impressive win nonetheless. Wright's success was never in his power or his size, it was in his trademark defense and boxing ability, along with being able to neutralize his opponents strengths. The size difference in my eyes wasn't a big factor, and I tie this on as a very impressive win for the 42 at the time Hopkins.

However had this fight been made beforehand at 160, say after Wright dismantled Tito it probably would be spoken more highly of by the general boxing public. At any rate a win over writght is an impessive feat.

In anycase I find these wins to be more impressive then Calzaghes wins because both opponents were betting favorites, and had very impressive winning streaks coming in.

Kessler in my eyes was on unproven talent taking a big step up, I just cant put him in the same class as these two.

 

I feel the same way about the Wright fight. The extra weight hadn't diminished any of Winky's skills... his game was never based on speed, power, or footwork.. his main weapon was always defense.

 

I'd bet the house on Kessler beating Tito or Wright at SMW. These fighters work at lower weights doesn't really factor in to the way I judge them at the weight Hopkins fought them at. Hopkins was not only better P4P, but bigger than Wright, only problem was his age. Either way, Wright was not in his prime either. Very boring fight as well. I don't rate the win very highly.

I see the Tito win as better given the circumstances, but still, Hopkins was the naturally bigger fighter and Tito was just too limited to match up with a guy like Hopkins. He'd have lost similarly to Kessler IMO, styles.

 

Just because Trinidad came from a lower weight it shouldn't diminish the win. Trinidad was still very effective at middleweight.. if he wasn't he wouldn't have KTFO a very good chinned MW in Joppy. Hopkins couldn't even stop Joppy, and more recently Bute couldn't stop a shot to pieces version of Joppy at SMW until very late in the fight.

 

Joppy was a tough fighter, but not very skilled. His style played into Tito's hands moreso than the others you mentioned, considering he was there to be hit all night.

I don't neccessarily diminish his win over Hopkins. I consider it a better win than Wright, and far better at MW than the Oscar win, but I don't see it as good a win in reality as I do Calzaghe's win over Kessler, even though it may have been hyped up to be considering his P4P status at the time.

 

cosign. calzaghe beat hopkins when he was a top 5 p4p.