I think we are making too much of..

looking at calzaghe from a purist point of view his form and style are awkward

get past that and look at him as a fighter and he is virtually complete.

calzaghe can outbox the boxer from the outside

can out skill the inside fighter on the inside

out tough the toughman

outspoil the spoiler



its very rare that one fighter is that versatile and adaptable, 99.9% of boxers have a go to form which is there bread and butter.


there are pure boxers
defensive minded fighters/offense fighters/box punchers/counterpunchers/body punchers/fight in the pocket fighters.

calzaghe despite his awkwardness can do them all , which is why he is hard to beat because he can adapt any one of these styles to an opponent in front of him to see if it works , if it does he then has a gameplan to win.

watch say a tarver/stand up boxer v hopkins, once hopkins had figured tarver out, tarver had no plan b at all.

same with hatton v mayweather.

put calzaghe x factors like hometown crowd/huge punch volume/chin/will to win/not willing to take rounds off/willingness to take chances to let his hands go.

then despite his poor punch technique when he reaches , he is as all of his opponents have found a hard man to figure out.

hatton v calzaghe same weight and IMO you just know calzaghe would find a style to win.

 

no
i had it rounds 1/2/3 for hopkins
plus 10 and 1 point for the knockdown

and yes calzaghe fought a poor fight.

much easier if calzaghe had jabbed/stepped back of the long hopkins right and uppercutted more.

but i told you calzaghe fights poor v spoliers all through his career..

 

Ah...ok...remembered wrong.:good

Yes, you did warn me that it wasn't going to be pretty. I expected that but I expected Calzaghe to be at his very best, particularly since he was at a disadvanted style-wise and since Hopkins was so cunning and crafty...I guess I was wrong.

Still, I'm glad you agree this wasn't as well as Calzaghe could have fought, as some of the Calzaghe fans that predicted a very close fight suggested: e.g. PrideOfWales and McGrain. (Not sure about Dorfmeister...:think )