I'm sorry but the more i watch Calzaghe, the more i see weaknesses.

He never fought anybody, his resume is trash, just bums in Wales and 1 hype job in Lacy and 1 okay fighter in Kessler.

 

Talk stops 19th- Calzaghe going to win.:good

 

He is open to a straight right and he will get caught by Hopkins. The problem is that Hopkins does not have the power to stop him with one or two shots and so the only use it is for Hopkins is that he will be landing a scoring shot.

But landing 5 clean rights per round wont be enough to win it when he has taken 15-20 scoring shots from Calzaghe in the same round.
Hopkins has always been a guy who has a low output and relies on accuracy and ring craft to win. But it is he who will have to fight outside of his rhythm in order to win. He will have to up his workrate and increase his output 3 times in order to outscore Calzaghe.

And this is nothing to do with his age. Watch him against Eastman or even go right back to when he fought RJJ he does not like fighting at a high pace, he fights his fight and it pretty much always works and wins. But when the higher workrate and output against him is coming from someone who is faster, and of a high class he is going to lose, just like he did when he fought RJJ.

 

People need to think about this when saying kessler has more power than Hopkins; Timing beats speed and power everytime look at Zab tzyu

 

Good post. Although I think Hop wins.

 

He's got really good reflexes and mixes it up, he's a ****ing nightmare to fight

 

Nard will punish him. He's vulnerable to straight rights, he's also vulnerable to the body.

TRUTH IS: Calzaghe has never faced a guy who uses angles like Bernard AND has the footwork/movement to dictate the pace. Bernard will choose his spots, and attack from angles, and that's going to be the story of the fight.

He'll cut Calzaghe's output through 1) distance and movement, 2) attacks from angles (nullify Calzaghe's ability to counterpunch) and 3) clinch/infighting.

The infighting will tire Calzaghe's arms and punish his body, believe me, when his shoulder hurt from the wrestling and his upper body loses flexibility from the body punching, the head will be there to get hit and Bernard will score at will. Calzaghe trains for speed, but does not train for muscle resistance. His body is not suited to the kind of infighting Bernard will impose on him. Vs. Lacy and Kessler, he didn't have to fight out of clinches. Vs. Bika he had and it affected him a lot. Bernard is 10X or more the infighter Bika was. Bernard's gonna rough him up real good.

Bernard by late round stoppage.

 

Joe is a really flawed fighter, the problem is he has been fighting bums his entire career.

-He throws wide punches
-He drags his jab back
-His hands are to low
-his chin is too high
-he slaps with his punches
-he fought alot of bums:hey

 

Just to note, Bhops doesn't get hit after his straight right because he clinches right after he throws it. So the entire idea that Calzaghe is going to score 5 to 1 after Bhop lands doesn't wash.

Once inside, Bhop is also the better inside fighter. If Calzaghe tries to tee off inside, he'll get countered to death. At best his chance for winning this fight will hinge on his speed on the outside and his jab. Or, maybe Bhop will age overnight... which is hard to imagine cause he's already 43.

 

teetop another good post, right on the money. exactly my point to many young guys who never boxed in there lives just follow the hopkins wagon, but havn't got a clue about boxing.

 

I like Calzaghe's body movement with a lot of feints and good balance in order to anticipate with his punches - waits for his opening, takes a small step back or scores fast - not to mention that he is always on his toes and can keep it up for long periods of time. But that right jab is really just a scoring punch and that straight left is far from being a damaging punch. And Hopkins is very sharp and solid skilled... I really don't know if that shot can only break Calzaghe's output - it can cut him on the eyelid like Pac did to JMM or Nate did to Baby Bull, it can knock him down flush like Casa did to Kats in the first round, many things can happen... Otherwise, I wouldn't give Hopkins a chance for real... Such is the difference in handspeed and physical activity between these two at this point in time. I guess there is a slight exaggeration about Calzaghe's so-called technical flaws... He is very technical, versatile and fluid, just that he's a little bit awkward - it really takes a superb, cold-blooded man to explore that to the point of actually winning the fight.

 

lol..gotcha. :good

 

Sure Calzaghe has some technical flaws. The worst being he has a bad tendency to square up in front of his opponent in their wheelhouse. And he has been caught a couple of times in his career doing it. But he's got a decent chin and more importantly great reflexes where he can sometimes use upper body movement to avoid getting hit full flush.

He also is a truly gifted boxer that can punch from a lot of angles. Does a lot of things right. Has excellent stamina. Great footwork. And supreme confidence in his own abilities.

But there is one intangible that could be a problem. Maybe, maybe not. I don't like the fact that Calzaghe has fought almost every single fight in his career in front of a hometown crowd and never faced a hostile environment. And that he has done almost no traveling. That is a question mark that will be answered Saturday.