~ Joe CALZAGHE v. Bernard HOPKINS ~ ANALYSIS and PREDICTION Thread ~

Yeah, but Taylor and Calzaghe are different in that Taylor is a guy with a lot of power. He can hurt you. That's why Hopkins had to play it safe.

But Joe C doesn't have the power to hurt Hopkins. For example, when he fought Wright, he initiated a lot of action because he knew Wright can't hurt him. And i see Hopkins doing the same thing. I see him controlling the pace and dictating the action. He will dictate when he wants to throw. He constantly came into Winky, threw 5-6 punch combinations and either held Winky or backed off. And that's where he won the fight along with his accurate right hand leads.

 

Why are you British fans so delusional and make such ridiculous statements?

 

Do you think Hopkins is going to win? See my post on the front page.

 

B-Hop by UD

B-Hop has yet be beaten by a lefty. Wright was able to hang in there simply because he has a VERY tight defense. Joe C. defense isn't bad, but certainly not as tight as Winky's.

I expect to see alot of hard straight rights from B-Hop and a ton of counters. Joe may actually get put on his ass in this fight.

 

I think prime Calzaghe beats Prime Hopkins anyway, so Joe's gonna storm the old man.

 

Yes, i read that. And yes, i think Hopkins is going to win. The only thing i worry about is if father time finally catches up to him. That's really my only concern. But if he's the same fighter as the guy who fought Tarver and Wright, i like Hopkins. Hopkins WILL dictate the action of this fight and decrease Joe C's workrate considerably.
Joe C never fought a guy as good as Hopkins. If Joe C tries to come in, he's going to taste a lot of leather from Hopkins' counter right hands. And i see Hopkins landing that all fight long as he does pretty much in every one of his fights.

 

Do you think that Hopkins has fought a guy as good as Calzaghe? Bar Roy.

 

Kessler has good power too, no reason for Joe to play it safe. And that is precisely my argument: Joe always finds a way to win and win clearly. Hopkins doesn't always.

It may not hurt to be hit with one punch by Joe, but those barrages of punches have accumulative effect. Hopkins can handle power, but he can't handle speed plus workrate = losses to RJJ, Taylor because of speed and workrate. Two of Calzaghe's bigest strenghts.

 

Joes has yet to be beaten at all...

Joe's defense is is constant movement, feinting and throwing punches without stopping. He doesn't need a tight guard. Winky was a shell of his best when he fought Hopkins at a weightclass he didn't belong. I give you this, if Calzaghe is as shot as Winky was, he will lose to Hopkins.

 

I see your point. We'll just have to see. But i just can't doubt Hopkins anymore. I thought Tarver would crush him. I thought Wright would prevail with his defense and stiff jab. I was completely wrong. He made both fighters look like they were a class below him.

 

That's a very subjective question. If you think Joe C is the best Hopkins has ever fought, that's cool. I think Tito, Tarver, and Wright are right up there.

 

Wright was not a force at 170 at 160 it would have been a good fight.

Tito was limited against boxers; hindsight is 20:20 and all that he was also a bit smaller although i dont buy that as much tbh.

Tarver is not on Calzaghe's level. Infact Tarver at 38 would get handeled by a great number of fighters at 168-175. He just got lucky because Roy got old, :-(.

 

OK, so now what we are doing is looking at things after the fact.

Wright. I can give you that. But he was still the betting favorite. And there was a general thinking that the jump in weight wouldn't affect him that much. Afterall, they had fought Tito and Taylor within the last couple of years. So they had fought the same opponents.

Tito was a 4:1 favorite leading up to the fight. He was undefeated and simply KOing everyone he faced. He just destroyed Joppy to win a MW title. Yeah, he wasn't a skilled boxer like Joe C but so what? Sometimes it's not just about being technically sound. It's about winning fights. And Tito was simply running over people.

Tarver. Again, he was a 3:1 favorite. At that point in time, he was the man at LHW. Again, not the same skilled boxer as Joe C but again, it's not just about that. Tarver had come off big wins against RJJ and Glen Johnson and was considered the best LHW at that time. And Hopkins was jumping up 2 weight classes at the age of 41. If that's not impressive i don't know what is.

To conclude, i'm not saying these guys were better wins or fighters. I'm just saying they are near the neighborhood of Joe C. It all comes down to preference.

 

The Tito fight I will give you. But my main point is that saying Calzaghe has not faced anybody as good as Hopkins is not realy a valid point because Hopkins has never faced a fighter anywhere near as good as Calzaghe so I doubt that that will be a determining factor in the fight is all.

 

Joe would have batterd these guys as much as Hopkins and would have done Wright more so. Kessler would have batterd them all actually. Bar perhaps a good Tarver. But Kessler would win that one most times too. :good