No Calzaghe Hopkins rematch!

It's almost impossible for it to happen, but it would be one hell of a fight if it does because this time Hopkins would take the fight much more seriously and I think he would really go there wanting to knock Calzaghe out.

From how I see it, he didn't take the first fight seriously enough (unlike the Pavlik fight), and probably didn't realize that Calzaghe really would be retiring after fighting RJJ (which I didn't really think he would do either, but Calzaghe's a smart man).

 

Calzaghe saw what Hopkins had left against Pavlik and know's that Hopkins would figure him out in the rematch. It's as simple as that!

 

:deal

 

Hopkins doesn't deserve it anyway. All he did was cheat in the 1st fight and clearly lost wide.

Beating Pavlik is no big feat, Kelly was always too limited for a higher level.

 

Great news!

I would have been gutted if Joe had given that ***** a rematch.

The white boy won forever more, enjoy retirement 'Champ':rasta

 

Hopkins would outpoint Joe easily in a rematch.I think Hopkins should have got the win in thier fight.Joe should stay retired and keep his precious 46/0 record safe,so his fans can drone on about it for years to come.Boxing will go on without Joe and his boring 12 round slap fests,and im sure Hopkins will find another challenge.

 

Calzaghe doesn't rematch elite legends who he gets a disputed split decision over, he just rematches nobodies he knocked out in the first round, like Mario Veit....

 

Hoya-UK you beat me to it! I was going to mention the Veit rematch. A guy who he managed to dispose of in a matter of seconds, well that was okay to fight him again. But what about a fighter you scraped a controversial split decision against and knocked you on your ass? No "I don't do rematches". Great stuff Joe, the stuff legends are really made of.

Joe was lucky to get that decision, and he knows it - just listen to Enzo in the corner telling him he needed a knock out to win. As long as they can bull**** the casual, bubblegum population into thinking Joe's a great fighter they're happy. There's no REAL pride there, because if there was, Joe would want to put the record straight. Instead he's happy with his paper record, and the 'o' that he's so proud of just shows he was carefully matched, not a great fighter.

The Eubank win was a great win at the time (and I'm being generous here, considering Chris took the fight at short notice and had actually been boxing in a higher division prior to that and had to shed some weight - and was also at the tail end of his career). The Kessler win could also prove to be a great win - depending on what Kessler does from here.
But those are the only two wins that are stand out in terms of legacy. The Lacy fight was a "defining moment", but in hindsight Lacy has turned out to be an over-hyped, overrated boxer and the win doesn't mean as much in terms of his legacy as originally thought at the time (excellent performance, I don't dispute that, but contributes little to his ATG status).

Joe's had some decent wins - Woodhall, Brewer and Mitchell - but they're not the calibre of fighters that make you an all time great. The decision over Hopkins (which Hopkins won in my eyes) will forever be looked upon as controversial (and even the UK media had Hopkins winning at the time) and forget the RJJ farce of a fight - that means about as much as Trevor Berbick's win over Muhammad Ali.

Joe has the opportunity to gain some credibility with all his detractors and critics, but he's so worried over that coveted undefeated record built up on the likes of the Sobots, Thornberrys, Pudwills, Jimenez's, McIntyres, Mkrtchians, Ashiras, Veits, Salems and Manfredos of this world, that he daren't risk it against a legit threat he knew he was lucky to squeak by last time.
Rematches were good enough for the likes of Ali, Leonard, Robinson, etc but not quite good enough for Joe Calzaghe? It's pathetic really. As long as the majority of the population who's only knowledge of the sport extends as far as reading The Daily Star believe Joe is so great and "Britain's best ever", that satisifes him.

Joe, news for you - that "0" doesn't make you great, it's how you go about preserving it that does.

 

Truth is this, in the eyes of boxing historians in years to come Joe's only two wins that will stand out are the Hopkins and Jones fights (maybe Eubank too, but then look at the circumstances) as they are the only names that have had any impact on the history of the sport.
Joe will be remembered for getting a split decision in a controversial fight against a 43 year old (and getting knocked down in the process), and beating up a well over the hill and faded Jones who had lost 3 of his last 6 going in.

 

STFU noob :good

 

Yes, fuxking awesome post... Welcome to ESB Gaz S... For those interested this is not my alias. Everything you sat there is right on the money.

 

its pathetic to even think hopkins would win the rematch, his best chance was to fight like he did last time and he lost, if he tried to KO jc he would play right into Joes hands, JC has worked hopkins out not vice versa hence how the early rounds were close and the later rounds were all JCs, enjoy retirement Joe

 

Exactly. Nobody seems to explain how they believe Hopkins can win a rematch.

Too many on here concentrate on the negatives of Joe's career rather than the positives.

 

To say Hopkins has no chance of beating Calzaghe is absolutely ridiculous. In the first fight, Bernard under performed and didn’t quite take the challenge seriously enough – yet still did enough to win in the eyes of one judge. A motivated Hopkins (see Trinidad, Tarver, Pavlik fights) would be more than capable enough of beating a flurrying slapper who puts no thought into what he’s doing, just flails away and wins on work rate.

Saying fighting Joe in that style plays right into his hands his nonsense. Joe is more exposed (especially to right hands) than Sam Fox at a Page 3 convention. Robin Reid landed on Joe all night (and beat Joe too in the opinions of many), and Hopkins is several levels above Reid.
Bernard attacks Joe with precise combinations and makes him pay with counters when Joe misses (which is a LOT). Remember it took only ONE punch from Hopkins to floor Joe, and then he didn’t capitalize. If Hopkins could do that with one, what’s he going to do now that he’s going to be motivated to throw more?

Bottom line is this – Joe couldn’t really do much better than what he could first time around, whilst Hopkins can. That is why Joe’s fearful of a return and comes out with the pathetic little squeak “I don’t do rematches”.

And forget the bull**** punch stats from their fight last April – no way did Joe land over 200 punches. Maybe on B-Hop’s elbows and on thin air yes, but not SCORING punches! Look at Hopkins after the fight – not a single mark on him! In fact Hopkins was marked up worse in the Pavlik fight, and Pavlik barely landed. If Joe landed 200+ punches on B-Hop then he must hit as hard as a disabled kitten on Rohypnol. It’s just another bull**** paper statistic that people clutch to when trying to justify Calzaghe’s greatness.
A lot of people have no idea what they’re watching when watching a boxing match. As long as somebody is throwing punches they think that’s all it takes to actually win. They have no idea what constitutes a scoring punch, the term EFFECTIVE aggression, etc.

Let’s face it, Calzaghe is mostly hero worshipped by the those who have little knowledge of the sport and it’s history, and only follow him because he’s British/Welsh and couldn’t name you any other fighters other than Hatton and Khan. Then there are the fans who rush to highlight all of Joe’s paper statistics in defence of his status. Most of what you say about Joe could be said for Sven Ottke too really.

The difference is Joe’s worshipped mostly by the ingnorant and uninformed, and those in desperate need of a hero – Hopkins is RESPECTED by the knowledgable people within the sport.
Joe achieved on paper, Hopkins achieved in the ring.

 

Hi Jeff,

I've actually been on ESB for a while and have posted in the past (though not for a couple of years now), so I don't know what's happened to my previous post "stats".

I also have to be careful, I live smack in the middle of "Calzaghe Country" where he's idolized and won't be able to step outside of my front door if I say too much against the "greatest British fight ever" :rofl. :rofl :rofl