was hopkins closer to his prime then calzaghe in their fight? i think so...

POWERPUNCHER - Hopkins should have won his debut, got robbed against Mercado, and should have got the call over Jones, Taylor twice and Calzaghe...Not

BRIGHTON BOMBER - Calzaghe was always lucky enough not to have to take a fight in the circumstances you claim and I doubt he would have fought in the same situation, If what you say is correct it wasnt the best move of Hopkins blemishing his record with a draw against Mercado.
Calzaghe wasnt in his prime when he fought Hopkins either and as the thread says possibly further removed.
Hopkins is known to come on strong late but Calzaghe removed that from Hopkins. Hopkins was strong late in his performances before and after Calzaghe.
You say the last time Hopkins looked good and in his prime was against Joppy. But did you not think Hopkins looked good against Pavlik? I think Pavlik is a better MW than Joppy yet Hopkins finished stronger against Pavlik than he did Joppy.
Hopkins fans are very varied as to when his prime was. Was it when losing his debut, putting up a boring show against Jones, drawing with Mercado, losing twice to Taylor or being beaten by Calzaghe?

 

Well said

 

I think you are kind of reaching to say Hopkins is closer to prime than Calzaghe. Honestly, had Joe crossed the pond and competed in that prime era I think he may not have last this long. Both shot guys put him down early. IMHO, that says he would not have survived either prime.

It seems as Hopkins ages he uses more skill/tactics and less physicality. Against guys who aren't physical enough to dominate him and/or technical enough to deal with him, he can still eke out wins. Calzaghe seems to be supremely conditioned and mentally sharp.

The wins you mentioned? Tarver drained dropping down from HW size from the Rocky movie. Funny because he busted up RJJ under the same circumstances. Wright was just way too small and was wrestled to exhaustion. Pavlik, just too inexperienced and possible ill health.

I honestly think that the Calzaghe loss energized Hopkins.

 

Calzaghe's prime was around the Byron Mitchell fight in my opinion.

 

Calzaghe may have gone down against Hopkins and Jones but lets not pretend he was staggering around the ring, on both occassions it was Calzaghe who got up and made the fight. Thats like saying Hopkins couldnt take a shot because he went down from Mercado, just the difference is that when Calzaghe got put down he got up and won something Hopkins didnt do.
Hopkins want able to KO Joppy or Holmes who had been KOd previously and Calzaghe had a great chin. It was a well placed shot of Hopkins when Calzaghe was standing square on but not a punch that had him close to being KOd, Hopkins landed harder shots than that, that had no effect same as Jones
Why should Calzaghe have to cross the pond to prove himself, he beat Sheika, Brewer, Mitchell and Hopkins,

 

Age isnt the only thing to come into it:nono

 

i agree:good

 

Close fight, wouldn't call it a robbery.

 

Calzaghe's prime, for me, is just as much a mystery as Hopkins'.

For sure his best wins were late on in his career...but his skills had clearly faded (power, speed, footwork). I wouldn't agree that his extra experience and ringsmarts compensated for these deteriorations. I truly believe Calzaghe was prime from around 2000 - 2006 latest. Though its hard to justify conclusively since he was fighting lesser fighters during this period.

Calzaghe was not prime when he beat kessler imo

 

prime should not be based on age alone, see tyson v lewis! and the jones knockdown i suggest u watch again because it was a forearm ramon dekkers would have been impressed with! i though jones was gunna follow it up with a suplex and a leglock! freak incident,mitchell was the only one to ever truly stun calzaghe but he was never on ***** street.

 

popkins you're as delusional as your idol.

 

Strong words,considering that Bernard lost twice to Jermaine Taylor years before he and lying Joe fought.I guess Bernard wasn't that good in the first place.Nah,that would put lying Joe's resume in jeopardy.

 

Cool.