Why has Hopkins made this unwinnable match? Why does he think he can win?

Starting by the end and the side note, that was a cracking right hand on Tarver - the punch that landed on Tito was a beautiful counter hook as Trinidad went in for all or nothing and left himself open from left field.

I agree that Hopkins is all about capitalizing on mistakes but the difference is that he consistently does so and never plays to the crowd - he just goes in there focused on coming out with the W - and that's why I came up with the 119-108 scores ( 3 judges) against Tarver... Consistent counter-punching! Take it from Williams - Quintana: Williams has a freakish punch output but Carlos consistently counterpunched him with shorter, sharper and well-placed shots on the back foot, threw less and landed more - it was one of the recent and clear cases of boxing I.Q. over physical-technical advantages... I know Joe fought his heart out to get that win over Mikkel and few believe he will have to work less against someone like Hops. Therefore, it's a comfortable UD for Calzaghe at best, but something tells me that Cal will not be in there willing to happily take some to give some ( he didn't do that not even against Lacy in England) and that makes it even closer... He will have a very tough time to stand in front of Hops cause he knows ( is aware) that Bernard is tough as nails and Godamn tricky and that's why I think there's not much between them.

I don't know about Cal's defensive skills to lessen the impact of counter-shots but it has to be emphasized that Bernard is much more unpredictable when pulling the trigger - and if Cal doesn't see it coming, how come he can turn away and lessen the impacts? He can systematically time/hold back his attacks in order not to get timed but if he does so, his offense will be severely damaged... Listen, I have no intentions of going into empty rhetorics here but I have to call the bluff on the "unwinnable" issue. It will be a close call and can go either way.

 

He has been hurt and stunned but has shown amazing recuperative capabilities.

Said in a simpler way -- he seems to just shake it off after 5-20 seconds or so.

 

I wondered the same thing Mcgrain.:good it seems an aborrattion;He has no edge this time;
Joe's not naturally smaller,or weight drained,or limited.
Probably the best pension fight in terms of money and exposure,with him coming through relatively unscathed,due to his defensive skills.

 

Joe's chin is immensely strong!

He's only been down a couple of times in his career. Byron Mitchell knocked him down in the second round, then Joe KO'd Mitchell in the same round. Karbary Salem also knocked him down.

 

he was down against Bryon Mitchell in the 2nd after walking onto a sharp right hand i think it was but got up quick and then stopped Mitchell in the same round. I think maybe Omar Sheika might have put him down as well but he was never really in trouble. Joes chin is excellent he can certainly take a punch and he recovers quickly even if he is caught. I cant see Joe stopping BHOP as i dont think he sits down on his punches enough anymore

 

To KO or knock down anyone he has to risk hand injury, that's why.

 

This is a very nice thread even if the title suggest something not 100% realistic.

I don't see a kayo here but that's the last thing one can predict not to happen in boxing - JCC vs Taylor, Glen Johnson vs RJJ, James Toney vs Michael Nunn ( and vs Prince Charles Williams), et cetera... If there is a TKO possibility here, it's clearly on Calzaghe's side and by accumulation. BTW, I am not on either side of the fence.

I am glad that I have received just at this precise moment all of Calzaghe's career fights on DVD so I can only say that he was knockdown and hurt against Mitchell. His chin is very, very good.

 

He saw what Sakio Bika did, thought to himself "he fights kinda like me, only way shittier, and he gave Joe a hard time, so I know I can have a winning strategy."

Basically, he still doesn't think of himself as being able to only throw 30 punches a round.

So: 1 - he doesn't think it's unwinnable, and 2, because Calzaghe has had the most trouble with awkward fighters like himself.

 

Did you ever reply to the post I made for you?

 

I'll post it again.

Listen man, no disrespect to you, but it looks like you've been reading posts by fools who have no clue as to what constitutes a great boxer, and there are plenty of fools on here. Maybe somewhere along the way you became slightly brainwashed by the endless **** talk, but the fact is, Calzaghe can punch a hell of a lot harder than you think. The reason he doesn't throw super heavy shots constantly is because, if he did, he'd break his ****ing hands. Joe more than makes up for this in other areas and all-round boxing ability. The guy is a seriously smart fighter. I can only come to the conclusion that you have a problem recognizing talent. What makes it so hard for some people to see it?

Every time someone talks crap about Joe (or any great boxer, come to think of it) I am semi-reluctant to answer back because usually 400 rampant, testosterone-filled teenage baboons jump on me and call me a "nuthugger", but honestly this **** needs straightening out. Read: You pub brawler types need to do your homework when it comes to the sweet science of boxing.

Up until Joe started to damage his hands, he was knocking out plenty of his opponents. So far, he's had more than 120 amateur fights and 44 professional fights. 32 of those pro fights have ended in KO or TKO. It's pretty obvious that if "he couldn't punch himself out of a paper bag" he would have an embarrassing KO record. Which he doesn't. Go get your Microsoft calculator and work out the KO percentage yourself. It's not a bad record by any means, especially considering his hand injuries.

One of his tougher fights was against Robin reid who caught him with quite a few hard right hands. Joe damaged his hand in this fight but still managed to pull out a UD. He was also recovering from food poisoning. He walked through those heavy bombs from Reid and barely even flinched. To suggest his chin is made of iron wouldn't be an understatement. Not that you did, but I like to point out of his many great qualities which make up his all-round genius in the ring.

Before the fight with Lacy, Jeff said "If you look at his fights, wouldn't you call him a slapper?". Two years later, and Lacy still hasn't recovered from the injuries and mental trauma sustained during his heavily one-sided loss to Joe. It's not inaccurate to say he ruined Jeff's career, as he hasn't been the same since.

Here's a picture to remind you:

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That's Jeff, bleeding from both eyes, nose and lips, of course, all damage caused by slaps to the face.

When he needs to turn it on, believe me, Calzaghe can bang. This was proven in the fight against Byron Mitchell (previously unbeaten and never knocked down until he met Joe), when Mitchell knocked him down in the second round. That was Joe's first knock down, too. If I remember correctly, Joe was up by the count of 3 and proceeded to KO Mitchell in the same round.

It's worth mentioning he also knocked down Chris Eubank in the first round. Some may argue that Eubank was too old. That's bull****. Chris was only 31 and continued to fight for a while. One notable opponent happened to be a cruiserweight.

Quote from Eubank: "Joe is the proper article, a true warrior."

I agree with Chris.

11 of Joe's 44 professional fights have ended in first round. 7 of those 44 fights ended in the 2nd round. Only 11 of the 44 fights have gone the full 12 rounds.

Quote from Barry McGuigan: "He punches ferociously, moves superbly and has the best of the European technique and US aggression."

I agree with Barry.

I could also go on, but I think you get where I'm coming from by now. Do you honestly believe this man cannot punch his way out of a paper bag?

 

I agree with all the above, but I think that it ultimately comes down to being one final pay day for Bernard. He has already implied that this would be his last fight and the fact that he is in a 'no lose' situation means it was ideal for Bernard. When(if) he loses he can play the 43 year old card and he picks up a healthy retirement cheque, if he wins, it secures his legacy and he takes the spoils.

 

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I think Hopkins believes that Calzaghe has been protected and hasnt fought the caliber of opposition like he did. He will be proven wrong and will be beaten handily.

 

Been a while since people brought up the Mitchell stoppage!

And if you you think Ali is anywhere near as good as Calzaghe and Roy Jones (great resume) then you are mad.

 

I've just seen now Cal's first WBO title fight against a very good fighter in Chris Eubank and that was a veteran people may compare Hopkins to. Cal was 22-0, 21 KOs and dropped poor ole Chris with the first left over the top he threw at him - he simply had to be seen as a puncher, maybe not a heavy-handed or powerpuncher, but a very dangerous offensive fighter nonetheless... Chris was heavier handed but what good did it do to him? Landed a straight right with 30 seconds to go in round 6 and won the seventh round according to Sky Sports - when he balanced himself forward, Cal retreated with good sense of distance and tagged him again with all mighty lefts and right hooks, staggered him on the sixth and dropped him again in the tenth. On the inside, Cal was very cool and smart, getting in between Eubank's arms, holding and hitting, faster in the exchanges. At the end, Chris was all ova the place and despite having a black eye, Cal was never in any sort of trouble... Now, is Chris Eubank some sort of Bernard Hopkins? That is a NO... And neither is Cal compared to the once called Joe "Destroyer" Calzaghe.