Would you really be surprised if Hopkins beats Calzaghe?

It would balance out the gift he got against Reid then.

This whole lack of work rate from Hopkins argument is a misnomer. If you look at compubox stats Hopkins threw 640 punches in his last fight. Now whilst this may not seem like many compared to Joe, when you consider how many punches Joe wastes it is still a respectable output.

I see Joe wasting even more trying to hit Hopkins & he'll be punished for it.

 

hopkins landed 152 punches, which is less than kessler landed on calzaghe

it is the constant clinching/leading with the head that calzaghe will have to look out for.
hopkins iniated 130 plus clinches v wright as well as cutting wright in the begining with a head clash.

 

The problem I have with a Hopkins win is that it would have to be on points. Joe can't get KO'd by Hopkins, he's been hit by much bigger punchers, has shown a decent chin and has never looked like being stopped. I think it's fair to rule out a Hopkins win by stopage as Bernard hasn't stopped anyone for years.

So that just leaves us with the possibility of a points win. The big problem here is the pace that Calzaghe fights compared to Hopkins' output. If Joe was in the habit of taking breathers then you could see a leveller. Joe Calzaghe DOES NOT take breathers. He fights for 180 seconds of every round. If Hopkins nails him with a couple of straight rights, Joe will still be circuling and throwing jabs and combos 5 seconds later. Hopkins is unlikely to tie Joe up for enough time in any round to stop this. Calzaghe is busy, probably the busiest fighter in the game at the moment. He has proven stamina and fitness.

The top and bottom of it is that I cannot foresee anything other than a Calaghe win no matter which way I look at it.

Call it nuhuggery, call it what you will, but Hopkins met his match against a Jermain Taylor that is slower, less agile, less accurate, less busy and has a worse chin compared to Mr Calzaghe... Joe does everything better than Taylor, and then some.

 

If it goes to points I wouldnt be suprised. Unless Joe gets a clear 5 point advantage he wont get a decision.

Works like this

Calzaghe leads by 3 rounds........Judges give it Bernie

Calzaghe Leads by 4 rounds........Judges give it a draw

Calzaghe leads by 5 rounds.........Judges give it to Joe

I wish I was exaggerating loads, but Ive seen Lewis Holyfield enough to know different.

P.S. Bernie can get 3 free fouls before a warning.

 

yea man you know im just exaggerating to the extreme with that...

ive never been a fan of Hopkins it has to be said some people enjoy that conservative defensive style and whilst i appreciate the skills involved in that as well as adapting as the aging process set in ive never been overtly enamoured with watching it nor with the trashtalking that preceeded boring dull fights as well...look no further than the de la hoya farce

there is a line of argument that Calzaghe wastes punches and he even said as much himself after the Kessler fight and i don't doubt that Hopkins will make him miss but its exactly that...i don't think Hopkins has it in him to make him pay...not anymore especially when you look at how sluggish he looked in beating a blown up jnr welter at light heavyweight...

Calzaghe is going to win and imo its better for boxing than having an old man holding a division hostage...and thats what one fight a year Hopkins is doing right now

 

Not really a fair comparison seeing as Wright is harder to hit than Calzaghe. Joe may actually realise cuffing of punches is not allowed now that he's fighting out of Britain for the third time.

 

good point...i don't think Calzaghe is a mug in this regard either...Hopkins has little to no chance imo in this one

 

winky wright at 170 is not harder to hit than calzaghe.
hopkins did not have to worry about wrights power at all while calzaghe had to think about kesslers all 12 rounds.

wright lost his leg mobilty at that weight and his hand speed was slower allowing him to be counterd easier with hopkins nicely timed short rights.

hopkins also shoe shined in the wright fight as well.

IMO if team calzaghe work out a gameplan to fight hopkins they will try and do it from the outside and make it a jab v jab contest

 

If this is fought on the outside, Joe wins by shut out, no question. He has a very under-rated jab and doesn't get hit by jabs himself. JC would easily control the fight with his speed, boxing skills and no little intelligence. Hopkins only chance is to avoid this at all costs.

The only problem is that Joe will want to put on a show, he's not going to be content to box Hopkins all night and will move in for a finish. This is the vulnerable time for Calzaghe.

 

Surprised is a huge understatement, it would be a shock of epic proportions on the level of Tyson-Douglas. Calzaghe realistically should be a 45 to 1 favorite. I can't see how Hopkins could even win by a robbery decision, because it won't be as close as something like Casamayor-Santa Cruz.

 

Plus, the WW of late has slightly changed his style, he has changed from the crab like jab machine and has adopted a more boxer puncher approach, for what reason I dont know, but he has certainly changed his style slightly, this in turn has made him miles easier to hit because he is risking more lately, and as SEAN said, WW has no power, therefore BHOP neednt have worried about getting hit himself, Hop will be more worried about JC hitting him, and more worried about letting go himself because of JC speed. If hop wins fairly hes a ****ing legend, but Cal wins in my opinion, cant see it any other way

 

Calzaghe has been involved in far more farces than Hopkins. Mario Veit, Tocker Pudwill & Peter Manfredo instantly spring to mind.

I still think this is a massive step up in class for Calzaghe & I can definitely see him getting put down Kabary Salem style. He wont be hurt just off balance & embaressed.

I find the delusion of some on here astounding. Hopkins has a better jab than Joe.

 

i think if team calzaghe work out a gameplan that matching jabs will be calzaghe`s best option.

hopkins can shut calzaghe down if he stands in the pocket.

calzaghe boxes from the outside with his jab, fighting a technical fight, it will take away a lot of hopkins danger to calzaghe which is the right hand/head/shoulder leads.

fight like he did v saelm or bika and calzaghe loses.

 

The problem I have with Hopkins being favourite is that he has a rep built on beating smaller fighters, as soon as he fought a true MW he lost twice. Joe is probably going to benefit from the step as well, he could be even more devastating. You say this is a massive step up in class for JC, but I think this is BHOPS biggest test of his career:good

 

no