Calzaghe Question...

REED Will have to Watch Some Tape B 4 Making an OFFICIAL Prediction, but Right Now he's Leaning Towards Calzaghe...

Calzaghe's ACTIVITY is the Antithesis of What Bernard Hopkins is these Days...Calzaghe's QUICKER as Well...

He won't HURT Bernard, but REED Could See Calzaghe BEATING Bernard to the Punch Enough to Win a Unanimous Decision...

Bernard's Best Chance is to Fuck w/Calzaghe's HEAD...Calzaghe's PROVEN, but he's Never Been Tested MENTALLY, like he will B w/Bernard...The Shit Talk, the Racial Shit, the Holding & Hitting, the Leading w/the Head Bit...

The Actual Fight will Probably LACK "Excitement", but the Matchup Itself is VERY Intriguing...


REED

 

Again, I have the Hatton-Tszyu fight on DVD. And there is a LOT of BS revisionism about that fight.

Most people seem to remember Ricky just dry-humping Kostya to bits. And that is partially correct. But that doesn't tell anything like the story. What haters forget is that, and although I may be out round wise here (and will check tomorrow if peeps wish), Hatton had to walk through BOMBS to get into sufficient range to work inside and allow his weight and superior strength at that weight to play a part. In at least three of the first 5 rounds, Ricky walks through clean, FLUSH Kostya right hands to get inside. At the time, I winced each time they landed, especially the one that hit him flush at the start of round 5 (or 4, maybe :). It near took his head clean off. Those same shots had Zab dancing a la chicken and Sharmba having a doze.

Ricky showed tremendous CHIN, GUTS and HEART to get at Tszyu that way. that was the night I went from being a Hatton fan to being a Hatton nuthugger. It was also the reason why I was so surprised to see Floyd bounce him around as he did, because I always imagined Tszyu to be much more heavy handed.

But Hatton has and always will be vulnerable to a slickster. He is bull strong at 140, has great chin, courage and power and a vicious body shot, BUT there was always the feeling that a clean, quick counter pucnher would be able to pick him off. Floyd did, and maybe Junior Witter can. He's exactly the sort of guy who can beat Ricky.

Joe is different. Even when fighting bums, his skills were evident. He is unbelievably quick of hand, has excellent footwork and can manouvre his opponent in a way that Ricky can't. The Eubanks fight showed that, even early doors, he had a great chin and is as tough as teak. He can slug it out, ala Byron Mitchell, or he can make a fighter look foolish, ala Lacy. People mock his 'open handed' punching, but they are still hurtful punches in bunches, as the faces of Lacy and Kessler will testify, BUT he still has enough one shot power to KO a guy he knows he can bang out without being hit himself. And more over, he can adapt to his opponent, which Ricky could never do. If Ricky's Plan A fails, then there is no real Plan B. Joe has the special ability to change, mid fight, what he is doing if he can sense that his initial plan has not worked. It is this which marks him down as a great, HoF fighter.

Genuinely, I cannot see anyone out there to beat Joe right now. The only people who have a chance are Bernard, who is sublimely skilled at negating is opponent's strengths and maybe Chad Dawson in 12-18 months. Even then, both of these guys fight at an alien weight for Joe. No SMW ever, with the exception of the great RJJ, would have beaten Joe. Not one- not Benn (not even the Benn who beat McClellan), not Eubanks, not Ottke (definitely); no-one.

That is not revisionism. Even though I claim no authority to make them, I do compile P4P lists. And even after the Kostya fight, I had Ricky at 6, and have never had him higher. Joe hasn't been out of my top 6 for near 5 years, and with each fight he looks more and more impressive.

I love both fighter's, but Ricky has always been a lesser fighter than Joe. No doubt in my mind of this...

MTF

 

This is the way for Bernard to win, no doubt.

I don't think the racial stuff will bother Joe. In fact, there can be little doubt that Joe responds better to this sort of stuff. The bigger the challenge, the better he is. But the in-fighting and ability to negate Joe's skills are big PLUSES for Bernard. He needs to lead with the forehead, gouge, slow Joe down however possible and stop him from dominating as he likes to.

I favour Joe heavily, but the closer the fight gets, the more doubt creeps in. Writing Bernard off is a mug's game, and it ought not be forgotten that Hopkins RAPES southpaws. Also, the additional weight could be a factor- this is Joe's first bout at 175 and that also favours 'Nard. And if Bernard can get at Joe with the uppercut, as Kessler did early and with success, then Joe might have problems.

Not to mention that this is Calzaghe's first big fight outside of Wales.

I imagine Joe being quicker in the 'action' points but maybe he won't like the infighting. Also, Joe has a lot more power than his 'slappy' flurries suggest. Watch again those flurries- in amongst the lighter shots there is invarioubly one or two very hurtful punches. It's like he blinds his man with his blurring handspeed to set up the big shots. He has a good KO record for a man who 'slaps'... ::

It might be boring, but I still see Joe outworking Bernard and stepping right into the HoF after this one after a clear UD win.

MTF opcorn:

 

you don't think they would make more money if 15,000 people come to watch then if only 5,000 show up? :dunno:

 

It doesn't always work out that way. Hatton is a good example. He never made huge money in manchester. In fact I think his higest payday was like 1.5 million.

 

but the crucial difference - hatton has 30,000 fans travelling to see him wherever, so he sells out venues wherever. slappy doesn't have so many travelling fans. he'd definitely sell out a welsh venue, but maybe there will be empty seats in america.

 

....

He made 3 million against Collazo even which wasn't held in a very big arena.

 

sorry, i'm talking out my ass then.

 

Bernard's one hope in this fight is to be so sharp in his counter punching that he punishes Joe every time he leads and so forces the pace of the fight WAY down. I could certainly envision B-Hop sneaking enough rounds to win a decision that way - countering Joe coming in then roughing him up inside and getting in Joe's head. Calzaghe is somewhat vulnerable to the right hand and I certainly see a home there for Bernard's, especially if Joe loses composure and starts to reach in the later rounds to claw back an early deficit.

Overall though, I think Calzaghe is too good to be snake charmed into that game. He'll be willing to take one to land two, and that being the case, unless Hopkins can seriously hurt Joe with one of those rights, as inevitably as the tide coming in, he's gonna get out worked by Calzaghe's pace and volume as the fight progresses.


To answer the thread question - Joe wont take anywhere near the number of supporters that Hatton did. But they'll fill their allocation, no doubt. It'll be full.

 

Hopkins' last fight in Vegas did poor numbers. For this fight they increased the ticket prices. At least they were smart enough not to put the fight on PPV.

I don't remember who said it, i think it was Joe or Ron King but it is obvious they are preying for all of Calzaghes fans to come over and buy the tickets.

 

He sure didn't have all them fans when he fought in half empty arena in Boston against Collazo or the Paris Ballroom against Urango.

 

I hope Hopkins KO's this jerk.. I wanna see Joe break down and cry after the fight.. talking all this trash.. just like Hatton..

 

I actually like Calzaghes trash talking i hope he KO's Hopkins and retires him like he says he will. I also hope that all the heavyweight fighters are on a plane going to the event and it crashes and they all die.

 

:eeeek:

you want JOE?

 

Hopkins has had a great career but his boring style is unwatchable.

 

I second this hope!:bears:

 

:eeeek: I can not believe my eyes

 

When he started holding too much

he got boring. He sure wasn't boring when he fought rjj.

 

That fight was probably Roys most boring fight at 160-168