Calzighe versus Hopkins... thoughts?

Head butts could spell the difference

If anyone can find a way to beat Calzaghe, it will be Hopkins.
I think Bernard would probably butt him open after 4 rounds and pull out his black bag of learned dirty tricks here.
If that fight does come off mark my words Hopkins will be giving Joe the top of his head aiming for the eybrows, and he does it masterfully and with great accuracy and deception.
A severely cut and bleeding Calzaghe over the eyes will be a very different Calzaghe than the boxing public has seen before.
No way I would venture a pick yet as too many things can and will happen in and out of the ring before next year if that does indeed come off.

 

I agree with this "however"

I can't see Hopkins getting close to Joe often enough for most of this to make a difference.

 

I'm a hopkins fan, and for some reason I actually like his crafty, mauling, spoiling style.

He is indeed a master at limiting the opponent's output and controlling the pace.

But against Calzaghe? No way. Did you not see how crafty calzaghe was last night?

Calzaghe would be too quick, duck out of the way, push him off, push him against the ropes, and rough him up and hit him behind the head. Which would not only cancel out hopkins' advantage, but would make hopkins think twice about going for the clinch all the time.

Calzaghe is also a master at moving back out of range and spinning a fighter around, he has excellent footwork. When hopkins threw his slower punches, coming forward ready for the clinch, calzaghe would simply back off, duck, then fire back some faster shots of his own, then if hops clinched him, calzaghe would push him off or engage the clinch, push him back and hit him behind the head.

I respect hopkins greatly, but he would have almost no chance of beating Joe.

 

It's not just about punches thrown, but the ability to maneuver into place to land them. Hopkins' legs are old while Calzaghe can still dance and move in and out.

Tactically it could be an interesting fight but i don't see Hopkins winning.

 

It's the fight that should happen. For some reason I think neither camp will want to give up anything.

HOpkins thinks JOe should come to the US under his terms. And Joe will want Hopkins to go to Wales under his terms.

Both sides have valid points to negotiate the terms. I just don't see either side giving in because of their current status. Joe is coming of his biggest win in front of a huge crowd.

 

:bears:

This is the thing: Joe hits hard enough to rattle/mark up his opponents, though he doesn't turn his punches enough to be truly 'powerful' with a single shot (he DOES NOT slap though!!), he has a chin which not even Kessler could break through (though he caught him with a few clean, straight, hard right hands) and he is the quickest in terms of hand-speed/foot-speed between 160 - 175. His style is so unorthodox that it shouldn't work, but it does...

Bernard's best chance is to foul, spoil and reduce Calzaghe's ability to throw those quick, accumulative combinations. I don't think he (or anyone else for that matter) is able to fight Joe over 12 rounds like Kessler fought the last round: if Kessler thought that he could do so (and he was successful, no doubt), then he would have. But it's just too tiring and too risky to do so.

Kessler looked KNACKERED by round 9/10 last night, and he is nearly ten years Joe's younger. :eeeek:

I think the fight is close, but I have to favour Joe.

MTF

 

He does too slap. ::

Not as much as is alledged, but he definitely does it....and uses it to his advantage.

 

:clap: Valid points made here- this is exactly the sort of thing I would expect BH to try in this fight...

MTF

 

No he doesn't: just because he doesn't turn his punches over fully does not mean that he 'slaps', Donny.

Slaps are what girlies hit other girlies with: they do NOT mess the faces of 168lb World Champion boxers (Lacy, Kessler, Eubank).

Behave yourself! :: :nono:

 

Today...Calslappy by Decision


but who knows :dunno: Hopkins is a master at making his opponents fight the fight he wants them to fight...

 

I think Calzaghe wins a UD with BHop trying to spoil and hold and rub his head into Joe's face throughout the fight while throwing punches on the inside but never quite managing to be successful enough to win many rounds. I see Calzaghe trying to keep Hopkins on the outside though inevitably he won't be able to keep it there for 12 rounds and Hopkins will have some success when he manages to get up close. Joe's punches are thrown just too fast for Hopkins to be able to keep getting out of the way, and when Hopkins fires back you have to remember that Joe is also good at smothering his opponents punches. This is a fight I would love to come off because I am a fan of both fighters, but it is also a fight I see Joe winning clearly. It comes down to how much Hopkins can limit Calzaghe's workrate while being successful with his own work, but I just don't see Hopkins being able to stop Calzaghe doing the better work for 12 rounds so I see Joe winning a wide points verdict.

 

He SLAPS!!! :crafty:

Come on, MTF...you know 'slapping' in boxing is a euphimism for not turning over your punches fully, hence hitting the opponent palm-side facing their face.

It doesn't literally mean that he opens his hand or takes of his glove and "slaps" opponents with it. ::

Some folks also mean 'arm punching' by slapping, even though this is a confusion of the terms.

Joe does do some arm-punching as well.

Joe often does not turn over his punches fully, and in fast flurries or even combinations....he slaps.

Check out Calzaghe-Manfredo and Calzaghe-Bika for two clear, recent examples.

It doesn't mean he NEVER turns his punches over, or that he doesn't have heavy hands (he does).

Peace.

 

Exactly.

Even though I had him sweeping 6 - 12, when Kessler landed, it was fairly obvious that he was the harder puncher.

Calzaghe simply made him miss and landed too much to reasonably give Kessler any of the later rounds. In most cases, Calzaghe completely controlled the pace and action over the 2nd half of the fight.

It seemed like the guy who let the other come to him won the action. Whenevr Joe stepped to Kessler, Mikkel stepped back and countered the hell out of him. I thought Kessler did a good job at blocking Joe's jab early as well.

As the fight wore on and Kessler became more aggressive, Joe countered him at will.

 

Agreed mostly - except the 12th round was Kessler's (don't see how you could score it otherwise, bro)....and I had the 8th even only because Calzaghe seemed to hurt Kessler to the body near round's end.

Take that away and the 8th is truly a Kessler round.

Peace.

 

Calzaghe out hits Hopkins who can barely punch by round ten.

A landslide UD and Hopkins gets called out by some other bum in search or a big name, low risk combo.