Final Prediction: Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe

Hopkins by UD

 

Hopkins UD

 

B-Hops by Decision.

 

Calzaghe UD.

 

....

Hopkins by a dirty ass UD.

 

dsimon writes:

A lot of people are actually picking Hops! It might be Fightbeat against the matchmakers. Hops will bite Calzighe on the shoulder Calzighe will get an infection and die in the ring.

But seriously where did all this props for hops come from? Do you guys really think Hoips can pull it off? I guess we will hear from the Joe contingency soon enough. Here is the fight as i see it:

Regardless of who you think wins.... Ain't no way in this world or the next that Calzighe is throwing tons of punches a round against Hops. He will get countered, beat up inside, and abused.

I don't know how Joe fights inside but we will find out. Joe has heart but he will be having to do things he never had to do before.

Joe will probably get a decision if it goes the distance but I doubt he really beats Hops. Hops will get the Glencoff treatment like he did against Taylor. If the judges are honest Hops by decision.

 

Hopkins stinks it out badly, clinches and headbutts at every oppurtunity without even so much as a warning, even still, Calzaghe robbed on the cards, and America celebrates.

 

Calz by SD.

 

calzaghe W12

 

Put a poll up.

 

Hopkins UD

 

Calzaghe UD

this is because Hopkins will win in a dirty fight, but it won't count

 

Calzaghe by UD

 

gotta go with B-Hop here.

the more I think about it, the more I side with him.

before the Kessler fight I would have picked B-Hop easy, but Calzaghe showed very good boxing skill in that fight, a lot of patience and he has good power too.

But I think Hopkins is by far the best fighter he has faced so far, even though he is 43.

He is smart enough to neutralise calzaghe volume and take the fight inside and rough calzaghe up. How can calzaghe win this fight? not through volume, not through superior boxing skill surely. Hopkins is a better boxer. They both can take a punch so it will be going to the cards.

I can see Calzaghe having some success with his in and out pitty patty punches. His speed will trouble hopkins early I think. But I think B-Hop will adjust and will take control of the fight and frustrate calzaghe and win a clear UD.

 

One thing that makes me a bit more nervous about my pick as we draw closer to the fight is the fact that Tarver didn't look shot this weekend.

That was a very good win for Nard, and it was still somewhat recently.

Nard is crafty, nard is tough, nard is skilled, but he just doesn't have the punch output these days to beat Calzaghe.

I'm picking Calzaghe to win 7 rounds to 5, close but clear.

 

The closer this fight gets, the less sure I am about who I think will win.

When the fight was first announced, I was almost 100% sure that Calzaghe would win. Now, I'm not so sure at all.

On the one hand, Joe proved against Kessler that he really CAN cut it against the best fighter's in the world after years of being over-protected by Werren. He took Mikkel's best shots pretty clean early doors and barely flinched, showing tremendous heart and chin before adapting halfway through the fight and moving away from Kessler in the later rounds by flurrying and moving out of range using his superior footwork and hand-speed.

Again, it is worth noting that Joe has very under-rated power, especially when he plants his feet and throws power shots. That is what makes his flurries so effective: for all of the half-turned shots he throws, he mixes in one or two power shots which cause major problems to opponents who simply can't get out of the way.

Added to Calzaghe's overall toughness and willingness to mix things up inside when required, I was confidently predicting a clear UD in Joe's favour.

However, there are many imponderables which are nagging away as the fight draws nearer. For a start, there is Hopkins himself- a crafty, dirty, cunning and tough son of a bitch who has spent almost 15 years fighting at the very highest level. Even at 43, the man seems almost ageless. He retains that uncanny ability to almost always neutralise his opponent's strengths. As other's note, I cannot see how Joe imposes his usual style on Nard. It seems most unlikely that Calz can throw a zillion punches a round here. Bernard will tie him up, try to force the action inside, mix things up with butts and ball-shots and look to counter Joe as he comes inside to work.

Also, Bernard generally eats southpaws for breakfast. He always seems very comfortable dealing with lefties.

Add into the mix the fact that the fight is Joe's first in the States and that he is fighting at 175 for the first time (and despite what some claim, this could be very important. There is no way of knowing how Calzaghe reacts to the extra weight until he actually fights), and there are plenty of reasons to fancy that this will be a very, very tough night for Calzaghe.

I fancy the fight will be pretty eye-wateringly ugly to watch, but I just about fancy Joe to prevail. His strength and toughness are underrated generally, and I think he should be able to cope if and when Bernard tries to sap his strength by taking the fight to close quarters. Most tellingly, Joe always seems to reserve his best performances when he most need them- his best performances of his career have come against Eubanks, Lacy and Kessler; his three most highly rated opponents to date.

Despite some reservations, I'm taking Joe to win a close but clear UD

MTF opcorn:

 

You and me both feebs. When it was first announced I was also 100% sure Joe would win. He looked great against Kessler, he still has amazing energy, workrate and stamina, and is fucking tough himself.

But he is fighting away from home, he is fighting at 175, and Nard is not a man you want to underestimate.

I thought Tarver looked washed up against Nard, but he didn't look washed up 2 days ago, so I think it was more Nard that made him look shot.

I still think Joe wins, but now I am far from certain.

I think one thing that is going to surprise the guys picking nard is how well joe does at retaliating with the roughhouse tactics. He won't just stand there getting bitched and roughed up.

 

yes, you have to give B-Hop great credit for the tarver win now.

He really dominated the milkdud.

Now, woods is SHIT, but that was still a good performance by tarver.

I think we'll know after the first round who is going to win. There won't be any surprises

 

Actually, Woods is not shit at all (though he fought a shit fight), and it is for THAT reason that Tarver's performance was so impressive and in turn Nard deserves considerable credit for the way he dominated Tarver.

Also, I'm not so sure that the first round will tell all. After four rounds with Kessler, I though Calzaghe was done for. It was only at halfway that he reacted to what was going on and started fighting differently. This is one of the major things which mark Joe out as an exceptional fighter- he has an ability to adapt to a fight and a fighter as and when required.

 

I agree with this 100%. Joe is an arrogant and tough SOB, as well as very experienced now. There is no way he'll just stand there and let Nard try to butt him open. When Bernard tries it, I'd expect him to find the compliment returned with interest...

 

Still gotta go with Calzaghe. B-Hop's only chance is a snake charm him with his feinting and counter punching into DRASTICALLY lowering his punch output. He has to find a home for that right hand early and often - enough to make Joe reluctant to lead. If anybody can do it's certainly Hopkins I think Joe's too good to fall for it, UD Calzaghe.:blobbox:

I'll say this - if Hopkins wins he's undisputably the greatest fighter of his generation, IMO. If Calzaghe wins emphatically I think he takes a step towards Hopkins and Jones at the top of that pile. This a potentially HUGE fight.

 

I'm on the fence on this one. On one hand, Calzaghe's speed, combination punching, and movement should be able to win him a UD against a 10 punch per round Bernard...

BUT Bernard's too damn crafty. He's going to look to counter Calzaghe when he squares up to throw those flurries, that's definitely going to affect Calzaghe's work rate when he knows hes gonna eat a right hand every time he goes in. I'm also expecting Bernard to go in and maul the shit out of Cal on the inside and do that "im gonna clinch you and throw a lead right hand at the same time" combo.

I think we may see a fight similar to the first JT fight, where Bernard eats him up late, but JT puts in enough rounds against an inactive Bernard early in the fight to win the close UD.

 

I'm also sticking with Calzaghe, but as the fight gets closer and closer and the more i think about it, the more i lean towards Hopkins.

 

It's been awhile since I've watched the fight, but I'm not sure why you would think this.

 

Calzaghe by relatively close UD, after which Xplosive opens a thread about "Had it been PRIME Hopkins..."

 

The fourth round was a very bad round for Joe- he was eating flush uppercuts almost every time Kessler threw them. Mikkel had a lot of success in the fourth round and Calzaghe looked very shaky indeed.

I remember thinking at the time (and indeed saying to my brother, who was also watching) that Joe looked physically weaker than Mikkel and, moreover, he was looking rather jaded.

That's is what makes the eventual result so impressive IMO. Joe overcame these early problems and adapted beautifully in the second half of the fight, getting in and out of range much more quickly to neutralize Mikkel's strong, straight power shots.

 

Well, Kessler did tag him a few really good shots in the fourth ...some uppercuts, if I remember correctly, that seemed to buzz Calzaghe pretty good.

Calzaghe didn't distance himself until the second half of the fight...but he did so extremely well.

 

Bernard Hopkins by split decision.