Hopkins Accepts the Calzaghe Challenge!

:bears: Precisely, I love it when you get nasty.

 

It's interesting you mention the Tarver fight because I don't see Hopkins-Calzaghe being any different.

Hell, it wouldn't be much different than Ibragimov-Holyfield.

Hopkins is too slow to deal with any kind of movement and his feet are too slow to get him into position to hug Joe like he'd want to.

 

Hopkins handled Tarver.

Now, Tarver is slower and stupid to boot, but he is big and powerful when he lands.

Plus....Bernard had no problems with that Southpaw style.

Of course, Tarver is no Calzaghe. Not even close.

 

Tarver wasn't an evasive target and was always there when Hopkins wanted to punch.

At 43, Hopkins can't deal with a guy bouncing in and out and coming in at angles. The only chance he'd get is to catch Joe when he's off balance and falls in.

Kessler had success with uppercuts and countering Joe when he got off balance. At 43, Hopkins doesn't have the reflexes to pull the trigger on those kinds of shots.

Therefore, his "onliest" chance it to hug Joe and make it ugly. "Like I said before" I an't see Hopkins getting close enough TO hug Joe which negates any realistic chance he's got at winning the fight.

We all know Hopkins doesn't have any kind of power to put Joe out. Kessler caught Joe clean with several straight right hands and uppercuts and Joe didn't go anywhere though he was stunned.

 

:: :laughing: :: :laughing: :: :laughing:

 

I also think people are underestimating what a sneaky, crafty and awkward fighter calzaghe really is.

Hopkins' usual tricks simply won't work as well with Calzaghe, I can picture them fighting in my head.

Calzaghe, clear UD.

 

Even this version of Hopkins will beat Calzaghe. Hopkins is just a very smart fighter with excellent defense. You will see Calzaghe get outclasssed. My only worry is Hopkins age.

 

Correction:

Bernard couldn't handle ROY JONES when he was 28. And there's no shame in that because who could? Roy Jones was more than just handspeed. Calzaghe fights nothing like Roy Jones.

 

muzse's postings reek of personal hatred for hopkins...

 

phonetap's postings reek of someone who isn't looking objectively at the fight.

Name the last time Hopkins fought someone with Calzaghe's handspeed and movement.

Hell, the last time he fought anyone who didn't stand in front of him was the Hakkar fight.

True or false?

 

And Calzaghe doesn't fight anything like Taylor, Tarver or Wright, guys who basically stood in front of him and offered no angles.

 

dsimon writes:

Lol but he hates Calziggy almost as much. His score of the fight? He had kessler winning like every round until Joe made it a blow out. :: ::

ld:

 

dsimon writes:

Yeah that Winky I tell ya. How has he managed to beat some of the best with no movement? By simply standing there and putting his hands up... and no other boxer can do this it is winky's secret. Yeah Winky uses no evasive movements whatsoever.

Metamuse..... I think they put alcohol in your gerital so you will take itld: ::

Edit: And you know what? Hops does not care about angles and movement because at Hops age you make the guy come to you. Yes Handspeed is a problem but Joe's little way of fucking with Kessler his return fire of punches that are half thrown that scared kessler off? I doubt Hops will go for that. Hops makes guys come to him to fight, its what he did against Taylor (I know we agree on the real results of that fight). Its what he did against Tarver who has decent hand speed by the way.

 

:dunno:

I had it 8-4 for Calzaghe...which is the exact same score as two of the judges.

Kessler early, Joe late.

Hell, Donny and others had it 7-4-1.

Jake had it 9-3 , which is the third score of one of the judges.

For a "biased" guy...looks like my scorecard was in line with what the judges saw.

 

and saying hopkins has no realistic chance at winning the fight outside of hugging is objective??? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: cut the bullshit, this entire forum knows you hate hopkins with a passion therefore your contrived "objective" conclusions must be taken with a grain of salt.

granted, phonetap favors calzaghe over hopkins but it has little to do with speed...phonetap believes father time has eroded hopkins skills and timing. you're acting as though joe would have beaten hopkins at any point over their respective careers and phonetap is calling hatered/bullshit on you. shame old man...ld: ::

 

What's contrived are these kinds of posts by you Tap. Go back and REED what I've said about the matchup in this thread.

You will see that part of the reasoning you cited is exactly what I said when talking about why Hopkins couldn't beat Joe now. I didn't specifically state anything about Hopkins being able to beat Calzaghe in the past. I stated a FACT about him having trouble with speed earlier in his career; therefore, at an older age, slowed reflexes (which I said first) what gives anyone the indication he could handle Joe now?

This has simply become part of your schtick these days...comments sans paying attention to what has been said.

 

well, ODH. but it doesn't apply. i agree with you - only way Hopkins wins is with some serious stink. thing is, don't put it past him to rely on it. he'll stink as bad as he needs to stink to win. he's proven that throughout the years. in Hopkins, we don't have a guy who cares one iota about following rules or delivering to his fans (what fans?).

 

Hopkins will lose to Calzaghe. He simply cannot fight at Calzaghe's pace at this point in his career. Calzaghe will win with activity alone.

 

dsimon writes:

Fair enough I stand corrected about your scoring.:: Besides I can't talk because I don't score fights. But do you honestly think Winky has no evasive movements? I think they are subtle, but Winky hardly had gotten hit at all from anyone until he fought Hops.

 

dsimon writes:

When your legs and your handspeed is a little deficient because of age you make the guy come to you. Everybody is acting as though Hops looked old in his last fights when in fact he beat two guys who many thought in the past would have beat Calzighe. Part of the reason why people pretty much know that Calzighe would beat Tarver and Winky is because of how "old ass" Hopkins handled them. The dude out finessed Winky and outpunched Tarver.

Hopkins has enough skills he has proven that. I mean yeah he does not have the legs and speed he did ten years ago... but look at what he has done despite these attributes. Calzighe is also old BTW. I can't wait for this fight as a lot of people will be eating crow.

People think Calzighe is a lot better than he is because Kessler fought the wrong fight bottom line. Kessler should have known from the start that he needed to go to war and engage Calzighe and he didn't... when he did he rocked Joe, it was his choice to fight Euro-conservative and give Joe a chance to control him with punch count.

Whatever Joe does he simply won't be able to throw meaningless punches mixed in with good shots at Hopkins. To me that is a fact as sure as the sun will shine today. He also will have to come to Hopkins and fight inside when he does. I see no evidence that he is able to do this. yes he is physically strong but so is Hopkins and on the inside speed and legs count a lot less than knowing how to fight in that range.

Yes Joe is willy and smart but as smart and cagey as Winky? I don't think so. And finally Joe is not as unorthodox as people think. He is an orthodox fighter at heart who can change the angles around a bit and clowned Kessler to mind fuck him. He won't be able to do this against Hops. Ask Winky the king of mind fucking an opponent and making them look bad.

 

Check the round by round thread to REED my thoughts as the fight progressed,

Regarding Winky...

Earlier in his career he showed some movement, but after the Vargas fight that pretty much all ended. There's nothing evasive about a guy with long arms, a short upper torso who wears Grant gloves (which when open are almost twice the size as Reyes gloves). When open, the glove covers his entire head! Reyes gloves force you to make a tighter fist.

That's Wink's defense in a nutshell. No head movement behind the gloves, none when he punches.

 

you're full of it brother muzse...still, phonetap rather enjoys reading your "objective" analysis and likes to tease you about it. ::