Round by Round: Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe

The Hatton around the Tszyu time was a junior welter. He moved up to fight Floyd and that was difference between him getting shut out and him getting knocked out. Plus, Floyd's power, strength and inside game are very, very underrated.

Let me think about a good wager - I don't bet much. But we're definitely on.

Roy Jones Jr. Finally getting that LAST opportunity to prove his greatness. A motivated Roy. A hungry Roy. A fighter who still possesses the hand speed of his youth. One who has adjusted his style accordingly in light of slowed reflexes and foot movement. Landing a faster, more powerful lead right than the one Joe Calzaghe saw yesterday. Oh yeah...we're on.

 

No one was saying this last week.

 

This is what I said prior to the fight - in the Italian Dragon (or Stallion, whatever) thread from a week ago:

My guess was that at this advanced age, Hopkins could not maintain a high enough workrate to outpoint the busier Joe. Plus, he would not be able to muscle him on the inside as he did Winky. 43 man...I don't know why anyone has to say anything before hand...43. Come on. Plus, regardless of whether or not someone said it last week...isn't it true?

 

I'm thinking maybe $50,000?

 

::

I love it. We'll come up with something.

 

Asthma, asthma, asthma,.. a world champion with a chronic desease!

"Hi Ken, come into my apartment".

 

funny and accurate

 

When he has him off balance with the right hand he can lead with the left hook.

My biggest worry of this fight is Roys diminished stamina. He can only fight for about 8 rounds now. So all the rounds he chooses to fight in he is going to need to win. The rounds he takes off he is going to need to make sure he doesn't take alot of punishment.

 

After watching roy

beat tito, i think roy still has a really good chance to beat calzaghe. Hopkins outmatched calzaghes speed last night at times. so if hopkins can outmatch calzaghes speed, imagine what roy could do.

 

didnt you people see his trunks? No that was the colors of wales..that was the colors of Italy

and yes he has been to italy...they almost threw him into the military at the airport when he went over to visit family...luckily he got away with it probably because of who he was

 

He is half italian half welsh, and has lived all his life in Wales.

Do you consider him more Italian than Welsh?

 

italians from italy? no..they are all soft....its the italians living abroad that keep us going

 

you're pathetic ::

 

you identify with who your father is

i know that calzaghe is more proud of his italian roots then he is with his welsh...who do you think Joe Calzaghe is cheering for when Italy plays Wales in soccer?

why do you think he carries the nickname..italian dragon? why does he wear italian colored trunks in the ring?

christ

look at his name

Joe Calzaghe

he is just another italian fighter among many of the all time greats

 

You're in denial. His nickname is the pride of wales, not italian dragon. He lives in Wales, trains in wales, has never lived in Italy, and he is only half italian. He is welsh, WELSH. And I would bet he roots for Wales, not Italy.

If he is so Italian and proud of being half Italian, why doesn't he live there?

<TABLE class="infobox vcard" style="FONT-SIZE: 95%; TEXT-ALIGN: left" width=250><TBODY><TR><TD class=fn style="FONT-SIZE: larger; TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>Joseph William Calzaghe</TD></TR><TR><TH style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d0d0d0; TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>Statistics</TH></TR><TR><TH>Real name</TH><TD>Joseph William Calzaghe</TD></TR><TR><TH>Nickname(s)</TH><TD>The Pride of Wales
The Italian Dragon</TD></TR><TR><TH>Rated at</TH><TD>Light Heavyweight
Super Middleweight</TD></TR><TR><TH>Height</TH><TD>5 ft 11.5 in (1.82 m)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Reach</TH><TD>190 cm (74.8 in)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Nationality</TH><TD> Welsh</TD></TR><TR><TH>Birth date</TH><TD>23 March 1972 (1972-03-23) (age 36)</TD></TR><TR><TH>Birth place</TH><TD>Hammersmith, London, UK</TD></TR><TR><TH>Stance</TH><TD>Southpaw</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

What?

 

How the hell can the Hatton that got beat by Floyd was worse than the one who beat Tszyu?? Don't you think that those fights and years in between Hatton didn't gained any experience. Hatton have not been in many wars, most of his fights has been one-sided, with exception of the Collazo fight. He looked like the "Hatton of old" (Which has been the same Hatton all along) when he Ko'ed castillo, but Floyd was too high a class for Hatton to beat.

The idea of Floyd beating a "diminished" Hatton is, my friend....pathetic

 

::

Don't be a twat, I already said Floyd would have beaten ANY version of Hatton, that's obvious.

But if you can't see that Hatton has declined BADLY since Tszyu, you're blind. He used to be faster, have a much high workrate, more energy and also more stamina. His stamina used to be insane, now it's average.

Even against Urango and Castillo you could see he had declined.

It's merely an observation, not a reason that he lost to Floyd.

 

I think Erdei has more claim at being "linear" than Hopkins. Jones was more "the man" at 175 while DM was "linear".

 

Agreed. Jones will check hook him every time he bulls in. When Joe C. stays outside, he'll get a heaping of straight rights, far more quicker and debilitating than what Hops threw at him. And on the inside...ugh. It's gonna get ugly for Calzaghe.

I'm not saying Calzaghe can't win. I think he's perfectly capable of hurting Jones with a single shot and perhaps putting him away. I just don't see it happening. I'm thinking this is akin to the recent Super Bowl - Jones being NY and Calzaghe being the Pats. Jones' defense will keep him in the fight until his offense figures out how to dissect this guy. I wouldn't worry about diminished stamina. He went twelve good rounds with Hanshaw and threw more punches in that bout since he fought Telesco, I believe. He'll be fine.

 

Jones have no defense anymore. He relied on reflexes, which he has clearly lost. Only way he's been winning lately is by intimidating his opponents with his hand speed, and calzaghe will have none of it :nono:

 

I suppose so, but the emphasis is on the fact that two fighters in a row leap frogged divisions to have a crack at that one position while the other contenders who have had more significant victories at Lightheavyweight, are unfarely trumped by just one fight, all because a "popular" guy in a lower division put up the highest bid,..styles make fights and you're not "the man" unless you earn it, not buy it,.. I dont know if Im making sense at the moment.. because I've been on the brandy all fucking night.

 

Umm...have you seen Jones at all recently? Save for 2004, when in RJ's career has someone landed SO many punches on Roy that you can make such a statement? Who? I don't remember Tito landing much except to the body. Who?

 

here's your sig with the grammar corrected:

I, the dispensable forum cum-bucket, have a confession to uphold. Floyd was never afraid of Margarito; the look I deviously misrepresented as fear was just the reaction of sheer disgust from a bonafide superstar. Margarito has the tactical output of a windmill on a farm in Tijuana, whose peasants all perished when Daniel Santos came and kicked its arse. If ever again I want to jump on Reed's dick, I pledge to address both my mother and sister in an orderly and respectful manner.

 

The fact that Tito landed, is enough. Roy can't stay away from danger anymore. He justs turtles his defense a la winky wright. Anyway, since losing to Johnson, he's fought 2 bums and a retired ex-welterweight-turned-middleweight. And he didn't blew them away like he was supposed to.