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Who do you think will win? I was in Cardiff to see him fight Kessler and Calzaghe was pretty impressive, but I can’t help wondering if Hopkins and the step up in weight is a bridge too far.
I’m hoping Calzaghe will win, i think it will go to points though.
Both are good fighters, just think Calzaghe will take it, on points.
Calzaghe is 7 years younger than Hopkins and much faster all round. Calzaghe’s work rate is also far superior and he will throw too many hard and accurate punches from all angles, many of which will connect with Hopkins and at 43, these punches will gradually take their toll and I think Hopkins will be stopped.
Hopkins has a decent punch himself, but he couldn’t knock out Howard ‘The Battersea Bomber’ Eastman when they fought at middleweight 3 years ago and Joe Calzaghe has a granite chin – Hopkins won’t be knocking him out unless Joe gets more careless than he has done in his entire career.
Note the fight between Hopkins and Eastman was at middleweight – not light-heavyweight or even super-middleweight – Hopkins has fought almost his entire career at lighter weights than Joe, only his last 2 fights has he made the jump from middleweight to light-heavyweight, so no need to worry about Joe moving up a weight. If you follow the maxim a good big’un beats a good little’un, Joe should win this, regardless of the age gap.
Hopkins likes to dictate the way his fights pan out but he will find it difficult to dictate against the onslaught Calzaghe should be putting him under from the onset. I can’t see a hall-of-famer laying down easily but I do think this is one fight too far for a 43yo Hopkins and cannot see him lasting the distance. The ref is a good one and won’t allow too much shenanigans in a major fight such as this.
Hopkins may catch Calzaghe with counter-punches but Calzaghe don’t fall over – Hopkins hasn’t fallen over much either to be fair, but he is 43 and will face an onslaught he’s not faced before and I don’t think he will want to, or be able to, take it for 12 full rounds.
So, ignoring the worry about the weights – I have them equally comfortable at light-heavy – and looking at the unattractive price for a Calzaghe overall win (less than 1 to 2 puts me off betting) the 8 to 1 or better available for a Calzaghe win in the last 4 rounds looks value for me, for a small wager. The price for Calzaghe on points isn’t much and I can’t be bothered to play 2 sets of rounds with a points cover, you may as well back the 1.45 as do that and that would be silly with boxing, where anything can happen.
However, Calzaghe should win this fight hands down, without being troubled too much and as Setanta have been nice and put it on for free, I’ll have a wee punt on a Calzaghe late stoppage to make it a bit more exciting, as I can also see it getting a bit stop-starty-scrappy.
As Calzaghe’s fights go on he becomes very ‘scrappy’, and I could see Hopkins getting the better of him in rounds 8 thru 10. If it goes any longer than that (assuming it hasn’t already been stopped, of course) then it’ll go to points – neither men will be going all out, risking taking a big punch, in 11 or 12.
Obviously I hope Calzaghe wins, but like Hatton he may just be taking it that bit too far.
From a betting perspective I’ll be playing small stakes on Hopkins to win in 8, 9 or 10, all available at 66/1, with a saver on Calzaghe to win on points at Evens.
A long shot, I suppose, these days, where a lot of top sporting events are not covered by your TV licence and taxes, but does anyone know if it’s on the radio here? I know it’s on Setanta – which I don’t have.
If so, what setting? And what time does the bout start?
Thanks a lot, Simon.
As far as the outcome of the fight goes, I thought LetsGetRacing’s analysis made a lot of sense.
couldn’t have got that more wrong, calzaghe went down, hopkins dictated a scrappy fight and the ref wasn’t good. the decision couldve gone either way in america imo but well done the calzaghe points backers
It wasn’t a particularly inspiring fight, with Hopkins having the better of the early exchanges and Calzaghe only really getting into it from the sixth round. Both fought scrappy fights and came away pretty much unscathed (Calzaghe had a small cut to his nose from the first round knock down, but it was nothing in all seriousness).
Hopkins was about an inch away from landing a winning punch at the end of the eighth, and Calzaghe won on points (though the 116-111 in his favour was ludicrous), so I’m pretty happy with the way I saw things going beforehand.
Did anyone see Audley Harrison fighting on the under-card? I’m fairly sure my Grandma would have squared up to his opponent tonight, and taken him the distance, so to have to listen to Audley’s usual ‘I’m great, he was a decent fighter, I’m going to be a heavyweight champion’ was bordering on sickening.
The guy is mediocre at best and continues to delude himself that the people he’s fighting are even remotely useful. Despite the void of talent in the heavyweight division at the moment (the recent fight between Klitschko and Ibragimov was appalling), Harrison can’t seriously expect to ever become a champion.
Still, Rocky IV starts at 04:50, to be followed swiftly by Rocky V. Marvellous.
Audley Harrison – LMAO. Thats as much as I care to comment on him.
Calzaghe vs Hopkins – Remarkable performance from Joe to beat a true legend in his own back yard having been put down in the first round. God knows what odds you’d have got for Joe to get the verdict on three (American) judges scorecards immediately after the knockdown.
I thought Calzaghe did enough to edge it, I thought he won by about 2 rounds I certainly didn’t think Hopkins won the fight but with it being three American judges in America I was expecting him to get the decision. It was a close fight and whoever was given it by the odd point or so I wouldn’t really have argued though I did genuinely think Calzaghe definitely edged it.
No he didn’t look good but they never do against Hopkins who is one of the best fighters ever to have graced a ring.
As for Calzaghe certainly Britains greatest ever boxer and also one of the greatest fighters who ever lived, his record is just phenomenal and the calibre of his opponents cannot any longer be questioned. Hopkins is a man who has beaten Winky Wright and Tarver amongst others infact he made Tarver look like a fool.
Not the greatest fight but two genuine legends and Britain is so lucky to have Joe Calzaghe.
Hopkins tactics to make it scrappy counted against him in the end, he just didn’t throw enough punches and i’m sure he thought he could get away with a close decision after the first round knockdown.
Don’t know what was up with Joe, I thought he gave him too much respect at the beginning and his punching was not to his usual standards but then Hopkins can make people look bad as Flash said and maybe the occasion or altitude got to him.
Still he won, and to get the decision in vegas after a first round knockdown in a fight that scrappy against a master spoiler was some achievement.
Fraudley Harrison is an embarrassment to Britain though and his fight against a stumblebum who normally fights 4-rounders and is fed to mediocre boxers to get them back on track when they need a win was a poor match and does even more harm to his reputation – I wonder if people only offer him a slot on the cards now for the publicity it will bring as he is so widely laughed at, though it would be amusing to see him fight someone like David Haye.
Didn’t watch the fight, though I caught the result on SkySports. I am so glad Calzaghe won. The man is a wonderful boxer, a great competitor and a fine ambassador for the sport.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Listened to it on FiveLive.
Interesting to get the insight from Duke McKenzie as colour commentator.
He made great points about how different the conditions are in Vegas and how the Calzaghe camp had underestimated the extra preparations that were needed. He said that at least 4 weeks presence was needed including at least 1 week without full training just to get used to the time/climate change.
Also the sponge padded mat that is used in Vegas has a sapping effect on unsuspecting Brits.Duke was hoping for a JC win but was very pessimistic at the final bell and was surprised when the result was declared.
He assumed that American judges would favour an American fighter but as Hopkins is an ageing, irritating, messy fighter I think that the younger, bolder, whiter guy was easier to vote for in an inconclusive contest.The main fight caller( Mike Costello) seems OK but his habit of saying that a fighter "claims" his opponent (ie. holds him) was very annoying
In all honesty the fight could have been given to either man, by a round or two, and it wouldn’t have surprised me, such was the (poor) quality of the bout.
Calzaghe said on an interview with Setanta that he was changing his style completely now upped in weight; holding back a little more and keeping his punches down to a minimum. In the end it looks to have worked against him, and I suppose you have to give him credit for still coming out on top.
But it was a messy encounter, not the type of thing you expect to see when two of the best boxers of a generation finally meet. If I’d forked out a small fortune to go to Vegas to watch it I’d have been bitterly disappointed.
As for Antonio Tarver, he’s beginning to look like the real deal – even at the age of 39. His fight against Bernard Hopkins was a complete joke with him having just finished filming for Rocky VI, but his display against Clinton Woods last week was nothing short of superb. Woods is a decent fighter, and was right to go into the contest confident, but Tarver just danced around him and landed punches as and when he felt like it.
He is just beginning to build on an impressive amateur career, and being the first man to KO Roy Jones.
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