I Told You! Calzaghe Simply Too Busy for Hopkins
- Posted on Tue, April 22nd, 2008
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On April 15, I told you to expect Joe Calzaghe to outwork Bernard Hopkins. The only thing that stopped my prediction from being 100% correct was the judge who scored the bout 114-113 in favor of Hopkins, making it a split decision win for Calzaghe, instead of the unanimous decision
that I predicted. However, by no means was it an easy win for the "Pride of Wales." Has anything ever been easy when Hopkins is involved? From fight purse negotiations to exchanges inside and outside of the ring, Hopkins is always difficult to deal with.
The difficult Hopkins let Calzaghe know immediately, courtesy of a well-timed counter right hand that led to the fight’s only knockdown, that his first visit to the United States was not going to be a walk in the park. In fact, it appeared that Hopkins was going to walk through him. I was thinking, "here we go again," as Hopkins appeared to be forcing Calzaghe to follow him around the ring, throw fewer punches than usual, and leave himself exposed for right hands, like so many of his victims in the past.
Was it jitters from fighting in the U.S. for the first time or was it simply that Hopkins was more savvy in the ring than Yoda in a light-saber battle? Whatever it was, Calzaghe ultimately overcame it. Midway through the fight he slowly gained control. He simply wouldn’t let the fading Hopkins rest. He overwhelmed the older man by simply throwing more punches.
Although they often lacked power, Calzaghe’s quick combinations served two purposes. One, they showed the ringside judges that he was the fresher fighter. Two, they kept Hopkins in a defensive shell. In a final act of desperation, Hopkins appeared to milk an unintentional low blow that Calzaghe landed in the tenth round in an attempt to entice the ref to deduct a point from Calzaghe. Veteran referee Joe Cortez would have none of it. Two rounds later Cortez would be raising Calzaghe’s hand in victory.
Now that he is the Ring light heavyweight champion of the world, do not expect Joe Calzaghe to move back down to super middleweight to defend his 168-pound title. Expect him to seek greener pasture$ against another past-prime superstar, Roy Jones, Jr. Is this the best possible match at 175 pounds? It is absolutely not. But it will likely take place this fall, and I will watch. What’s next for Bernard "the Executioner" Hopkins? The future Hall of Famer can retire and focus on his Golden Boy East promotional responsibilities, or he can chase a few more paydays against the likes of Glen Johnson, Chad Dawson or Antonio Tarver. One thing he surely won’t be doing, is boasting that he will never lose to a white boy.
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I think Joe did outwork Hopkins, but that was not the main reason he won. Lets say that it was Joe’s versatility that won him the fight, not an impressive one by the way. I respect Joe now,I do not like him, but nonetheless he is a good fighter worthy of Hall of Fame stature. Another reason that he won was the fact that Hopkins was getting old right before our eyes…..sad to watch.The reason I do not like Joe was the way he won the fight. I wanted him to win convincingly and not on flare,who knows but I doubt Joe would have beaten a younger Hopkins, I guess he waited until the right moment……now he can cash in, while I continue to be a harsh critic against him.
ReplySniferneal, I have always respected your honesty. At least you admit that you don’t like Calzaghe. I used to be in that category until he destroyed Jeff Lacy. The guy is the goods and has a decent personality too. Is he my favorite fighter, no, but I have total respect for him as a fighter. I do agree that it wasn’t that impressive, but consider the man in the other corner, what did you expect?
ReplyA win is a win. Calzaghe didn’t look great because Hopkins is impossible to look great against. Hopkins’ whole strategy is to take away your strengths and put you off your game plan while just scoring enough points to prevail. When faced with an equally experienced and crafty opponent such as Calzaghe, Hopkins simple wasn’t able to put together enough sustained offense and initiative to survive.
If you look back at Calzaghe’s last 4 fights, two of his wins – Kessler and Lacy, were against young but respected fighters in their primes. I think you have to give the man his props at this point for defeating his main competition. At this point, if he were to take on Jermain Taylor or Kelly Pavlik, there would be no doubt about his greatness. On the other hand, I definitely do not want to see him fight RJJ – that would be another snoozefest.
ReplyI agree with everything you say hear Sir Jenks. Glad to have you back commenting at Fight Insight.com. lol
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