Hopkins vs Calzaghe prime

[DreamFighter]

Hopkisns was never a big puncher at mw.

true Hopkins was never a ko artist, but joe was powderpuff.

that clip where he smacks the referee in the chest and the ref doesn't even notice...classic.

[DreamFighter]

Calzaghes plan was to close the gap and outwork Hopkins.Thoughts please

calzaghes plan was actually to wait till hopkins was so old that he was getting beaten regularly and eminently outgassable, and then suddenly get magically cured of fear of flying and call out Bernard.

cos sure as hell joe calzaghe isn't smart enough to outbox Hopkins, ever, he needed the man to get old enough to simply run out of gas to beat him.

[MrTambourineMan]

Have to go with Joe as Hopkins ducked the fight whilst Joe was in his prime.

Turned down a Career high Payday to fight Hakkar for 750k = Duck.

[The Old LefHook]

Neither man was a big puncher. Ho'kins had a little more power, but he was not a big puncher.

I agree with the poster who said Ho'kins was actually not good at adjusting in the ring but always stuck to the original plan, and it worked or it didn't.

The smaller man should have challenged hard for the bigger man's title. It does not work the other way around. Instead, Ho'kins was content to defend his costume jewelery trinkets for years against nonen****** who are already fading into the mists of time.

A hard fight to call, but I probably lean towards Calzaghe. I hate to lean towards anyone in this one because I consider them both to be ducking & dodging cherrypickers who quested after fabricated records because they were not good enough to acheive history the old fashioned way in boxing.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Hopkins would always have problems with guys like Calzaghe.. The handspeed, activity and angles used would trouble hopkins..

Hopkins only beats come forward punchers, he doesn't do well vs movers with handspeed..
A shot joppy and undersized winky(who basically is a come forward fighter) are the only wins hopkins has over guys considered to be boxers instead of punchers

Glen johnson was a counter puncher at the time he fought hopkins, but wasn't very good at it hence why he changed his style and found success after the hopkins loss

[billeau2]

I think it is telling that Hopins did the one thing in the fight with real consequences. I don't know how one could tell who won that fight... I used to think Hopkins was robbed but I am now inclined to think that Hopkins lost the fight and all Joe did was not lose the fight by continuing to throw weak slappy punches.....its a punchstat world and Joe threw more...Hopkins gassed, wala!

Hopkins always was troubled by guys who could turn it up athletically. Roy the first time, and even though I think he beat Taylor, Taylor's strength was tough for Bernard...he couldn't push Jermaine around. Joe of the slap slap slap school of punch stat perfection might indeed have always bothered old man river.