Kessler gave Calzaghe his hardest fight

[The Surgeon]

Have you not seen that big uppercut Mikkel landed in...musta been the fourth round? He landed more than a few good punches and certainly more than anyone until then had landed on Joe C. Reid fought well but I heard Joe was sick before that fight.

Dont buy it. Calzaghe ALWAYS pulled out of fights if he wasnt 110% to the great cost and disappointment of promoters,fans and more so to that of Fighters

The first time he fought at less than 100% (in his mind) to my knowledge was against Lacy and he wanted to pull out of that too!

He didnt get called sick note for nothing

[slicksouthpaw16]

Have you not seen that big uppercut Mikkel landed in...musta been the fourth round? He landed more than a few good punches and certainly more than anyone until then had landed on Joe C. Reid fought well but I heard Joe was sick before that fight.

There were only a few decent uppercuts, and Joe literally walked straight through all of them. And on the Reid fight, I'm not in Calzaghe's body so i wouldn't know anything about that. I do know that only on rare occasions , do a fighter struggle or lose a fight without any excuses. I personally wouldn't buy into it but that's just me.

[Scott9945]

He didnt just outwork him tho Pastrano, he made a tactical switch that left Kessler confused and beaten

Which was Gutting! As i was rootin for MK BIGTIME!

Exactly what I think too.

[BKM-2010]

I had Hopkins winning by 2 or 3 points. Kessler didn't even knock him down.

[BKM-2010]

lol sorry I have to add this. I remember right after the fight the people on the net were like "oh my god, kessler and calzaghe are the most elite, oh god they just put down one of the most masterful fights ever". They'd make you believe that this was the greatest thing the sport had ever seen.

[Scott9945]

I had Hopkins winning by 2 or 3 points. Kessler didn't even knock him down.

You're the first person I've ever heard that had Hopkins winning by more than one point (114-113). I felt Calzaghe was a clear winner and that Hopkins' late round tactics were embarrassing.

[Mugwump]

I recall having Hopkins one round ahead. That said, I was watching the SKY commentary and I might have been influenced by Jim Watt (who is pretty notorious for being overly critical of British fighters fighting abroad). Other networks had Calzaghe one or two points ahead.

Either way it was a close fight and certainly no robbery as others have claimed.

Hopkins presented a tough challenge technically. But I wouldn't say it was Calzaghe's toughest fight physically. That honour would probably go to Robin Reid who was a far better fighter than many give credit. Had Reid not suffered the misfortune of being mugged in Germany vs Ottke (one of the worst decisions in living memory) I think his reputation would have been far higher.

[The_Demon]

You're the first person I've ever heard that had Hopkins winning by more than one point (114-113). I felt Calzaghe was a clear winner and that Hopkins' late round tactics were embarrassing.

They were embarrasing,slightly ruined his tough guy image

And i love the way everybody calls Calz a ducker,when it was Bhop who pulled out of their fight in 2001 for no reason

[EMSLDB]

I think sakio bika gave him a tougher fight. I also think Charles Brewer gave him equally as tough of a fight as Kessler did

[BKM-2010]

[FONT=Arial]You're the first person I've ever heard that had Hopkins winning by more than one point (114-113). I felt Calzaghe was a clear winner [B]and that Hopkins' late round tactics were embarrassing

Key thing here. You like everybody else who scored it for Calzaghe was influenced by emotions, not your boxing brain's ability to score a fight properly. Most people who were pissed by Hopkins' white boy comments and in ring actions would not have given him the nod in the close fight.

There is a 6 part series on youtube highlighting their fight showing Hopkins very clearly won that fight. After rewatching it(the fight itself) several times I had it 117-114 Hopkins. I actually still have my notes from the fight(I do that a lot, scoring fights live and keep the notes).