Is Calzaghe favored to beat Hopkins because of age?

Hopkins has fought the better compition end of but he hasn't BEATEN then better compition. Calzaghe will embaress Hopkins his punch out put is far greater than Hopkins has EVER had to contend with even in his prime. I'd still pick Calzaghe to win the Hopkins prime in a tough close fight. Hopkins will try to rough Calzaghe up then Calzaghe will switch styles till he find one that suits him and pull away with a wide points margin. His slappy punches are underated they confuse the opponent he'll bang some hard shots in there and overwhelm them. He will often just touch the opposing fighter just to tell them that he can hit them.

joe will be bernards best opponent since jones and bernard lost that fight

When I hear Joe Calzaghe speak about fighting Bernard Hopkins, he's quick to mention Hopkins being 43 yrs old and thats it! Joe just as his supporters, are also quick to mention that Joe's punch volume is way too high for a Bernard Hopkins to deal with! If these are the two things that they are banking on then May God Be With Joe on fight night! I've yet to hear that Bernard Hopkins is one of the craftiest boxers the game has ever seen! I've yet to hear, that while many boxers have trouble with southpaws, Bernard is undefeated against them! Joe Calzaghe held the WBO version of the Supermiddleweight Title, which is the 4th meaningsful title! He defended this title over 20 times before finally adding the WBA and WBC belts he won from Kessler in 2007. The IBF belt is a title he never won in the division, but he was quick to say he now holds ALL the belts! Bernard Hopkins on the otherhand won ALL the titles the Middleweight division had to offer! Joe defended a belt that had no REAL value to REAL boxing experts. Joe Calzaghe is a GOOD boxer with a EXCELLENT record. Joe Calzaghe also has developed bad ring habbits that Bernard Hopkins will expose come April! Joe has been able to get by with these mistakes beause his level of competition hasn't been high, in other words he's fought primarary fighters with REAL low ring IQ's! For Instance, Joe's last 5 opponents have been: Mikkel Kessler, Peter Manfredo, Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, and Evans Ashira Is any of them guys close to future hall of famer status? While Bernard's last 5 opponents have been: Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor, Howard Eastman, and Oscar De la Hoya Don't over-look Joe's bad foot work, or his bad habbit of coming in with his head down and out making him vulnerable for hard counter upper cuts like Kessler and Bika was able to land but not with enough regularly! Also, Joe throws alot of punches, but WIDE slappy punhes that causes his connect pct. to be very low. Against Kessler his connet pct. was in the 20's. Bernard is accurate counter-puncher who posessess one of the highest ring IQ's in the sport! He made Tito pay for bad footwork, he made Tarver pay for only being a one weapon fighter, and he neglated Winky's jab and made him fight a Bernard Hopkins style fight! Now with all that said...I see Hopkins exposing Calzaghe's flaws and capitalizing off the moment! Calzaghe won't look like he did against Lacy because Lacy wont be in the ring, it will be Hopkins! Its a BIG difference between Lacy and Hopkins or Kessler and Hopkins! Remember this phrase because this is what the commentaters will be saying that whole night, "Hopkins lands a straight right hand to the head of Joe, and another, and another! I can't beleive how easy Hopkins is making this look!" IF YOU DON'T RESPECT HOPKINS FIGHT GAME NOW, AFTER THE CALZAGHE FIGHT YOU WILL HAVE TO!! age ? nah boxing skills yes

I dont think he is favored due to age, Hopkins just beat Tarver and WInky. If Hopkins loses he and his fans will blame it on age though.

When I hear Joe Calzaghe speak about fighting Bernard Hopkins, he's quick to mention Hopkins being 43 yrs old and thats it! Joe just as his supporters, are also quick to mention that Joe's punch volume is way too high for a Bernard Hopkins to deal with! If these are the two things that they are banking on then May God Be With Joe on fight night! I've yet to hear that Bernard Hopkins is one of the craftiest boxers the game has ever seen! I've yet to hear, that while many boxers have trouble with southpaws, Bernard is undefeated against them! Joe Calzaghe held the WBO version of the Supermiddleweight Title, which is the 4th meaningsful title! He defended this title over 20 times before finally adding the WBA and WBC belts he won from Kessler in 2007. The IBF belt is a title he never won in the division, but he was quick to say he now holds ALL the belts! Bernard Hopkins on the otherhand won ALL the titles the Middleweight division had to offer! Joe defended a belt that had no REAL value to REAL boxing experts. Joe Calzaghe is a GOOD boxer with a EXCELLENT record. Joe Calzaghe also has developed bad ring habbits that Bernard Hopkins will expose come April! Joe has been able to get by with these mistakes beause his level of competition hasn't been high, in other words he's fought primarary fighters with REAL low ring IQ's! For Instance, Joe's last 5 opponents have been: Mikkel Kessler, Peter Manfredo, Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, and Evans Ashira Is any of them guys close to future hall of famer status? While Bernard's last 5 opponents have been: Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor, Howard Eastman, and Oscar De la Hoya Don't over-look Joe's bad foot work, or his bad habbit of coming in with his head down and out making him vulnerable for hard counter upper cuts like Kessler and Bika was able to land but not with enough regularly! Also, Joe throws alot of punches, but WIDE slappy punhes that causes his connect pct. to be very low. Against Kessler his connet pct. was in the 20's. Bernard is accurate counter-puncher who posessess one of the highest ring IQ's in the sport! He made Tito pay for bad footwork, he made Tarver pay for only being a one weapon fighter, and he neglated Winky's jab and made him fight a Bernard Hopkins style fight! Now with all that said...I see Hopkins exposing Calzaghe's flaws and capitalizing off the moment! Calzaghe won't look like he did against Lacy because Lacy wont be in the ring, it will be Hopkins! Its a BIG difference between Lacy and Hopkins or Kessler and Hopkins! Remember this phrase because this is what the commentaters will be saying that whole night, "Hopkins lands a straight right hand to the head of Joe, and another, and another! I can't beleive how easy Hopkins is making this look!" IF YOU DON'T RESPECT HOPKINS FIGHT GAME NOW, AFTER THE CALZAGHE FIGHT YOU WILL HAVE TO!! Troll ahoy (badly researched Troll at that, with possible dyslexia). Don't get me wrong, he has come up with some super wins against the odds, but I have seen him spend 12 rounds running away from Howard Eastman to win on points, who he could have beaten in his sleep even if he left his chin out. The dirty fighting doesn't wash, Joe has been in against a few dirty fighters and though he didn't look great style-wise those fights have been near shut outs. Joe is a far better boxer than Jermain Taylor, so that would be the yardstick I would base my result on. However, as I have said before, if Bernard wins fair and square no one will give him more respect than me.

The odds will be a lot closer on this fight as the fight approaches. I recently watched the 6 mo old fight of Hopkins with Wright and I will not be betting any money on this fight.

I defintely say its the age factor of course It has to be. 43 is ancient in boxing terms, and Hopkins is a modern marvel to be fighting at such a high level at that age. If he beats Calzaghe, he deserves to be considered one of the best 40+ y/o althletes in all of sports history, not just boxing.

i think Calzaghe should beat Hopkins convincingly if he fights his best but i'm worried Hopkins is being underestimated.. i reckon he still has it in him to make this a difficult fight and likely will come out victorious........you're on point with this comment.

I defintely say its the age factor of course

I think it'll be very tight, too tight to tell for sure, so anyone whom is sure, is under estimating one or the other imo. That what's key, a lot of people are still under estimating Calzaghe especially in the US, he's a totally different fighter to say Hatton, and can if you gauge his temperament and style, mix it up and rise to the occasion. Hopkins is underestimated by less people but still many, in fact with all the 'old man' talk - for the first time I think even Calzage maybe at least misjudging Hopkins. BHop will perform better than he did in his last fight for some reason, I think even from press conferences, he's just gotten really into this one in a different way. Hopkins will rough Calzaghe up more than he's ever known, especially considering it's Calzaghe's first time at this weight really, you can't practice for jumping into the ring with a bigger wiser guy like Hopkins. The telling point will be post round 3 I think. If Joes there and going ok, not hurt, I think his boxing brain will start to come into it's own and outbox Hopkins into a points, and only a points, win.

i think Calzaghe should beat Hopkins convincingly if he fights his best but i'm worried Hopkins is being underestimated.. i reckon he still has it in him to make this a difficult fight

Hopkins is a smart fighter in my opinion. He's boring therefore I won't watch him, but he fights intellegently and picks his shots. Calzaghe is a solid fighter too and him holding the WBO belt is not a demarit. Regarded or not he had to defend at all times which he did. Both fighters are solid and this fight should be a good one

When I hear Joe Calzaghe speak about fighting Bernard Hopkins, he's quick to mention Hopkins being 43 yrs old and thats it! Joe just as his supporters, are also quick to mention that Joe's punch volume is way too high for a Bernard Hopkins to deal with! If these are the two things that they are banking on then May God Be With Joe on fight night! I've yet to hear that Bernard Hopkins is one of the craftiest boxers the game has ever seen! I've yet to hear, that while many boxers have trouble with southpaws, Bernard is undefeated against them! Joe Calzaghe held the WBO version of the Supermiddleweight Title, which is the 4th meaningsful title! He defended this title over 20 times before finally adding the WBA and WBC belts he won from Kessler in 2007. The IBF belt is a title he never won in the division, but he was quick to say he now holds ALL the belts! Bernard Hopkins on the otherhand won ALL the titles the Middleweight division had to offer! Joe defended a belt that had no REAL value to REAL boxing experts. Joe Calzaghe is a GOOD boxer with a EXCELLENT record. Joe Calzaghe also has developed bad ring habbits that Bernard Hopkins will expose come April! Joe has been able to get by with these mistakes beause his level of competition hasn't been high, in other words he's fought primarary fighters with REAL low ring IQ's! For Instance, Joe's last 5 opponents have been: Mikkel Kessler, Peter Manfredo, Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, and Evans Ashira Is any of them guys close to future hall of famer status? While Bernard's last 5 opponents have been: Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor, Howard Eastman, and Oscar De la Hoya Don't over-look Joe's bad foot work, or his bad habbit of coming in with his head down and out making him vulnerable for hard counter upper cuts like Kessler and Bika was able to land but not with enough regularly! Also, Joe throws alot of punches, but WIDE slappy punhes that causes his connect pct. to be very low. Against Kessler his connet pct. was in the 20's. Bernard is accurate counter-puncher who posessess one of the highest ring IQ's in the sport! He made Tito pay for bad footwork, he made Tarver pay for only being a one weapon fighter, and he neglated Winky's jab and made him fight a Bernard Hopkins style fight! Now with all that said...I see Hopkins exposing Calzaghe's flaws and capitalizing off the moment! Calzaghe won't look like he did against Lacy because Lacy wont be in the ring, it will be Hopkins! Its a BIG difference between Lacy and Hopkins or Kessler and Hopkins! Remember this phrase because this is what the commentaters will be saying that whole night, "Hopkins lands a straight right hand to the head of Joe, and another, and another! I can't beleive how easy Hopkins is making this look!" IF YOU DON'T RESPECT HOPKINS FIGHT GAME NOW, AFTER THE CALZAGHE FIGHT YOU WILL HAVE TO!! you know, i was a hopkins fan until this past december when someone on this post pointed out to me what hopkins is all about and it made sense. hopkins has made his name by beating blown up welters and jr middles. trinidad, oscar (certainly no real accomplishment there, because we know a blown up JR WELTER who just did the same thing) and winky. then he fought and had real trouble with taylor, his first real MW test. who was just exposed by pavlik. and a win over tarver a fighter who was 22-4 at the time. SO WHAT... keep in mind, in hopkins first REAL test, he lost a UD to RJJ, it wasn't even a close fight. and if hopkins would have come to fight he would have gotten KO'D. hopkins is a boring, no risk fighter who has never been on the level of a RJJ or a Calzaghe regardless of what excuse (age)you are trying to make in advance of his impending loss. Hopkins will either run in this fight (as usual) or get KO'D. either way he loses.....

When I hear Joe Calzaghe speak about fighting Bernard Hopkins, he's quick to mention Hopkins being 43 yrs old and thats it! Joe just as his supporters, are also quick to mention that Joe's punch volume is way too high for a Bernard Hopkins to deal with! If these are the two things that they are banking on then May God Be With Joe on fight night! I think most people believe that Calzaghe is simply the better boxer, the naturally bigger man, has the better chin, more power, far greater conditioning and punch output and hasn`t been fighting blown up welterweights for most of his career. He is also undefeated and rises to the big occasions. I've yet to hear that Bernard Hopkins is one of the craftiest boxers the game has ever seen! I've yet to hear, that while many boxers have trouble with southpaws, Bernard is undefeated against them! He hasn`t fought any elite southpaws. I think Hopkins is crafty, if by crafty you mean that he constantly fouls his opponents with butts and elbows. Joe Calzaghe held the WBO version of the Supermiddleweight Title, which is the 4th meaningsful title! He defended this title over 20 times before finally adding the WBA and WBC belts he won from Kessler in 2007. The IBF belt is a title he never won in the division, but he was quick to say he now holds ALL the belts! Bernard Hopkins on the otherhand won ALL the titles the Middleweight division had to offer! Joe defended a belt that had no REAL value to REAL boxing experts. Calzaghe has beaten all of the top Super Middleweights in his era. Roy Jones was fighting bums and light heavyweight and Popkins was busy beating up welterweights and then skipped the Super Middle Weight division entirely. Whether Calzaghe had the WBO belt or the IBF belt is immaterial. The fact remains that he was and is the top dog in that division. Joe Calzaghe is a GOOD boxer with a EXCELLENT record. Joe Calzaghe also has developed bad ring habbits that Bernard Hopkins will expose come April! Kessler punches twice as hard as old Popkins and he couldn`t expose Calzaghe, what makes you think Hopkins can? Joe's last 5 opponents have been: Mikkel Kessler, Peter Manfredo, Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, and Evans Ashira Is any of them guys close to future hall of famer status? Kessler is a very capable fighter, who many believe would knock Popkins into the middle of next year. While Bernard's last 5 opponents have been: Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor, Howard Eastman, and Oscar De la Hoya Apart from Tarver, they are all middle weights and blown up welterweights. He hasn`t fought anyone at LHW worth mentioning. Tarver? lol one of the worst champions ever. Don't over-look Joe's bad foot work, or his bad habbit of coming in with his head down and out making him vulnerable for hard counter upper cuts like Kessler and Bika was able to land but not with enough regularly! He has good footwork. Also, Joe throws alot of punches, but WIDE slappy punhes that causes his connect pct. to be very low. Against Kessler his connet pct. was in the 20's. Bernard is accurate counter-puncher who posessess one of the highest ring IQ's in the sport! He made Tito pay for bad footwork, he made Tarver pay for only being a one weapon fighter, and he neglated Winky's jab and made him fight a Bernard Hopkins style fight! I disagree with this analysis. Calzaghe throws alot of tip tap fas shots to confuse his opponent, he'll then throw a hard one in there somewhere. Now with all that said...I see Hopkins exposing Calzaghe's flaws and capitalizing off the moment! Calzaghe won't look like he did against Lacy because Lacy wont be in the ring, it will be Hopkins! Its a BIG difference between Lacy and Hopkins or Kessler and Hopkins! Hopkins will probably make it an ugly fight and go down kicking and screaming, but there is more chance of Hatton knocking out Mayweather than old man Popkins winning this fight. He needs to stick to fighting the smaller men like Tito Trinidad or maybe an Oscar rematch. Remember this phrase because this is what the commentaters will be saying that whole night, "Hopkins lands a straight right hand to the head of Joe, and another, and another! I can't beleive how easy Hopkins is making this look!" IF YOU DON'T RESPECT HOPKINS FIGHT GAME NOW, AFTER THE CALZAGHE FIGHT YOU WILL HAVE TO!! Hopkins may land a few headbutts but i doubt his right cross will be getting throwugh with much regularity. Calzaghe was nailed by one of the hardest punching super middleweights and didn`t go down (kessler) . Popkins wont be knocking anyone out and may even get knocked out himself. I`ll bet all my points against yours.

Also "streetknownothing" out of hopkins last 5 fights, 4 of them were middleweights or junior middleweights, one of them is even talking about coming down to welterweight (dlh). The only guy he's fought his size in a good while is Tarver who is no-where near the fighter Joe is! Calzaghe UD he's just too much for old Popkins

Calzaghe did win all the belts mate, he too the IBF belt in a unification against Lacy fool! Do some research before posting!

IMO I think Calzaghe is the #1smw and #1lhw. Hopkins would have trouble with the top mw, smw, and lhw's boxers, while Calzaghe would beat anybody in those divisions convincingly. And their is a lot of talent around those divisions and Calzaghe is considered #1, while Hopkins is an aging fighter who could suddenly look like shit in any given night, hell he looked like shit against Wright. If this fight took place 5 years ago like it was suppose to, than I would of favored Hopkins.

If it were a few years ago I would have to give the nod to Hopkins, but I think he is too far past it to beat Joe now.