Hopkins knows who will win Calzaghe-Jones

Having faced both, Hopkins picks Jones over Calzaghe Thursday, November 6, 2008 Posted by Dan Rafael Who better to offer insight into the Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones Jr. light heavyweight championship fight Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) than Bernard Hopkins? Hopkins, of course, has been in the ring with both of them, so he knows what he is talking about. In 1993, Hopkins lost a decision to Jones in a fight for a vacant middleweight title, after which Hopkins didn't lose for 12 years. Hopkins also fought Calzaghe in April, but was outpointed in a very questionable split decision and lost the light heavyweight title. I was ringside and thought Hopkins eked it out, and so did many others. Regardless of whom you thought won it, they fought a close fight. Hopkins would love a rematch. As for Jones, he and Hopkins have talked about a rematch on and off for a decade, but it has never happened. Obviously, whoever wins Saturday, the logical next fight would be a rematch with Hopkins, who looked sensational last month easily dominating middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins plans to be ringside for the fight Saturday, the same way Jones was ringside for Hopkins-Pavlik and Calzaghe-Hopkins. Never one to pass up an opportunity to talk, Hopkins took some time out this week to offer his educated opinion on Calzaghe-Jones. He was not shy about picking Jones, the underdog, to win the fight. I have no idea whether he picked Jones because he's just rooting for him knowing that a rematch with Jones is more likely if he wins than one with Calzaghe. Whatever his reasons, Hopkins sounded pretty firm on his selection. "Roy can handle the volume of punches," Hopkins said of Calzaghe's output. "He has the ability to neutralize it. Roy's not going to stop it, but he will neutralize it to the point where Joe will fight using a different tactic and see what else he can do. "I think I exposed to the world that Joe throws a lot of punches -- you can't take that away from him -- but are the punches he throws effective? Does he connect enough to get points? He throws a lot of punches, but not effective punches. That's where Roy beats him by a landslide." Hopkins said he thinks Jones is a better puncher than Calzaghe, and only a "tad" slower. "Roy is fast, and Roy can hurt you," Hopkins said. "Once that happens, Joe will realize he will have to give Roy Jones respect. It's not how many punches you throw, it's how hard you hit. "That's the difference in the end. "I think Roy Jones wins by unanimous decision. I think he busts Joe up. Roy is two times faster than me, and I had Joe's face busted up. Last time I saw, Roy Jones is faster than Bernard Hopkins. I look for Roy to pot-shot Joe. Roy knows this guy very well. Roy ain't a fool. He's a smart man. He knows who to pick on as far as what they can do and what they can't do. Joe's not a big puncher who can hurt him, so Roy is going to take a lot more chances than he ever took. He saw me fight Joe from ringside. I'm not the biggest puncher in the world, and I put on his a-- . Roy knows something. I gave him something to realize about Joe. I think Roy, at the end, with his speed and all-around athleticism, you will start seeing the difference between him and Joe in the middle rounds. "Joe ain't gonna knock Roy out; he doesn't punch like that. He doesn't put himself in position to knock you out. He's mastered volume. He is a Hall of Famer. He wants to outwork you. But unless Joe comes out and does something out of character, that's the only way will happen. I don't think it will happen that way, like one punch knocks Roy on the ground. But that is not Joe. "It's going to be a long fight. It will be mainly about conditioning. Who can throw, who can hurt, and who can do it for 12 rounds? It's a big task for both of them."