If Calz beats.............

[ass_pirate]

Bernard by decision, and wins by a round or two, it just proves that Joe is straight garbage. It means that a prime Hopkins would have wiped his ass with the Wales flag in front of Cal's face and then knocked him out in about 5 or 6 rounds. I cant believe your supposedly so good but the best win on your resume would be a 43 year old man who is just a shell of the of how great he used to be. In my eyes he is still great because of his smarts, but me being a BIG Hopkins fan knows that he is not what he used to be but is still damn good. ANd if Calz loses he should never even be mentioned for the HOF. Personally I say Bernard in 10 becaue he will be too street for Calz. Too many headbutts, elbows, smarts, and RIGHT HAND LEADS BABY!!!!!!

So the Hopkins cheerleaders already have excuses lined up

[JC Warrior]

If Joe beats Bernard by a round or two it means he wins a close fight right now. It isn't really a good indicator of what Hopkins would do vs Joe in a historic sense given that Calzaghe appears at or near the top f his game and could presumably have a couple more dazzling performances or even a career defining fight left. On the contrary, no one is expecting anything dazling from Hopkins, only a dull win or a close loss.

[Degsy]

when would you consider Calzaghe in his prime? He had a really jumpy career, he would have awesome performances followed by lousy ones, so personally I think its kind of hard to say.

and to be honest, from all of his biggest wins that Ive seen, the Kessler one is the one he looked the best in. I dont think its a stretch to say hes in his prime.

Your not too far off the mark, if you took his skill and ring movement and chin as it is now and combined it with his punching power (pre hand injuries) of earlier and say his stamina at 28 / 29 that would give you a Prime Joe i.e. one we've never really seen, but minus the power he's probably up there. Saying that at 40 yo Bernard would probably be too ring wise for a 25 yo Bernard, the man is a miricle of conditioning and gives those of us approaching 40 hope !!!