If B-Hop even gets CLOSE...:

[DrewWoodside]

Yeha right mate....and if Hopkins cannot beat Calzaghe when he has the home advantage,fighting at a sea level Calzaghe has never fought and fighting at a weight Calzaghe has never fought than how the hell would he ever beat Calzaghe in his prime without those advantages.

Trust me mate.. that arena will sound more like it's back in Wales than it will B-Hops home turf. And IMO B-Hop being 43 years old is going to be a big factor than sea level. Back when Hop fought Taylor he was lucky to throw 10 punches a round, This is a couple years later verse a naturally larger opponent. Age will cause Hop to be less effective. I'm not saying Calzaghe deserves no credit for beating him and I'm not saying he has to smash B-Hop. But if he wins a close to decision.. I myself will believe that a Hop from a few years ago would have won it. This is the sort of fight that may come down to a few key shots, and if Hop's endurance and reflexes are effected it's going to be a major factor.

[DrewWoodside]

I think calzaghe would have given hopkins big problems when they were both at there peak, and I expect him to give him even bigger problems april 19th. You never know till the fight happens, people might say after the fight that calzaghe would have had the style to upset hopkins even in his prime, maybe you may come to the conclusion after watching april 19th that hopkins would have beat calzaghe up in his prime.

In my opinion calzaghe would have been competitive in any era of middleweights and lightheavy's from over the years. But thats a whole different argument, but I wouldn't put him above hopkins in terms of history, never ever, I think hopkins is the better fighter, but sometimes the better fighter doesn't win and people just have the style to beat you.

This is possible also, ultimately we will never know about these two together in their primes. But it is very possible that whoever wins it will be possible to determine something other than simply who got the "w."

[Ironside]

i never said the guys he beat were big names. but yet again he was not a big name him self when he faught those guys.

Eh, I think now you're just grasping at straws, but w/e let's just drop it this is going nowhere.

[warp1432]

Agreed, missed Echols in his list, I said Allen was the only decent guy in that list, the other fighters were garbage though, and even Allen and Ant don't compare to Calzaghe.

Well let's be honest here, no one on Joe's resume (his size) is good as Bernard, other then Kessler. Though if you said other then Tarver I can say other then Kessler.

[sunny31]

This is possible also, ultimately we will never know about these two together in their primes. But it is very possible that whoever wins it will be possible to determine something other than simply who got the "w."

Yeah there is something to be learnt here in this fight definitely. I also agree that we will learn more about calzaghe than hopkins, but im not sure you can jump to the conclusion that hopkins would have beaten him, if calzaghe doesnt win convincingly because:

1. We haven't seen the fight or its context, things out of the ordinary happening, ie, cuts unexpected knockdowns etc.

2. I think someone mentioned it previously that hopkins is, even now, very hard to beat more and even harder to look good against.

Although I can totally see where your coming from. I do think calzaghe should be given a hell of a lot of credit though if he does beat him convincingly as jermain taylor really didn't and arguably even lost. I can't see it though, I think it will be close like you with calzaghe maybe just pulling slightly ahead in the last 3 or 4 rounds

[moy22487]

Eh, I think now you're just grasping at straws, but w/e let's just drop it this is going nowhere.

im grasping at the fact that in almost any stage when he has faught bigger guys he beat them or came close to it. im also stateing that no one has beaten him to bad and you know i am right. You just tryed to break it down in every way to make it seem that he has nothing, and i have shown you that he has always been trooble for people and thats not going to change.
I dont know who will win but i can ssay it will be a MD or SD

[Konstantin]

Who, that has beaten Hopkins, has ever done it convincingly? Hopkins style makes it impossible to win a fight convincingly.

[DrewWoodside]

Yeah there is something to be learnt here in this fight definitely. I also agree that we will learn more about calzaghe than hopkins, but im not sure you can jump to the conclusion that hopkins would have beaten him, if calzaghe doesnt win convincingly because:

1. We haven't seen the fight or its context, things out of the ordinary happening, ie, cuts unexpected knockdowns etc.

2. I think someone mentioned it previously that hopkins is, even now, very hard to beat more and even harder to look good against.

Although I can totally see where your coming from. I do think calzaghe should be given a hell of a lot of credit though if he does beat him convincingly as jermain taylor really didn't and arguably even lost. I can't see it though, I think it will be close like you with calzaghe maybe just pulling slightly ahead in the last 3 or 4 rounds

I do agree!

[dustybin]

Trust me mate.. that arena will sound more like it's back in Wales than it will B-Hops home turf. And IMO B-Hop being 43 years old is going to be a big factor than sea level. Back when Hop fought Taylor he was lucky to throw 10 punches a round, This is a couple years later verse a naturally larger opponent. Age will cause Hop to be less effective. I'm not saying Calzaghe deserves no credit for beating him and I'm not saying he has to smash B-Hop. But if he wins a close to decision.. I myself will believe that a Hop from a few years ago would have won it. This is the sort of fight that may come down to a few key shots, and if Hop's endurance and reflexes are effected it's going to be a major factor.

yeah and if Calzaghe wins a close decision that would make be believe Calzaghe would beat him easily in Europe at 168,prime or not.Americans never win in UK and its nothing to do with cheering crowds and more to do with multiple factors leading up to the fight.

[xfiles]

This is possible also, ultimately we will never know about these two together in their primes. But it is very possible that whoever wins it will be possible to determine something other than simply who got the "w."

Don't worry, After the fight it will be very clear that Hopkins would have won in his prime.