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Reality is, its gonna be a great fight between two guys at the top of their games (kind of). Personally i like Hopkins, but i think it could go either way...
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He knocked out a champion who still hasn't been brutally battered like that to this day and is 5'11 (that's not undersized for a Middleweight...Carmen Basillo is someone who was undersized for a middleweight)Tito was too small, though. Look at him! A fighter who's pretty much useless over 154. No way was he ever gonna beat Hopkins.
You really think Calzaghe is gonna come out swinging like a moron?
He won't, I guarantee it. He will choose his shots more carefully, box with precision and great movement.
Joe Calzaghe is 5'11 1/2 (or 6 feet). And I think Calzaghe is going to come foward because he's kinda hinted it("Normally I look sloppy when I come foward, but I should be able to beat the old man" something like this) and everyone has made a general consessus that Bernard can't handle a high workrate (even though I disagree).
I think it would be horrible if Joe tried to box Bernard and just throw jabs and straights out there. Hopkins has a faster oppurtunity to counter that way. He's better off trying to come in and flurry and then get out. I think Bernard will counter him on the way in and then rough him up on the inside, but I think Joe's a lot better with this plan then trying to box him.Comment
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Of course, Trinidad has the height, but that says nothing. Hopkins has a bigger frame, bigger bones, bigger punch. Put them in the ring together and Tito looks puny.
We seem to have our wires crossed about a few things. I wasn't suggesting that Joe should just throw jabs and straights, I think he will work quickly, use his movement and land accurate, hard shots, sometimes slug and trade toe to toe, counter, flurry, hit Bernard from angles he never even knew existed. The whole works. What I was saying earlier is Joe won't come out wildly swinging, like someone suggested he would.Comment
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Let me state this one more time so where all clear. There is NOTHING Calzaghe can do to beat Bernard. He can't out fight him, He can't out strength him, He can't out think him. Those tap flurries Joe has been so successful with are going to be meaningless against Hopkins. When this fight is over Calzaghe is going to go in the category of Trinidad where nobody can understand how they ever thought Calzaghe could win. I absolutely guarantee it!Comment
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I think Hopkins is being underrated in this fight by many people.
Let's face it, at age 43 Hopkins SHOULD be past his best, but he has little mileage in the form of wars, and he trains like a FREAK, stays healthy, goes to bed early, does constant roadwork, and has made subtle changes in his style to combat the effects of age on his body.
Against Wink he was fighting someone younger, faster, fitter and he changed his style from the Tarver match to be almost mechanically efficient with his punch output, conserving energy for the later rounds and taking the snap out of Wink's punches by taking half-steps back and spending much time moving laterally along the ropes and not standing still.
Against Calzaghe this will work because Joe's never fought a fighter like that (Lacy and Kessler were both one-dimensional plodders; Eubank was way past it and with a ton of mileage on the clock in 97), and even if he deals well with it, there's no way you can look spectacular against that style. Jermain went 2-0 against Hop and still looked quite mediocre in both of those fights because of Nard's awkwardness.
Also I get the feeling Calzaghe will suffer from the same overeagerness Hatton had in his fight with Mayweather. With so much to prove and so much expectation he'll try to establish himself early and - always -Hopkins is a very difficult man to 'establish' yourself against because he takes such little clean punches and has such a great defence.
Calzaghe's blusters of punches will do nothing to Hopkins - most of them won't even land as Hop will be on the move, and his high guard is one of the best defences in the business. Calzaghe meanwhile is vulnerable to the uppercut and straight right (perfect against southies)
Hopkins will shut Joe downComment
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Calzaghe's gonna win this fight...Comment
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