Hopkins vs Calzaghe Educated Discussion Thread

[boxing_great]

i have no clue at all who will win this fight..

[niceguy45]

well my thoughts are,

calzaghe:
will outbox hopkins all night from his southpaw stance and constant pressure

hopkins:
will try to get calzaghe one punch at a time and try to save some energy for the 2nd half and hope calzaghe tires out

the outcome of the fight calzaghe will UD hopkins in a tactical fight

[niceguy45]

Im getting worried for Joe, he said hes going to sit on his punches more which can only mean one thing... Joe won't be able to get away with boxing with one hand like he did vs Reid & Ashria. Hopefully this doesnt happen but it's a possibility. Benard will have to throw a hell of alot of uppercuts and right hands if he wants to slow Joe down. But even when Calzaghe's workrate is down he is still an awesome boxer who can counter all day long. At times I think Benard will be overwhelmed but will land a huge shot just to keep Calzaghe thinking, my prediction is Calzaghe to win 8 of the 12 rounds.

yeah but he is not dumb if that does not work he could always go back to boxing

[ßringer]

Here's my educated take on it, for what it's worth.....

Calzaghe

Calzaghe probably has one of the most unusual styles in boxing. A southpaw, who throws with both hands, with equal power, speed, and accuracy in each hand. He's certainly unlike any fighter (southpaws included) Hopkins has ever been in the ring with and definitely one of the most unique guys I've ever had the privledge of watching fight.

The key to victory for Calzaghe is to stick to the gameplan, do what he does best. Throw a lot of punches in bunches, shoot from angles, work the body as well as the head, and using the ring to his advantage. He doesn't want to get anywhere near Hopkins on the inside because it wouldn't be a wise move to fight a fighter as good on the inside as Hopkins is, both defensively and offensively.

Joe needs to avoid falling into Bernard's traps that would make his normally high activity level drop, which means avoiding fighting inside, not getting too close where he could be clinched, and really working his jab. If he allows Hopkins to trap him into fighting his kind of fight, he could likely unravel before our eyes and crumble under the pressure of not having things working to his advantage.

Working the jab, don't get frustrated with Hopkins evasive style, flurry when you have him on the ropes, and working from angles will win Joe this fight.

Hopkins

Hopkins is an amazingly gifted fighter in his own right. He's a mostly defensive fighter, which leads to most people labelling him as "boring" but for people like me who love to see defensive fighters befuddle their opponets, he's golden.

He has an unusual knack for being able to nullify his opponet's best weapons. Like he did with Tarver and the size advantage, Trinidad with the power punching, Wright with the defense, and De La Hoya with the combinations. He has a series of effective "traps" he can lure an opponet into, to get them out of their comfort level, and into his which allows him to fight his kind of fight no matter who he's facing.

The key to victory for Hopkins is an effective combination of countering ability (which we all know he has in spades) and effective aggression. A lot of what Bernard does is based on what his opponet is going to do, he can't be that way the entire fight and expect to win this thing. He needs to create some offense of his own, and not rely on simply countering Joe's, otherwise he gets swamped with activity and loses on points.

So he needs to keep a high level of activity going, like he did against Trinidad and Tarver. Fighting on the inside, jabbing his way in, clinching when he needs to, and countering with that right hand. He also needs to stay away from the ropes at all costs, if Calzaghe puts his back on the ropes he needs to use that cagey style to quickly remove himself before Calzaghe can flurry.

That, coupled with his signature head feints, footwork, and offbeat rhythm will win him this fight.

[thegreatone1]

According to Roach the plan is to take it to the centre of the ring, which suggest he won't run, this could all be mind games though.

He wont do that he will run he is poor on the front foot.

Jermain Taylor beat him because he is even more negative.

If he fights Joe in the centre of the ring he wont go 6rds without puffing like a steam train.

[badnewsbrown]

bhop is a good inside fighter but i think people are forgetting so is calzaghe.