Why Joe Calzaghe Should Fear Bernard Hopkins

[Mr. Philadel]

Nice Article! But I dont think Joe should be afraid but I do agree that he has no idea what he's in for!

[rbenjamin]

Well that was a wonderful puff piece on Hopkins. Be sure to enclose it with your resume to GBP. Be that as it may, Hopkins is good and Calzaghe is. Hopkins doesn't understand what he's in store for either. Hopkins isn't KO'ing anyone, Joe is most dangerous when he's hurt and if he feels that right hand he will come back and KO Hopkins ask Byron Mitchell. Joe moiders da bum

[rbenjamin]

By the way what is with the jeckyl and hyde by people in this place? Everyone has to speak with forked tongue. it's like, joe's great but he's going to be ko'ed easily by Hopkins! Well guess what if he gets ko'ed easily he is not great, and vice versa for Hopkins. How can you say Calzaghe is PFP in one breath then say he should be scared. That's ******. They are professionals, a fights a fight. If trinidad a welterweight with a dodgy chin can go 11, calz can go fruther, dominate and win. BANK ON IT

[kingdamatic]

b hop winsz

GREAT article intelligently written. I am a fighter not just a spectator like alot of these so called fans an hop will xpose all of CALS mistakes and TKO garuenteed

[BALLISTIC]

joe shouldnt fear shiet...hopkins lands one punch joes lands 1000+

[moofo]

I'm sure Joe's biggest fear is the Vegas Ref and Judging.
The End.

[bigdaddysback]

The only person that can beat Calzaghe is the judges, he is a clean fighters and has to win 8rounds-4 to ensure he aint b robbed.

[thack]

Joe will win, never mind all this Joe being taken aback stuff.
B.Hop is still a force to be reckoned with and should be close for maybe five or six but then the ring will be come a lot smaller for Hop.
This should be good guys, lets not spoil it with this silly 'The Brit's fought nobody or the yank's too old rubbish , boxings doing good and for a change sticking up for itself with good match ups (apart from Ricky'The Ref Beat Me' Hatton-who thinks everyone's as daft as his dad!).
So enjoy guys, this is what the Mrs. has had to put up with for the last 4/5 months.....joe points or even late stoppage!

[Degsy]

Keep in mind, Terry is a "UK" based writer. Before anyone starts the whole American writer hates UK fighters, etc.

You are correct, Terry is a UK writer, a QC no less (bad ass lawyer) and this was half of an article that appeared in one of the British Boxing sites, the other half was written by another UK based writer (A High Court Judge) in favour of Joe, it was like a case for the defence case for the prosecution.. it would be good if both were posted..(I won't post an owned LOL)

[Degsy]

Law Lord James McDonnell offers a stout case for the defence - a Calzaghe win. My mistake, not a high court Judge ...a Law Lord (equivalent to US National Supreme Court Judge) If this breaks copyright then please remove (but given Boxing scene has published the first half it should be ok)

Hopkins beat Calzaghe, no way Bernard. The names make you think it's possible. Hard ‘Nard, the executioner; but the truth of the matter is, he simply cannot and will not win and this is why.

THE MENTAL ASPECT

Some would have you believe that it is in the mental aspects of this fight, that the deciding factor in this fight is to be found. We are to believe that a combination of the huge occasion and Hopkins' glowering presence at press conferences and finally in the ring, will conspire to rob Calzaghe of his conviction and level of performance necessary to prevail. Why is it that so many people, even people who have backed Calzaghe all along, have fallen for Hopkins' bluster and bravado yet again, despite the fact that he has lost two of his last four fights and is 43 years old. What is it they see that makes them believe?

Look at the pre-fight press conferences. What do you see? Calzaghe grinning from ear to ear as Hopkins rants and raves like the proverbial madman, as he has done at every press conference during his career, save for the fight with Oscar De La Hoya, his now business partner/employer. Calzaghe's response when asked what he thought about Hopkins intentionally inflammatory comment of “I'll never lose to a white boy?”

“It was embarrassing for himself. He made himself look an idiot….I'm not offended because I know what's going to happen…....It is just a ****** comment from an adult. It doesn't get under my skin at all because when he gets in the ring he's going to get beaten full stop."

There's no anger there, no malice, no talk of killing, maiming or disfiguring his opponent; in fact, Calzaghe is almost piteous of Hopkins' brash statement. Hardly the words of a man overwhelmed by the occasion .

Forget Hopkins jail-talk; seeing men being ****d and hanged might not be something you regularly see during a trip to Newbridge, at least not before sundown, but it's got no bearing on the result of this fight, no more than it did in his fight with Jones Junior, or two fights with Taylor. Hopkins might gee himself up with such bluff talk, but Calzaghe clearly doesn't give; if you will excuse my vernacular, a fiddler's fart what Mr Hopkins has seen.

Another aspect of the ‘mental advantage' Hopkins supposedly carries into the fight, and the next argument I shall debunk is the idea of the much cited ‘home advantage.'

This is one of the most nebulous advantages in the world of boxing. I'm never quite sure what precisely people really mean when they say that. What it comes down to is this; Will the fighter be unsettled by the occasion and/or setting? Will the judges favour the home fighter?

Of course Calzaghe has hardly been the Alan Whicker of boxing, with his jaunts abroad being confined to European ventures in Denmark, Scotland and Germany in a 15-year professional career. However, he seems to have carried his confidence with him to America, and seems to be genuinely relishing the opportunity to showcase his stuff on the big stage in Las Vegas.

Calzaghe has always been a big occasion fighter, reserving his best performances for his most dangerous opponents, from his absolute pasting of a battle-hardened (if weight drained) Eubank in his first massive step up in class to his drubbing of left-hook clubber Lacy, and his masterful display against the technically sound and hungry Kessler.

Of course, his resolve may melt under those bright Vegas ring lights, or be drowned out by all the ballyhoo and hoopla, but I just cannot see it.

Of course, it's not all down to what Joe does, there's another man in the ring with him that night, and that man is a future hall of famer, two weight world champion, who went unbeaten at Middleweight for over a decade. Like Calzaghe he's also a man possessed of extraordinary self-belief, the sort of self-belief which allowed him to think that at the age of 42, he had not just the right, but the might to enter the ring at a new higher weight division, and take on Antonio Tarver the IBO and (roughly) lineal champion at the time.

So let's just say both men have egos the size of planets or at least Pluto. One final point on this area; considering that Calzaghe has yet to lose in his professional career, surely, if anyone, surely he's the one with the greater self belief?

As for the judges favouring the home fighter, well, where is home precisely? Ask an American where they're from, and they'll most likely name their home town or their home state; America is a big place, and Hopkins is from Philadelphia, where he's a blue collar hero, but boxing aficionados and major sports fans aside, Hopkins is hardly considered a crowd pleaser in Las Vegas, or anywhere else for that matter.

Despite his tag of the executioner, it's the fans who are at risk most, not his opponents, of dying of abject boredom during his fights. Vegas crowds love action. Plain and simple. I heard them booing Marquez for boxing Pacman to a standstill in their first fight, and that was after he'd been decked three times a few rounds back! People flock to Vegas to witness a ‘big fight' Hopkins was booed during the Eastman fight and at points in the Winky Wright fight……in Vegas.

In a close fight, the judges will if anything favour Calzaghe, who is almost certain to be the aggressor throughout. This isn't Hopkins against similarly negative opponents like Winky Wright or Antonio Tarver who barely showed up. This is Joe Calzaghe, who even when he was totally in control and heading for victory, still went for it in the last two rounds against Kessler.

PT2 to follow