So, who do you strongly feel is going to win tonight? Explain How/Why! ! !

[dajabgameisill]

hopkins gets this rather easy... joe has ****ty defense... he gets ****y and drops his hands and tries to show boat ...he is more of a slapper... hopkins is a technical demon ... and a really effective counter puncher.


In my opinion ... Hopkins hasnt lost since Roy Jones...


the first taylor fight ...he won ...hands down...second fight ... i would have gave it to hopkins or maybe even a draw...



Hopkins is extremely effective against southpaws .... Do i need to continue?

[thegreatone1]

Joe is unorthadox has an iron chin great will to win speed, stamina to burn great footwork.

He is btter than Hopkins in every department and think he will do a number on the old man.

Like i said before Calzaghe beats any version of Hopkins imo.

[Orion]

Hopkins is gonna win the fight, ill give Calzaghe the first few rounds till Hopkins starts figuring him out and bullies him for the rest of the rounds.

[Easy-E]

I dont feel strongly that either fighter will win, but If I had to put money on it I would sat Joe C by UD.
Hopkins needs to start early, if he takes off the first couple rounds like he sometimess does he will be too far behind to catch up.

[MELLY-MEL...]

i feel joe wins a close fight. 7 to 5 ish, by ud. i was thinking 8 to 4, but now i am at 7-5.

[x3_bazooka_x3]

I think it will be Calzaghe all night long Hopkins might win about three or four rounds but it will be a clear win for Joe in my mind.

Take a look at the advantages for both men.
Joe: Speed The man has fast very fast hands nobody can argue against that.

Workrate, 80-100 shots a round, the man keeps throwing and throwing its hard to counter a guy like that when he is shooting bullets non stop.

Youth: nobody can argue that Calzaghe is the younger fresher of the two, and Youth will serve him in this fight tonight.

Chin: Calzaghe can take a shot, especially after his last fight with Kessler we all know that Joe can handle being hit by a bigger man.

Hopkins:
Experience in big fights might be a key here especially since this is Joes first fight in the states Hopkins gets the advantage mentally of having been there done that.

Skills: no doubt Hopkins can turn any fight into his fight, but the recently he hasnt been able to do that with the younger guys such as Taylor in two fights and had a close fight with Winky who is also up there in age so really Hopkins dirty infighting skills depend on weather or not he can get Joe to play along.

Power: I think Hopkins has the bigger power in this fight, the right hand is key especially that uppercut if he can get that Going Joe is going to have trouble all night.

Defense: Nobody talks about Hopkins defense but the man does have the skills in this department I give him an edge in this catogory.

to sum it all up I think Age is going to be the deciding factor tonight, Hopkins should have took this fight before Tarver IMO, No doubt Hopkins will show heart and do all it takes to win, but he will get stopped late or dominated from about the fourth round on.

three years ago this might have been a great fight, tonight there are just too many questions regarding the age and workrate of Hopkins, Calzaghe clear win in this fight.

[thegreatone1]

Hopkins will run try to counter with the right then hold.

And as good as Hopkins is inside name me one fighter who he has fought that fights nearly as good as Joe inside.

If Hopkins goes that root he will get stopped it depends on if Cortez is gonna pull another fast one or do what he did in the Hatton/Mayweather fight.

[abadger]

Posted this ages ago, maybe a bit more circumspect in my opinions now and think it might be a bit more competitive, but basically:

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172426

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Tarpon

[abadger]

I have one thing to add to everything I've posted about why Calzaghe will win:

What few people seem to realise is that the traits that are commonly given to Hopkins, adaptation, ring smarts etc, are posessed in abundance by Joe Calzaghe, who has the added benefit of being able to box (and usually outbox) his opponent in any way that the fight requires, except perhaps that of slick counterpuncher. He has beaten opponents by boxing his way to victory on the outside behind his jab, and he has beaten opponents by brawling with them to a brutal KO. He often does both in the same fight.

Here is what will happen in this fight:


By preference, Joe will look to beat Hopkins the way he did Kessler, by establishing dominace in close and medium range exchanges and boxing his way to victory behind his one-two one-two jab. If Bernard runs in the fight this will suit Calzaghe, as he will calmly and methodically persue Bernard, firing in the jabs as I have described.

If this does not work and Hopkins is able to keep Joe close, smothering his boxing, then expect to see Joe flurrying away at Bernard like crazy, with the kind of workrate that Hopkins simply will not be able to match. Bernard may try to counter, but just like Kessler was he will be hit by Joe's punches before
he has even thought about throwing the counter. This will eventually succeed and put a tired Bernard back into Calzaghe's favourite range.

If somehow Bernard is able to turn the clock back completely, and find the energy and speed to even come close to matching Calzaghe, expect to see Calzaghe go nuts in the second half of the fight, hammering away at Bernard from all angles in a bid to KO him. In this scenario Calzaghe will take some punches for sure, but like always, will walk through them and return fire. He may not be able to KO Bernard, but he will leave the judges in no doubt as to who wins.

As I said, if he needs to box, he will box, if he needs to brawl, he will brawl, probably he will do both. The one thing Calzaghe will not do in this fight is allow Bernard to fool the judges into thinking it was close.
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Blonde Stripping

[niceguy45]

well in my point of view,
hopkins is going to stay on his back foot,
one punch at a time, will engage with his right hand,
joe on the other will outbox hopkins,
is going to be a chess match