Absolute Respect To Bernard Hopkins

[abadger]

Before this fight I honestly, even after watching many of his fights, could not understand why anyone thought that Bernard Hopkins could win. Like many here I thought Joe Calzghe would have too much for him and basically control the fight, box at range and get a wide UD.

How wrong I was. Without doubt, that was Bernard's fight. I don't mean he won, he was too negative for that, but he imposed his will on the way the fight was fought like no boxer I have seen before. I now understand completely why many thought he would win, he is an absolutely nightmarish opponent, and suddenly all those comments about him taking Calzaghe to a dark place make a lot of sense.

At times I was squinting at the screen wondering what on earth had happened to Joe, wondering where the dynamic, dominant fighter I had seen so many times before had gone.

Overall, i think the Calzaghe win was the fair result, as someone else here posted already, it is a victory for the agressive fighter and shows that you cannot expect to win merely by being defensive and neutralising the other fighter's game plan. To win a fight, you should have to win.

Of the two men, obviously, I would be proudest if I was Joe, because he has just won and done what a lot of people said he couldn't, but if I were Bernard Hopkins I would be proud too. He was the one who was able to do exactly what he said he would do from the beginning, whereas Joe got nowhere near executing the fight he had predicted. Its just that what Bernard set out to do was not enough to win the fight. I would hate to risk calzaghe fighting him again.

Absolute respect to Bernard Hopkins.
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Fetish Smoking

[abadger]

I would like to add, also, that the Calzaghe I saw tonight was the worst i have seen him fight since the bad old days of his mediocre, unmotivated performances in the middle of his career.

If I were to put a label on it, I would say his reflexes and handspeed have started to go because especially early on in the fight, Bernard was regularly beating him to the punch.

Either the extra weight made a difference, or he has finally started to get old, because at times I thought he looked flat footed, struggling for stamina and just generally lethargic. He could have dominated that fight had he been able to execute the darting in jab and out that he started to use in round 4, more often.

Don't think this is designed to be an excuse for a relatively mediocre performance, I still firmly believe that it is Calzaghe's job to make sure he can fight at the weight etc.

I'm glad he won, and I'm pleased to see he still has a chin, but I really hope he picks it up for his next fight, if he chooses to fight on.
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MAZDA MX-3 SPECIFICATIONS

[Cobrita]

hopkins was a victim of robbery once again he won that fight

[tyson]

It's better late than never, I suppose.
Welcome to the club of intelligent people who understands what a fighter like Bernard Hopkins can do to people.

Calzaghe's performance has absolutely nothing to do with him slipping or getting old. Nothing at all whatsoever.

What you witnessed was Hopkins' masterful mastermind breaking down the style of Joe and take him to places he's never been before, physically, but mostly mentally.

Think about this;
No person has ever looked good against Hopkins. None.

This is not because everyone was overrated before Hopkins, or because Hop only fights smaller people or **** like that.
It's purely because he outsmarts them all.

It's a shame his body cannot follow up on what his mind has thought out.
Bernard beating Joe to the punch has nothing to do with Joe becoming slower either. It has to do with sublime timing and Hops ability to read body language.

Watch the Trinidad fight again.
Hopkins repeatedly looked down on Trinidad's feet to see how he placed his feet before throwing punches, especially the left hook.
After 5-6 rounds of measuring, he had completely figured out the mechanics of Tito.

I think Hopkins won't admit to being unable to execute because of his body due to his pride.
Or denial.
Or lunacy.

Point being, Bernard was never overrated. He was just under-appreciated because of his hidden skills. ****, most posters on here, even now, fail to understand and appreciate his skillset and way of fighting.

Joe is an excellent fighter, supremely good champion.
But a 43 year old Hopkins still managed to make him look like an amateur.

Think about that fact for a minute. Quite astonishing, yeah?

[Don Corleone]

How can someone not respect Hopkins. Who do you know still fights at that age with performance like he was younger. He always gives it his best

[Steak]

Bernard did way, way better than I thought he was going to do.

I am simply amazed that at 43 and plenty of years past his prime, he was able to drop Calzaghe and land clean shots on him. he just didnt do enough to win, however.

I thought Calzaghe would have an easy time with him, considering how much trouble a blown up Winky Wright gave Hopkins(hell, I thought Winky beat him)...especially since Calzaghe isnt too far from his prime. but Bernard sure proved me wrong.

[5burowz]

Here's my take:

All Joe had to do was box on the outside and it would've been so much easier for him. But, what does he do? He falls in after he punched, got too close, etc. He let Hopkins come forward and hold on when what he should've been doing is taking a step or two back when B-Hop was lunging forward with his head down.

It was a bad gameplan for Joe and he should feel fortunate that he escaped with a win. Joe's punch output was **** for pretty much most of the fight and he let Hop dictate the ENTIRE fight; which, for the life of me, I can't understand. Why would the faster, better boxer let a guy HUG him for 12 rounds??? By doing this, Joe actually showed some vulnerability because he showed that he doesn't know how to adjust in a big fight. A mistake that could've cost him.



Bernard did all he could do in this fight; and pretty much looked like crap doing it. I can't believe Hop thinks people enjoy watching him fight because he doesn't do ****. I really hope Hop retires because this fight made me like him even less than I did before. Sure, he executed his gameplan but nothing is more boring in a fighter than when he throws one punch at a time and then falls into his opponent only to clinch for 5 seconds at a time.

[BG_Knocc_Out]

I am also surprised at Hopkins performance, especialy past his prime. There was times when watching the fight where I had thought Hopkins was gonna get a definite win. But I kinda got mad at those alleged low blows, where I say those were false.

[abadger]

It's better late than never, I suppose.
Welcome to the club of intelligent people who understands what a fighter like Bernard Hopkins can do to people.

Calzaghe's performance has absolutely nothing to do with him slipping or getting old. Nothing at all whatsoever.

What you witnessed was Hopkins' masterful mastermind breaking down the style of Joe and take him to places he's never been before, physically, but mostly mentally.

Think about this;
No person has ever looked good against Hopkins. None.

This is not because everyone was overrated before Hopkins, or because Hop only fights smaller people or **** like that.
It's purely because he outsmarts them all.

It's a shame his body cannot follow up on what his mind has thought out.
Bernard beating Joe to the punch has nothing to do with Joe becoming slower either. It has to do with sublime timing and Hops ability to read body language.

Watch the Trinidad fight again.
Hopkins repeatedly looked down on Trinidad's feet to see how he placed his feet before throwing punches, especially the left hook.
After 5-6 rounds of measuring, he had completely figured out the mechanics of Tito.

I think Hopkins won't admit to being unable to execute because of his body due to his pride.
Or denial.
Or lunacy.

Point being, Bernard was never overrated. He was just under-appreciated because of his hidden skills. ****, most posters on here, even now, fail to understand and appreciate his skillset and way of fighting.

Joe is an excellent fighter, supremely good champion.
But a 43 year old Hopkins still managed to make him look like an amateur.

Think about that fact for a minute. Quite astonishing, yeah?

I agree it is astonishing. I will have to watch the fight again to see what I think about Calzaghe getting old, but for B-Hop to be competitive with ANYONE at 43 is incredible.

I'll tell you why I hadn't been able to appreciate Bernard's skills before, (and I've seen plenty of his fights), it is because they have never involved a fighter I care about, and if you're not paying attention its all to easy to see a couple of boring fighters, bumping up against each other and fighting a terrible fight.

I'm not sure I could say I like Bernard's style, but if he can run Calzaghe so close, basically on style alone, he's certainly earned my respect.
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Xs Eleven

[RodBarker]

Here's my take:

All Joe had to do was box on the outside and it would've been so much easier for him. But, what does he do? He falls in after he punched, got too close, etc. He let Hopkins come forward and hold on when what he should've been doing is taking a step or two back when B-Hop was lunging forward with his head down.

It was a bad gameplan for Joe and he should feel fortunate that he escaped with a win. Joe's punch output was **** for pretty much most of the fight and he let Hop dictate the ENTIRE fight; which, for the life of me, I can't understand. Why would the faster, better boxer let a guy HUG him for 12 rounds??? By doing this, Joe actually showed some vulnerability because he showed that he doesn't know how to adjust in a big fight. A mistake that could've cost him.



Bernard did all he could do in this fight; and pretty much looked like crap doing it. I can't believe Hop thinks people enjoy watching him fight because he doesn't do ****. I really hope Hop retires because this fight made me like him even less than I did before. Sure, he executed his gameplan but nothing is more boring in a fighter than when he throws one punch at a time and then falls into his opponent only to clinch for 5 seconds at a time.

When you hit 43 then you will realize what Bhop has done , its an amazing feat to be in touch with these guys at that age , a guy below 30 himself would have no comprehension of aging and how it feels in the latter years .