Joe's gotten a lot better

[abadger]

I don't see how people say he looked like ****. Bernard Hopkins is not an easy fighter to look good against at all and has the most threatning style out there to beat Joe.

Just because you struggle with a fighter doesn't mean you look terrible.

Agreed, he didn't look terrible, but he didn't look himself. He didn't seem able to get in and out quickly enough with his jab, and his punches seemed quite ineffectual.

Maybe I've had too much of a good thing from him recently, but the fight just didn't leave me with a good feeling.
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Colorado Marijuana Dispensary

[MANGLER]

Endurance decided the fight for him more than bein the better fighter. He had more in the tank and used the extra energy to swamp Bernard down the stretch. Joe shows up fights and did so tonight but he still coulda lost it too.

[abadger]

Yeah Joe didn't look good tonight. Stamina won him the fight, but barely. I was expecting Hopkins to show his age and Joe to win an easy decision, but he eaked it out. A win is a win though.

I agree with that, he won essentially because B-Hop gassed and he was still throwing. Thing is, as you say, it really was barely. He seemed exhausted (for him) and if you compare it to what he was doing in the late rounds against kessler, there's a real difference.

Props to Joe though. I was punching the air when they gave him the verdict.
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Granny Sex

[MakeDamnSure]

Some fans here are Bull**** saying Joe doesn't look good.. He is the best at it with good stamina, handspeed etc.. How can you look good if your opponent throws 1-2 and then holds all the time

Bernard didn't hit Joe too much because Joe has good upper body movement to avoid the punches of B-Hop.

Bernard's best round was round 1 that's it..

[5burowz]

Joe did not look "better" in this fight by any stretch of the imagination. He let Hop dictate the pace of the fight for the entire 12 rounds and did not do what he should've done: stayed on the outside and boxed. He allowed Hop to get too close for the entire fight and the end result in that was excessive holding for 12 rounds.

Joe did NOT adjust well to what Hop was doing and he's lucky it didn't cost him.

[esl_4_u]

RE: Joe has gotten better...

Why Joe Calzaghe continues to amaze me is that he gets better each fight. In the bika fight, he'd do wild **** when Bika would do stuff to him. He didn't drop his hands all that much and just was paticent.

Regradless who you had winning the fight, I think this much is clear. Honestly, Hopkins was the best possible fighter that could beat Joe right now and I think he goes out undfeated. I really do...

Being a person who is a pure boxing fan and what I mean by that I love the sport...love the science...and love seeing it at its best. Tonight, however, was not a great boxing night for boxing history. We saw an old fighter who is able to complete at Championship level, but not perform like a champion. On the other hand, we saw another fighter who is a current Champion but tonight show us very bad boxing fundamentals. In my humble opinion...and this for the love of the sport and not based on any biases toward any particular fighter...but Joe is not anything special, he is still an unproven fighter who hasn't faced a real prime Champion yet. Yes, Bernard has the history, but he clearly lost and doesn't have it anymore...B-Hop doesn't have the skills that got him the name so he really doesn't count. Manfredo was a joke...Lacy was a joke in terms of being a Champion...Kessler is a good fighter but not enough at least not yet. So where does Joe fit? Another Light Heavy Weight Champion in the mix...nothing really special. In fact, based on his performance and lack of punch fundamentals...his stock has gone down for me. I don't expect a to see a real undefeated champion perform like Joe did. Yes, he won the fight...I give him credit for knowing and being aware of what he needed to do to win. But to me its not that you win but how you win.

I'll give him credit of being a true champion if he beats these guys even if it looks ugly:

Glen Johnson
Tarver
Clinton Woods
Jones Jr.
Chad Dawson
Kelly Pavlik
Jermain Taylor
Chris Byrd
Muriqi

[mitch12]

fs hopkins was holding alot explain that then he would lost easier if he didnt.

[Miburo]

I think you are still a bit pumped from the fight if you think Joe looked better in that fight than in his recent ones.

To me he looked to have lost reflexes, handspeed and seemed heavy on his feet.

He was dropping his hands way down at points in the fight too.

Maybe it was Bernard's spoiling tactics, and maybe it wasn't, but I'll be looking for Joe to step it up in his next fight, because I thoughtv that was his worst performance in years.

I'm one of his biggest fans too.

Agreed wholeheartedly (save for being the fan part, I don't favor either fighter particularly). I believe it was more Hopkins neutralizing Calzaghe than him being off-form, however.

[AREALFIGHTER]

Finally, a sensible post from a Hopkins fan tonight.

Bernard made Joe look like crap tonight, for a 43 year old, that is phenominal. He could have showed a little more class after the fight, but I think he was still a bit pissed off at himself for letting the fight slip away like that.

great reply, if hop let his hands do a little more talking than his mouth he'd have a great many more fans. hopkins has never shown any class to my knowlege.

[Clegg]

Props to Joe though. I was punching the air when they gave him the verdict.

Same here. I think us two combined probably threw more meaningful punches than the two guys in the ring