Prime Calzaghe would've beaten prime Popkins EVEN WORSE!!!

[MELLY-MEL...]

I think if we had seen a prime Hopkins and a prime Calzaghe fight then in all likelihood we would probably see the same result we saw when the past prime Calzaghe and the past prime Hopkins fought. A close Calzaghe win based on workrate. Radical.

joe was 36, bhop 43! gimme a break if you are gonna compare that as if they are both equally past it.

[abadger]

I believe that Calzaghe is better now than he was when he was young. He was more of a ****er and depended more on his power when he was young and that would make it easier for Bernard to figure him out. Now Calzaghe is an excellent technical southpaw with all of the angles and is a lot more multi dimensional. He also throws more punches now. Depending on power against Hopkins wouldn't be smart becuase it would be negated.

Ha! My thoughts exactly. I have a feeling Calzaghe is getting old now though, but the Lacy/ Kessler Calzaghe is much better than young Joe.

[them_apples]

Prime Calzaghe beat Prime Hopkins by Tko in nine. Prime Jones and maybe Toney would be the only SMW's to have a decent chance against a prime Calzaghe.

I'm pretty sure Jones Jr would beat calzaghe every day of the week in his Prime.
He beat a young Hopkins to ^^ much more convincingly then Calzaghe did.

[MELLY-MEL...]

I believe that Calzaghe is better now than he was when he was young. He was more of a ****er and depended more on his power when he was young and that would make it easier for Bernard to figure him out. Now Calzaghe is an excellent technical southpaw with all of the angles and is a lot more multi dimensional. He also throws more punches now. Depending on power against Hopkins wouldn't be smart becuase it would be negated.

good post slick.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Probably so, no-one is prime at 43. However, I consider Calzaghe to be the only man in boxing smarter in the ring than Hopkins is. It was Joe shortening his punches in their recent fight that won it for him and it was a switchup that Hopkins had no answer to. I think Hopkins at his best might very well beat the Calzaghe that faced Eubank, but I cannot see any version of Hopkins beating the Joe that fought Lacy and Kessler, and I know you understand boxing so I guess its easy to see why I think that, even if you don't agree.

I think that it was more of Hopkins fading. Calzaghe is a very good adjuster and made some changes, however at the same time Bernard showed his age and tired down the stretch. A young Hopkins could keep it up becuase he had great work ethic and was always in shape. I would have to disagree with Calzaghe being smarter than Hopkins. When Calzaghe is hit, he tends to brawl with his opponent (even with big punchers) so he leaves himself at risk. Hopkins sticks to his game plan no matter what and he also studies his opponents and comes in with the right game plan and executes.

The Calzaghe that fought Lacy and Kessler were excellent, but you have to look at who he was fighting. By no means am i discrediting any of these wins, However Lacy is one dimensional and only had a punchers chance. He is no Bernard Hopkins.The Calzaghe that fought Lacy would still lose to Hopkin IMO. Hopkins has more tools and is just simply better than Lacy. Its the opponent that he is fighting. For example, I can say that the Calzaghe that beat Lacy would beat prime Jones at super middleweight, when me and you both know that its not true.

[Ryn0]

I believe that Calzaghe is better now than he was when he was young. He was more of a ****er and depended more on his power when he was young and that would make it easier for Bernard to figure him out. Now Calzaghe is an excellent technical southpaw with all of the angles and is a lot more multi dimensional. He also throws more punches now. Depending on power against Hopkins wouldn't be smart becuase it would be negated.

See, that's where I don't agree he had the angles back then and the power. He still threw around the 800 mark. I think it wouldn't benefit him against Hopkins because he has the amazing chin but certainly against the guy's who's chin are suspect or less than Granite. He also punched straighter in his younger days but kept the unorthadox style.

[Pullcounter]

calzaghe's technique right now is not good. All Calzaghe has is a herky-jerky style with southpaw angles and volume punching. At one time he was a pretty good puncher but for his brittle hands.

36 year old Calzaghe vs. a 43 year old Hopkins was a close fight. prime for prime Hopkins manhandles Calzaghe. Hopkins didn't even really reach into his bag of dirty tricks to unnerve Calzaghe.

Hopkins just didn't have the stamina to keep up the punch output with Calzaghe... this was evident when Hopkins lost to Taylor and that's the only reason Calzaghe even wanted a fight with Hopkins.

Calzaghe needs to stop fighting past their prime fighters and fight fighters in their prime. I thought Kessler was a great performance by Calzaghe but he needs to stop picking on senior citizens.

[abadger]

I think that it was more of Hopkins fading. Calzaghe is a very good adjuster and made some changes, however at the same time Bernard showed his age and tired down the stretch. A young Hopkins could keep it up becuase he had great work ethic and was always in shape. I would have to disagree with Calzaghe being smarter than Hopkins. When Calzaghe is hit, he tends to brawl with his opponent (even with big punchers) so he leaves himself at risk. Hopkins sticks to his game plan no matter what and he also studies his opponents and comes in with the right game plan and executes.

The Calzaghe that fought Lacy and Kessler were excellent, but you have to look at who he was fighting. By no means am i discrediting any of these wins, However Lacy is one dimensional and only had a punchers chance. He is no Bernard Hopkins.The Calzaghe that fought Lacy would still lose to Hopkin IMO. Hopkins has more tools and is just simply better than Lacy. Its the opponent that he is fighting. For example, I can say that the Calzaghe that beat Lacy would beat prime Jones at super middleweight, when me and you both know that its not true.

Its true that Calzaghe is prepared to brawl when hurt, and that would be dumb in theory, but in Calzaghe's case it has always worked for him. The best example is Byron Mitchell but he did the same thing against many other opponents, including kessler recently. I'd say that if your opponent hurts you but you take it and then punish him, thats an extremely smart thing to do, if you've got the chin to carry it off.

I personally don't read too much into the Lacy performance at least as regards how good Calzaghe is, I mean half the opponents Calzaghe has had in his career were probably better than Jeff, and he whooped most of them pretty one-sidedly. It was however a good display of talent, but not much of a fight.

What is your opinion of his performance against Kessler? I thought it was one of the best boxing displays of recent years, few if any active boxers could have performed like that, and I think that that Joe beats any B-Hop there has ever been. I don't know how much you have seen of Kessler, or how highly you rate him, but I think he is one of the most talented SMWs I've ever seen outside of Jones and Calzaghe, I mean when he wants too, he has it all. If you haven't seen Kesler v Andrade, I can't recommend it to you strongly enough, a terrific display of orthodox boxing executed with speed and skill by a talented fighter. I think my dream is to see Kessler in with Chad Dawson, it would be a terrific clash of styles.

Finally on Hopkins you mention that he always sticks to his gameplan no matter what, which is totally true. It is arguable though, is it not that this rigid planning cost him against both Taylor and Calzaghe. I personally thought Taylor won those fights by default, not doing anything very good, but Hopkins simply doing too little. Against Calzaghe a more active Bernard would have had a much better chance of getting a decision, although whether he could be more active or not I don't know.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Its true that Calzaghe is prepared to brawl when hurt, and that would be dumb in theory, but in Calzaghe's case it has always worked for him. The best example is Byron Mitchell but he did the same thing against many other opponents, including kessler recently. I'd say that if your opponent hurts you but you take it and then punish him, thats an extremely smart thing to do, if you've got the chin to carry it off.

Calzaghe brawling would only be effective against certain fighters. Its very exciting to watch and good if he can get away with it. However, i can't see him getting away with it against a good counter puncher on the elite level with enough power to get his respect. You would have to stick to your game if you are fighting a crafty fighters like Bernard Hopkins ect becuase guys like these wait on you to make those kinds of mistakes. Thats where Joe ran into problem with Hopkins. He was countered when he was squared up, his looping shots were being taken advtantae and he was counterd in between fluries.

I personally don't read too much into the Lacy performance at least as regards how good Calzaghe is, I mean half the opponents Calzaghe has had in his career were probably better than Jeff, and he whooped most of them pretty one-sidedly. It was however a good display of talent, but not much of a fight.

Lacy was the biggest threat to Calzaghe up until that time and was the biggest name. He also a favorite. Calzaghe boxed a master class and that fight made me a big fan of his.

What is your opinion of his performance against Kessler? I thought it was one of the best boxing displays of recent years, few if any active boxers could have performed like that, and I think that that Joe beats any B-Hop there has ever been. I don't know how much you have seen of Kessler, or how highly you rate him, but I think he is one of the most talented SMWs I've ever seen outside of Jones and Calzaghe, I mean when he wants too, he has it all. If you haven't seen Kesler v Andrade, I can't recommend it to you strongly enough, a terrific display of orthodox boxing executed with speed and skill by a talented fighter. I think my dream is to see Kessler in with Chad Dawson, it would be a terrific clash of styles.

I enjoyed the Kessler fight and it was his biggest win until the Hopkins fight. Great performance by Calzaghe. Kessler is a very good fighter, but untested on the elite level. The best fighter that he has is over mundine so i don't rank him that highly as of yet. Lets see how good he becomes in the future. He still seems to be green and doesn't have that win that tells me that he is an elite fighter. Also yes, i have seen Kessler/Andrade live. It was a great win over a top 10 opponent.

I would favor the Hopkins that fought Johnson over any version of Calzaghe. That is one fight that you need to check out. I'm not sure if you seen a prime Hopkins but that was an excellent win over a future star and champion. Displayed hand speed, foot work, combination punching and wonderful craft.

Finally on Hopkins you mention that he always sticks to his gameplan no matter what, which is totally true. It is arguable though, is it not that this rigid planning cost him against both Taylor and Calzaghe. I personally thought Taylor won those fights by default, not doing anything very good, but Hopkins simply doing too little. Against Calzaghe a more active Bernard would have had a much better chance of getting a decision, although whether he could be more active or not I don't know.

When Hopkins was older, he had more if a style that spoiled his opponents boxing. Prime Hopkins was far more active and not nearly as cautious as the older Hopkins.

[abadger]

Calzaghe brawling would only be effective against certain fighters. Its very exciting to watch and good if he can get away with it. However, i can't see him getting away with it against a good counter puncher on the elite level with enough power to get his respect. You would have to stick to your game if you are fighting a crafty fighters like Bernard Hopkins ect becuase guys like these wait on you to make those kinds of mistakes. Thats where Joe ran into problem with Hopkins. He was countered when he was squared up, his looping shots were being taken advtantae and he was counterd in between fluries.


Lacy was the biggest threat to Calzaghe up until that time and was the biggest name. He also a favorite. Calzaghe boxed a master class and that fight made me a big fan of his.



I enjoyed the Kessler fight and it was his biggest win until the Hopkins fight. Great performance by Calzaghe. Kessler is a very good fighter, but untested on the elite level. The best fighter that he has is over mundine so i don't rank him that highly as of yet. Lets see how good he becomes in the future. He still seems to be green and doesn't have that win that tells me that he is an elite fighter. Also yes, i have seen Kessler/Andrade live. It was a great win over a top 10 opponent.

I would favor the Hopkins that fought Johnson over any version of Calzaghe. That is one fight that you need to check out. I'm not sure if you seen a prime Hopkins but that was an excellent win over a future star and champion. Displayed hand speed, foot work, combination punching and wonderful craft.



When Hopkins was older, he had more if a style that spoiled his opponents boxing. Prime Hopkins was far more active and not nearly as cautious and the older Hopkins.

What do you think the chances are of you and I agreeing on who is the best out of Hopkins and Calzaghe?

A pleasure, as always.