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I watched Calzaghe and his style is very similar to Pacquiao in the way he approaches his offensive gameplan.
1. Speed - Hopkins merely stepped inside and repeatedly shot Pavlik with left hooks and right crosses. Hopkins couldn't do that because all Joe would do is back-up one step and then fire the straight left. Pavlik's footspeed is his ULTIMATE WEAKNESS. Fighters with quick feet can nail Pavlik with one-shot bombs and then evade counters by stepping away.
Something Calzaghe is very good at. Similar to what Pacquiao does when he fire straight left shots then back-up from the counters.
2. Punch variety - Pavlik is too robotic with his jab and right straight combinations. Hopkins was able to time Pavlik over and over because he was too predictable in what he does. Hopkins repeatedly fired combinations on Pavlik, step back, fire combinations again, step back again and Pavlik with the lack of quick footspeed simply cannot react adequately. Hopkins wasn't able to do that to Calzaghe because Joe uses a lot of head movement, lateral movement, angles, he sets up traps, he would set Hopkins up by firing soft right jabs then back away from Hopkins counters then fire combinations of his own.
Pavlik simply does not have that in his game. Pavlik is young, he can still improve. With the loss I am even more of a Pavlik fan now than ever. He didn't have to take the Hopkins fight and yet he did and even though he lost, it must be remembered that great fighters have losses. He should not be fooled by undefeated records (something most Americans are dumb not to realize). He can still improve and continue to be a force.
With that said if Pavlik and Calzaghe fought.... Calzaghe would inflict a beating upon Pavlik worse than what Hopkins did.
Calzaghe is simply just too quick, too refined, too smart for a young Pavlik.
And I am not even a Calzaghe fan.
1. Speed - Hopkins merely stepped inside and repeatedly shot Pavlik with left hooks and right crosses. Hopkins couldn't do that because all Joe would do is back-up one step and then fire the straight left. Pavlik's footspeed is his ULTIMATE WEAKNESS. Fighters with quick feet can nail Pavlik with one-shot bombs and then evade counters by stepping away.
Something Calzaghe is very good at. Similar to what Pacquiao does when he fire straight left shots then back-up from the counters.
2. Punch variety - Pavlik is too robotic with his jab and right straight combinations. Hopkins was able to time Pavlik over and over because he was too predictable in what he does. Hopkins repeatedly fired combinations on Pavlik, step back, fire combinations again, step back again and Pavlik with the lack of quick footspeed simply cannot react adequately. Hopkins wasn't able to do that to Calzaghe because Joe uses a lot of head movement, lateral movement, angles, he sets up traps, he would set Hopkins up by firing soft right jabs then back away from Hopkins counters then fire combinations of his own.
Pavlik simply does not have that in his game. Pavlik is young, he can still improve. With the loss I am even more of a Pavlik fan now than ever. He didn't have to take the Hopkins fight and yet he did and even though he lost, it must be remembered that great fighters have losses. He should not be fooled by undefeated records (something most Americans are dumb not to realize). He can still improve and continue to be a force.
With that said if Pavlik and Calzaghe fought.... Calzaghe would inflict a beating upon Pavlik worse than what Hopkins did.
Calzaghe is simply just too quick, too refined, too smart for a young Pavlik.
And I am not even a Calzaghe fan.
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