Prime Joe Calzaghe vs Prime Bernard Hopkins

[flat1985]

I think BHop would win by decision. It would be a close fight though.

Flawless, saying Hopkins would stop Calzaghe is ******ed.

Thats because he is a ******

Hopkins on points for me

[El Dominicano]

I've watched plenty of Hopkins right through his career.

Calzaghe had a rock solid chin and is defensively very competent. I doubt Bernard would even have looked for a knock out in that fight.

Bernard became a different fighter during the Tito fight. He was 36 and I'm sure he knew it was time to get smarter and more defensive. In his prime he had one of the greatest defense on the inside and best believe he WILL look for the K.O...that was the type of fighter B-Hop was back then. He'd jump on you and stop at nothing

I don't like the fact that many even think this would be close....Calzaghe throwz alot of punches... unlike 43 year old B-Hop who couldn't make him pay as much...a prime B-Hop will punish him for his mistakes...seriously, a prime B-Hop is a BAD style match up against Calzaghe...Calzaghe ain't in the same level as B-Hop

You want to talk about fighterz who can beat/ possibly give it to B-Hop...Bring James Toney/ RJJ into the conversation...NO OFFENSE NOT Calzaghe

[slicksouthpaw16]

What many people forget is that a young Calzaghe was not only more reluctant on his power( which would make it more easier for Bernard to figure him out) but he was also more of a brawler and forced his speed on his opponent. He would be taking a lot of hard punches from a precise hard counter puncher that knew how to finish. Joe always had a great chin, but he has never seen anyone as precise and consistent a prime Hopkins that knew how to put speed with the power.

[Dynamite Kid]

What many people forget is that a young Calzaghe was not only more reluctant on his power( which would make it more easier for Bernard to figure him out) but he was also more of a brawler and forced his speed on his opponent. He would be taking a lot of hard punches from a precise hard counter puncher that knew how to finish. Joe always had a great chin, but he has never seen anyone as precise and consistent a prime Hopkins that knew how to put speed with the power.

yeah most the time when Calz had become the brawler that is when he has been most open to straight punches etc

when Calzaghe gets hit good he squares his feet up and throws wide and Hopkins would destroy him in that posture

[C.J.Mak]

Calzaghe prime beats Hopkins pime UD.It should be taken into account that in his prime Bernard wasn't as solid a fighter as he is now.Also Calzaghe could knock pople out before the various hand injuries and he aint scared of lettin his hands go.

[El Dominicano]

Calzaghe prime beats Hopkins pime UD.It should be taken into account that in his prime Bernard wasn't as solid a fighter as he is now.Also Calzaghe could knock pople out before the various hand injuries and he aint scared of lettin his hands go.

I disagre with that. The B-Hop that faught Antwun, Glenn, Mercado, Joppy, would have defeated Calzaghe. You can say that prime B-Hop didn't alwayz rely on being slick, preservative on his punches and more defensive but that doesn't mean B-Hop is a better fighter then he was back then. B-Hop had MUCH faster hand speed, more power and his accuracy was amazin. By the way, if Calzaghe would have EVER tried to K.O a prime B-Hop...best believe B-Hop would put him on his azz

[hookoutofhell]

I think it was a combination of the two with regard to Bernard's performance against Joe. Sure Joe kept a very high pace and Bernard didn't like it but there is still no way the Hopkins that fought Calzaghe was at the same level as the one that fought Pavlik. HE barely through a combination in the Calzaghe fight. Against Pavlik he was dancing around like a school kid and throwing quick 4 and 5 punch combos.

So Hopkins didn't "do well" against Tarver and Pavlik? He didn't fight as well in thos fights as he did against Wright? Are you fkn serious? Wow.

"I've never been one to look at names and resumes" you say. Not to sound like a Calzaghe hater but is it surprising that a lot of Joe fans like to take this stance?

And Hopkins has improved with age and then declined. Against the likes of Wright and Calzaghe he was nowhere near the level he was at against say Trinidad. And as good as he was against Pavlik he still wasn't a prime Hopkins of 5 or 6 years ago.

i dontthink i made my point well enoguh look at taylor and the fight he fought vs hopkins, taylor kept up a good pae and didn't let hopkins think about his pucnhes and where the openings were going to come from. he ws successful at this because of that, not taylor is a good fighter in fact hes a very good fighter but JC is a modern great!! if taylor could get 2 SD's against a Hopkins who was very close to his prime then imagine how JC would have done, especially as he followed a very simalr fight plan as taylor did.

yeah i kow he was dancing around vs Pavik but thats because pavlik is a one dimensional slugger with not much after his jab and right cross. you can afford to throw 3/4/5 punch combos vs Pavlik because he doesn't have the abilty to counter you back, you try doing that aginst JC, toney or RJJ and then see hat happens.

anyway, loking at hopkins fights vs his opponets heres how i would rank his victories over tarver, DLH, tito, wright and Pavlik. Tarver>tito>wright>DLH>Pavlik, its hard to really rank his victories here because you look at three of those wins and they were fighters fighting 2 categories above their best weights. personally thats why i rank Tarver victory alot highre than any other, Hopkins took on someone his own size, a champion and beat them.

like i sid before iv never really ranked the names on someone's resume and you make a fair point that alot of JC fans do the same thing but i will tell you now that i also give bernards his credit when it is due. he unified his division, and was the dominant champion for 10 years!! i rank that as just coming a close second to the tarver victory, when listing his achievements.

iv never really rated the names on somones resume because im from europe, yeah thats probably true but i know how boxing works, great fighters like JC ae often avoided - just look at froch. im not saying hes on par with JC but he was ducked by taylor and lacy!! american fighters do duck europeans because they often fall into the hgh risk and low reward category.

parts of Hopkins gamehave declined parts of his game have improved, i mentioned in another post that one factor alot of people are forgetting is that prime Hopkins doesn't have the same slickness, ring smarts or even the counterpunching ability (which is now james toney-esque) that todays Hopkins does. Now those are the tool that you would arguably need against a fighter like JC whe he was youngerhe had them but these skills were good now they ae great which stylistically make him even more dangerous for JC.
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[hookoutofhell]

cant believe that 20 people actually think that joe would get knocked out!!!
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HONDA CL77

[hookoutofhell]

You say that i used Hopkins stamina as an excuse to why he lost then admit that it was a factor in the fight ??

I have to agree with one thing you said, I feel Hopkins didn't tire till the 9th round. I felt each fighter were trading rounds in the middle stages. I think i scored rounds 5 and 7 to Calzaghe and scoring 6 and 8 to B-Hop. Hopkins downfall was simply not throwing enough, Calzaghe would win rounds by simply throwing more, he wasn't effective and wasn't landing most of the time but Hopkins wasn't throwing which would give him rounds.When Hopkins did throw punches he was accurate, effective and would win rounds when consistent.

Joe did a good job of forcing the fight and tiring hops out, but overall he didn't put on a good performance.

theres a difference between hiding behind an excuse but admitting that something is a factor in a loss. if i have to begin to explain the difference, well i really cant be arsed!

no gotta gree with joe didn't out on a great performance in fact i would argue that it was possibly his worst performance yet he was facing his kryptonite - a fighter with smart ring generalship, a good counter right, a water tight defense and shapr counterpunching skills.

iv always felt as though JC would lose to a prime toney because his style just isn't made for fighters like todays Hopkins and toney.
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HERBALAIRE VAPORIZER

[hookoutofhell]

The thing I don't understand is that in the first half of the fight, when Hopkins had legs, his style clearly gave Joe absolute hell. It wasn't until BHop slowed down that Joe start to got the better of him and was able to completely overwhelm Hopkins with his workrate. That suggests to me that a prime Hopkins with good stamina and stronger legs would have given Joe a massive amount of trouble. He would have been able to continually throw that straight counter right down the pipe through Calzaghe's wide and looping shots all night and then follow it up with good movement and quick combinations for a full 12 round fight. It is the "styles make fights" argument that sees the fight going to Hopkins for mine.

said it before i'll say it again - hopkins was losing the fight long before he was getting tired.

calzaghe took away the counter right after round 4 and hopkins imo really began to tire around about round 9.

look at the pavlik fight - hopkins can fight for 12 rounds but just not at the pace the Jc set - still lets not give joe credit for that lets just say that hokins ran out of stamina(!)
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Airsoft Bb