Prime Joe Calzaghe vs Prime Bernard Hopkins

[them_apples]

hopkins with roach in his corner is smarter than hopkins without roach, you could even argue that hopkins only really became a student of the game when roach came into his corner, he always ha a passion for the sweet science that was always obvious but his ring smarts and intelligence hit another level when he woked with roach.

no i dontthink 43 yr old hopkins is better than prime hopkins but let me tell you omething that you already know - styles make fights.

todays hopkins would probably beat the joe calzaghe of 1996. youve got to take into account the style and hopkins style these days or a prime james toney style is what joe struggles with.

hopkins in his prime had more of his physical prowess but whats more important when facing joe is the mental maturty of the fighter and his ring intelligence. a prime Hopkins would try to use strength, speed and other physical gifts wto defeat joe and most people would proabably say that in terms of physical prowess (speed, stamina, strength) joe proabably just comes out on top.

aside from Jones, didn't all his big Losses come with roach in his corner?

[hookoutofhell]

aside from Jones, didn't all his big Losses come with roach in his corner?

fair point but by then the slevel of competition he was facing was alot higher, maybe some of the losses were as a result of Hopkins slightly adjusting his style as well.
________
Airsoft Colt

[them_apples]

fair point but by then the slevel of competition he was facing was alot higher, maybe some of the losses were as a result of Hopkins slightly adjusting his style as well.

he gets his old trainer back, throws a few more punches and ends up with a win over Pavlik. his competition was always high. Jermain Taylor isn't better than Tito Trinidad or Glen Johnson.

[Johnny Rebel]

Calzaghe would win a close decision and the same people here who think Hop was robbed would say the same in their primes.

[them_apples]

Calzaghe would win a close decision and the same people here who think Hop was robbed would say the same in their primes.

says the guy who has joe Calzaghe at p4p number 1.

[boxingfan405]

hopkins by murder

[ippo]

Hopkins would beat calzaghe easily in his prime.An old hopkins gave calzaghe a very hard fight.

[Dan...]

says the guy who has joe Calzaghe at p4p number 1.

You look at his sig and you think that is the main problem with it? At least Calzaghe is top 3 p4p in actuality. He has Hatton at 3! That would mean, assuming he rates Pacquiao at 2 (although Froch is probably 2 on his list based on the available evidence), he has the following fighters BELOW Hatton p4p:

Juan Manual Marquez
Israel Vasquez
Christian Mijares
Antonio Margarito
Bernard Hopkins
Rafael Marquez
Ivan Calderon
Wladimir Klitschko
Chad Dawson
Miguel Cotto
Nonito Donaire
Paul Williams
Kelly Pavlik
and a host of others

[fightnews55]

How in the hell is Calzaghe going to beat a prime Hopkins when he couldn't even beat the 43 year old, ten punches a round version. And he got dropped. He would get KTFO.

[Pugilistic™]

your mssing the point if Taylor a fighter who is not as good as calzaghe followed a certain gameplan and managed to beat Hopkins when Hopkins was fairly close to his prime then imagine what Joe who is a better fighter would do to Hopkins.

Yes i will admit that the debate we'r having is about Hopkins when he was at his best but when he was at his best he hadless of the counterpunching skills, less of the defensive acumen and was less of james toney fighter.

yes calzaghe doesn't have a great defense but when you have an offense like his do you really need to concentrate that hard on defense. berard proabably would counter alot of Jc's shots but rmeber joe was alot faster than the joe we see today, and imo becaue of speed he would have been slightly more accurate.

Hopkins was nowhere near his prime against Taylor, His prime was 2-3 years gone by then. In the Taylor fights it wasn't what Taylor did right, it was what Hopkind did wrong. Had he just upped his workrate he won of won decisively imo.

You really need to watch a Prime Hopkins, He is not the man you watched against Taylor, Hopkins has always been slick throughout his career, he has always been real hard to hit and his countering punching was better then because he threw more and was faster.