Could Hopkins ever beat Calzaghe in a fair boxing-match?

[TmZaclk]

Hopkins sealed his doom in the Calzaghe fight was when Bernard was crawling around on all fours faking a low blow and begging the ref to take a point away from Calslappy. He tried to do it again in the 11th round this time after no punch(ref should have deducted hopkins 1 point then for turning the match into a ****ling wwe event)
I don't know about anyone else but i found it cringe worthy to watch when such a tough guy like Hopkins would pull such an underhanded trick, surely he didnt think that he was gonna win with **** like that?
And then on top of that we had all that huggin and holding from Bernard..what was all that about?
Hopkins only ever chance in the fight was doing what he did, holding and hugging then trying to con the ref. If he came out like he did against Pavlik (who he knew was an inexperienced kid), Calzaghe would have won by a landslide UD.

[djtmal]

hopkins doesn't beat any version of calzaghe imo...

[TRAVI$]

A closer to prime Hopkins is one of a small number of fighters I think that would have beaten Calzaghe

He's so good at taking away his opponents offense, even to to this day

So a younger Hopkins, who's quicker, stronger, better movement, better punch output could definitely beat Calzaghe IMO.

[letsgobrady]

I watched this fight again yesterday, and it's more aparant than ever to me, that Calzaghe won by a point or two. Calzaghe landed with a lot of straight lefts which went unannounced by hbo, and he landed most when Hopkins was coming towards him in the exchanges.

If Hopkins fought Calzaghe without clinching, running, heatbutting, and cheating, he would lose by an even bigger margin. It's the truth.

Hopkins couldn't beat Calzaghe by becoming more aggressive or changing his gameplan. The only way Hopkins could beat Calzaghe is by fighting the way he did, and as we all saw, it wasn't enough. Calzaghe isn't Pavlik.

exactly, calzaghe is more of an entertainer and likes to entertain but bernard didn't allow it with his running and clinching , that frustrated joe and made him more eager and also made the fight boring but that was the best strategy bernard could of came up with and he still loss and yes he did lose if bernard was more aggressive he would of goe beat up bad and that was joe's 1st fight in the u.s and his 1st fight at light heavy, if a rematch would of happened i think it would of been much worst for hopkins but it wouldn't matter any way because people will always bring up hopkins age as a defense like if calzaghe is a young boy

[djtmal]

It wasn't for no reason. Say what you will about hopkins, but his strategy for the fight was to try and take away calzaghe's best weapon which is his punch output. His goal was to cut it in half, hence the clinching and slowing down the pace, after all the man was 43 years old and cant throw 100's of punches per round for 12 rounds.

It almost worked to perfection too, if only he were able to throw more punches himself in the later rounds to impress the judges.

Hopkins always has a game plan. Against Pavlik it was to take away his jab because he knows Pavlik needs to use his jab to set up his big shot. The same against tarver and the same against Trinidad.

And calzaghe fans really shouldnt be to proud about this win. Even calzaghe himself said it was his worst performance of his career, and there is a reason for that, and that reason obviously was bhop.

Hopkins doesn't give a **** about pleasing the fans, all he cares about is winning. He doesn't care if it's ugly, boring, nasty or whatever, he only wants that W at the end of the day. He nearly did it, and if calzaghe is as good as everyone says, then that's a hell of an accomplishment for a 43 year old man.

bernard fought like a bush leaguer...i thought calzaghe should have been commended for not getting frustrated by hopkins jailhouse tactics and at the same time land more punches on him than anybody...

[Boxing Scene]

Of course not. Hopkins cannot fight now without holding. He is a joke. I've never seen a more boring fighter except John Ruiz.

[djtmal]

Of course not. Hopkins cannot fight now without holding. He is a joke. I've never seen a more boring fighter except John Ruiz.

this is the one that cracks me up...when he throws the right and barrels into the opponent with his head...what kind of crap is that...lol