BoxRec

I hold a strong belief that Calzaghe will beat Hopkins. Hopkins may be able to use the dark arts to mug Calzaghe up for a while, making him look bad, but I simply don't see how the Pilly veteran can beat Joe. Calzaghe is too fast and has to prodigious a work rate for this version of Hopkins.

And therein lies the rub. Hopkins has been using his unrivalled knowledge of boxing's science and art to cover up his aging process for at least 5 years. And after Joe wins, people will argue this point -- and rightly so, in my view. I'm not sure that Calzaghe had any option other than to fight the Executioner, because he was the biggest name available for a fighter desperate to cement his legacy.

However, after he wins, people will wake up to the fact that he has beaten an exceptional old man rather than a stud at the peak of his powers.

I suspect that the Calzaghe resume will still need some polishing after the fight.

Opinions?

I think provided Joe wins he'll get respect. After all Hopkins is still a "pound for pounder" which means a lot to US boxing followers.

Provided Joe wins and wins well, it'll look good in that both were late bloomers and that Joe went to America etc. However, the current situation at light heavyweight is this. Hopkins is NOT "the man."

Light heavyweight is split between cable giants HBO and Showtime. Hopkins has his "de la Hoya magazine" title and fights whomever he likes on HBO. Yup, a modern day Bob Foster (joking)! On Showtime, Chad Dawson holds the WBC belt and actually fights top ten dangerous 175-pounders (Adamek, Harding and soon Glen Johnson). Over at Showtime you get a sense that progress is being made in the division, what with the Dawson-Johnson and Woods-Tarver bouts.

But definitely, on HBO, Calzaghe-Hopkins is a big event, though not as big as ppl hoped (perhaps due to Hopkins stinking performance and comments post Winky and the fact that Joe-Kessler didn't garner big ratings - how could a Welsh v Denmark in the first place etc), and perhaps bigger to the British.

Calzaghe will and should get respecct for this because what ever you think about Hopkins its probably fair to say he's a skilled seasoned fighter at the weight above. Chainging weight going to another country and fighting a top boxer get anyone kudos.

He go's up weight, he fights and wins in Vegas on his first bout there & he beats a Guy who hasn't been beaten for a long long time.....

Me thinks that would count as a serious achievement

Same here. After years of arsing about fighting the Pudwill's of this world i think when you look at Lacy, Kessler, Manfredo, Hopkins then the legacy is solidified.

I think in 6 moths time there is likely to be something approaching a unifided champ at LHW, not sure is Joe would go on to beat all 3 of the oppoents who could come out champ from that, however if he wins that he'll realy have a legacy as well as having beat up on the seniours tour.

Carbo wrote:I hold a strong belief that Calzaghe will beat Hopkins. Hopkins may be able to use the dark arts to mug Calzaghe up for a while, making him look bad, but I simply don't see how the Pilly veteran can beat Joe. Calzaghe is too fast and has to prodigious a work rate for this version of Hopkins.

And therein lies the rub. Hopkins has been using his unrivalled knowledge of boxing's science and art to cover up his aging process for at least 5 years. And after Joe wins, people will argue this point -- and rightly so, in my view. I'm not sure that Calzaghe had any option other than to fight the Executioner, because he was the biggest name available for a fighter desperate to cement his legacy.

However, after he wins, people will wake up to the fact that he has beaten an exceptional old man rather than a stud at the peak of his powers.

I suspect that the Calzaghe resume will still need some polishing after the fight.

Opinions?

I dont think Calzaghe has to worry about that anymore. he unified his division and proved that he was the very best at that weight. Boxers could not make a name at SMW because he was better than them. In Kessler though, he fought an awsome fighter. No, Joe doesnt have to worry about the extent to which Hopkins will add to his resume. Everyone knows Hopkins pulled out years ago, so no blame on Joe. At the end of the day Joe is the best at SMW and to be honest, there is no one who can beat him at Light Heavyweight.

Bernard Hopkins is the P4P No.1 boxer, according to Boxrec: http://www.boxrec.com/

Manc_Red wrote:He go's up weight, he fights and wins in Vegas on his first bout there & he beats a Guy who hasn't been beaten for a long long time.....

Me thinks that would count as a serious achievement

He lost 3 fights ago!

stujones wrote:

Manc_Red wrote:He go's up weight, he fights and wins in Vegas on his first bout there & he beats a Guy who hasn't been beaten for a long long time.....

Me thinks that would count as a serious achievement

He lost 3 fights ago!

and its not as if Joe is moving up to face a life long dominant LH (a la Dariusz) he is fighting a guy who a few fights ago was 8lbs lighter than him.

Hopkins may be at LH but he spent his best years at MW. Calzaghe's had trouble making SM for a long time. So I wouldn't call Bernard the bigger man frame-wise.

Edit: ha-ha - should've read the post above.