BoxRec

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/7253985.stm

Its all pre-fight bullshit to sell the fight, Hopkins even admitted the shenanigans before the Winky fight were solely to sell the fight and with this fight having the strong possibility of being a snore-draw abit of hype won't go amiss, in saying all that I'm still a fan of the pre-fight theatrics, they're just not to be taking seriously.

Watch B-Hop claim that he's going to decapitate and kill JC, then maul and back-pedal his way though the fight and pick up his enormous pay-cheque

Isn't every boxer willing to die in the ring?

With the Michael Watson, Gerald McClellan, Young Ali, Bradley Stone, James Murray, Paul Ingle fatalities, it should be at the front of boxers minds, really.

STP wrote:Isn't every boxer willing to die in the ring?

You've got to be joking, course not, unless they're crazy like Diego Corrales RIP

And definitely not Hopkins, who I reckon will just be showing up to last the distance and pick up a nice paycheque.

STP wrote:Isn't every boxer willing to die in the ring?

With the Michael Watson, Gerald McClellan, Young Ali, Bradley Stone, James Murray, Paul Ingle fatalities, it should be at the front of boxers minds, really.

I think you might want to look the word "fatality" up in a dictionary!

Prepared to die, then.

STP wrote:Isn't every boxer willing to die in the ring?

With the Michael Watson, Gerald McClellan, Young Ali, Bradley Stone, James Murray, Paul Ingle fatalities, it should be at the front of boxers minds, really.

Fatalities? you mean tragedies, surely. Three of those died not all of them.

I don't believe any Boxer is 'prepared to die' and I don't belive they would think of it or else they wouldn't do it.

Hopkins comments are stupid but not, I hope, meant literally.

Terry D wrote:It will be a phoney word war then blackslaps and hugs. Then the fight will end.

....unless Bunce gets him a milky hot chocolate, pronto.

Seriously, this fight really is gonna be toilet IMO.

Hopkins is trying to intimidate Joe Cal who he sees as a soft, middle class white guy.......but it just won't work as Joe (hopefully) is too cool headed.

Seriously, this fight really is gonna be toilet IMO.

Only because of Hopkins being a spoiler, hopefully he sees the light and retires when Calzaghe lays the smack down on him.

E wrote:Hopkins is trying to intimidate Joe Cal who he sees as a soft, middle class white guy.......but it just won't work as Joe (hopefully) is too cool headed.

I hope Joe ignores Hopkins. The trash talk doesn't mean anything at the end of it, unless Joe makes it mean something.

The people most at risk of dying are the audience - of boredom, after watching 12 rounds of hugging, butting, mauling, spoiling and holding from Hopkins.

Boxing is a dangerous sport like scaffolding is a dangerous occupation. You know the dangers but hope you wont be a victim. Boxers like scaffolders do die occasionally and many get seriously injured but the majority survive. Boxing hype is fun and Joe will not take a word of it seriously. That guy is a real pro and nothing and nobody (except his dad) bothers him. Enzo and his big stick is a force to be reckoned with!!!

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The people most at risk of dying are the audience - of boredom, after watching 12 rounds of hugging, butting, mauling, spoiling and holding from Hopkins.

Seen many fights like that, then suddenly a huge haymaker out of the blue, and its all over. Boring fighters often do next to nothing which gives their opponent bags of confidence and then they land the finisher. Joe needs to be very careful, Hopkins has a lethal punch.

Hopkins is a very shrewd operator at this level. The out of ring BS is part of his game, as we all know. But I can’t help but think about the Hatton-PBF weigh-in with Hopkins parading around the stage as if he owned it and JC standing shiftily next to Enzo Mac feet tilting slightly from one foot to the other hands in pocket whilst Hopkins ignores and then fronts him out.

As long as JC does not let Hopkins into his head and focuses on the job in hand then all is well. If he alllows Hopkins to get inside his head and lead him into a belief that he will, or has, to deliver a one sided beatdown then I fear that JC may well come unstuck.

The hype machine at this level is a whole new ball game for JC, and I hope he doesn’t get too involved and dragged into something that’s peripheral to the job at hand.

For some reason,Calzaghe just looks in awe of Hopkins to me,but is trying not to show it.

It's weird because he wasn't in awe of Eubank at all,not one bit,whereas most Eubank opponents were,and back then nobody was in awe (or even aware) of Hopkins. I guess it's the old British inferiority complex.

I expect Calzaghe to be right on his game regardless of the pre fight nonsense from old man Hopkins. Hopkins just doesn't throw enough leather to win this whatever way you look at it and he certainly doesn't have enough pop to score a KO with single pot shots which is about all he is capable of these days.

Al Savani wrote:I guess it's the old British inferiority complex.

Thats why no Briton gave JC a chance against Lacy.. despite never having seen Lacy fight..

I have always favoured Hopkins in this one, and I will not resile from that.
Calzaghe, like Hatton, is believing too much in his own style.

nickd wrote:I expect Calzaghe to be right on his game regardless of the pre fight nonsense from old man Hopkins. Hopkins just doesn't throw enough leather to win this whatever way you look at it and he certainly doesn't have enough pop to score a KO with single pot shots which is about all he is capable of these days.

Are you sure about that? Hopkins is capable of hitting pretty hard on the counter and Joe isn't the most graceful (or defensive minded) fighter in the early going.

I still pick Joe, but I'm really worried about a) the venue, and b) the cruel nature of this sport, reminding us an upset at a time that this isn't a science.

WildWaylon wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The people most at risk of dying are the audience - of boredom, after watching 12 rounds of hugging, butting, mauling, spoiling and holding from Hopkins.

Seen many fights like that, then suddenly a huge haymaker out of the blue, and its all over. Boring fighters often do next to nothing which gives their opponent bags of confidence and then they land the finisher. Joe needs to be very careful, Hopkins has a lethal punch.

Well, Hopkins has been lulling his opponent's into a false sense of security for quite some time now, but he's yet to stop anyone since 2003.

Joe was nailed by some huge shots from Kessler, and there's no way Bernard hits harder than Mikkel.

Of course it's possible that Hopkins stops Joe, but not very probable.

charlieb wrote:

nickd wrote:I expect Calzaghe to be right on his game regardless of the pre fight nonsense from old man Hopkins. Hopkins just doesn't throw enough leather to win this whatever way you look at it and he certainly doesn't have enough pop to score a KO with single pot shots which is about all he is capable of these days.

Are you sure about that? Hopkins is capable of hitting pretty hard on the counter and Joe isn't the most graceful (or defensive minded) fighter in the early going.

I still pick Joe, but I'm really worried about a) the venue, and b) the cruel nature of this sport, reminding us an upset at a time that this isn't a science.

Hopkins wasn't a puncher at 160 let alone 175.

Greg Nicholas wrote:

Al Savani wrote:I guess it's the old British inferiority complex.

Thats why no Briton gave JC a chance against Lacy.. despite never having seen Lacy fight..

I'd seen Lacy fight a few times and I thought Joe would win the fight, obviously not in such an emphatic manner. I saw Lacy fight Wiggins live in Manchester on a Hatton undercard....not alot of people know that

nickd wrote:

charlieb wrote:

nickd wrote:I expect Calzaghe to be right on his game regardless of the pre fight nonsense from old man Hopkins. Hopkins just doesn't throw enough leather to win this whatever way you look at it and he certainly doesn't have enough pop to score a KO with single pot shots which is about all he is capable of these days.

Are you sure about that? Hopkins is capable of hitting pretty hard on the counter and Joe isn't the most graceful (or defensive minded) fighter in the early going.

I still pick Joe, but I'm really worried about a) the venue, and b) the cruel nature of this sport, reminding us an upset at a time that this isn't a science.

Hopkins wasn't a puncher at 160 let alone 175.

Hopkins lack of KOs is down to the way he fights these days. He knows the only way he'll be able to keep Calzaghe at bay, is to hurt him.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Joe taking some sickening, single shots on the way in.

Like I said, I'm still backing Joe to pull it off, but the closer this gets, the more I worry. I shouldn't, Joe's the real deal, but there's still that sense of fear there when a fighter's going in against an unknown quantity, who was the last fighter Joe fought who could be compared to Hopkins? Kessler might be a better fighter but he was a known quantity. Hopkins is a good improviser and one of dirtiest tacticians I've ever seen, if you dont think he's coming with a plan he thinks he can pull off then you're in for a shock.

Is Hopkins "willing to die?"

Is he FVCK.

This is a man who gave around the first 6 rds in both fights with Taylor. Hopkins is safety first.