Calzaghe question

Both Calzaghe and B-hop are talking good fights , but i was wondering , if Calzaghe wins clearly , is he going to get the credit he thinks he is ???
I mean Hopkins is 42-43 years old , and well past his best.
Calzaghe is biging this up like hes fighting a guy in his prime. Personally i think in maybe 5 years time people would just be saying , " well Hopkins was an old fighter etc etc"
By the way i dont think its an easy fight at all thats not wot im saying.
its a pick em fight.
I get the feeling this kinda fight should have happend long ago for Calzaghe , and now his career is comming to an end hes desperate to get called a "great"
i would really like to know your opinions on this .

I am sure there will be the odd snidey comment if he wins.

Just as Lacy was overrated and nobody had heard of Kessler. These comments only came to light after he won.

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Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

Both Calzaghe and B-hop are talking good fights , but i was wondering , if Calzaghe wins clearly , is he going to get the credit he thinks he is ???
I mean Hopkins is 42-43 years old , and well past his best.
Calzaghe is biging this up like hes fighting a guy in his prime. Personally i think in maybe 5 years time people would just be saying , " well Hopkins was an old fighter etc etc"
By the way i dont think its an easy fight at all thats not wot im saying.
its a pick em fight.
i would really like to know your opinions on this .

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Sound's crazy But I Dont think that Hopkins Is totallty removed from his best. Im picking Hopkin's In a tough encounter here. People have been waiting coutless years for Him to get old over night and He has defied and beaten the odds...or just proven them groundless.

The last couple of years I have come to like Calzaghe alot.All attitude and Intensity with an all out work rate. These two will take each other to the brink and Should Calzaghe Prevail he deserves all the congrats and Recongnition there Is ,well deserved. Without the excuses and tired What If's we here to much about

I actually don't think that Hopkins has completely been neutered.
He's lost some of his physical attributes yes, but his guile, skill and astuteness grow with each fight.

I feel Calzaghe may get a certain degree of credit for the win.

However, I feel a loss would destroy him.

This is a risky fight for calzaghe. In the sense that yes many people will just claim he beat up an old man if he wins, and if he loses his detractors will say "see we told you all along he wasn't that good". But yes as donny mentions I dont think bhop is that far removed from his best I mean he beat tarver and wright(granted out of his weightclass) in his last 2 fights, and he was extremely competitive in his fights with taylor in my eyes so if calzaghe wins which I think he will he should get all the credit for doing so.

It won't mean as much as say a win over Bernard 5 years ago, but the fact remains that Hopkins is the guy who beat the guy at LH since RJJ, so Hop still has a lot of credibility left. However that won't stop the guys who just don't like Joe taking a shot, nothing will.

Joe will get slated......just like he would be if he did not agree to fight Hopkins. He would then be ducking Hopkins because Hopkins would kick his arse........like Lacy and Kessler did.........right haters:p?

Maybe Joe needs to fight Pacman or Cotto in a few years to gain respect just like Bernard did fighting blown up, past their best HOF's to make himself look great. The Americans seem to fall for it.

I think it will depend a lot on how B-Hop handles the fight as well... If he proves he's still a warrior and takes this fight right up to Joe, then I think at least in the short term Calzaghe will get quite a bit of credit for beating him.. If Hopkins looks slow, or sloppy, or tired, or anything else that isn't the usual Hopkins, it's going to lower any credit Joe gets for beating him..

Either way if he loses though, it'll be a major upset for Joe that he really doesn't need towards the end of his career when he should be going out with a real bang! He's still got a LOT to offer in the ring, and losing this fight just would be a real shame

Let me just clear 1 thing up , although i think Calzaghes work rate will be a problem for Hopkins , i think Joe may force the fight which will be right to Hopkins advantage , im hoping for a Hopkins wins , but its a 50/50 fight , and i agree with one of the other posters , if hopkins wins its ruins Joe Calzaghe for ever as a legend. People will say wot would hopkins have done to him in his prime etc.
GO BERNARD !!!!!!!

I gave Joe his dues when he beat Kess. I am a HUGE Kess fan from before he became a champ. But the way in which Joe beat him and Joe did things that I said he would never try with Kess like the hands to the side and all that just proves that he's a great fighter.

If Joe beats B-Hop it will just cement his legacy even MORE.....
If he loses he will loose to a future Hall of Famer and an All Time Great.

No shame in that...

There's no need to ask if Joe will get slated. Cuz Joe ain't winning the fight.

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

There's no need to ask if Joe will get slated. Cuz Joe ain't winning the fight.

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I really hope you are right VD , im banking on a Hopkins win

Hopkins is still top 5 p4p in world - thing The Ring has him at number 4.

The fight had to happen and the boxing world wanted to see it - I don't hear anyone crying mismatch do you ?

If Joe dominates him or even KOs him (can't see that) then there will be some no doubt that will say it's the night Father Time caught up with Hopkins - but Joe will emerge with nothing but credibility and move even higher up the P4P rankings.

Just hope it's not a snoozer of a chess match fight....

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Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

Both Calzaghe and B-hop are talking good fights , but i was wondering , if Calzaghe wins clearly , is he going to get the credit he thinks he is ???
I mean Hopkins is 42-43 years old , and well past his best.
Calzaghe is biging this up like hes fighting a guy in his prime. Personally i think in maybe 5 years time people would just be saying , " well Hopkins was an old fighter etc etc"
By the way i dont think its an easy fight at all thats not wot im saying.
its a pick em fight.
I get the feeling this kinda fight should have happend long ago for Calzaghe , and now his career is comming to an end hes desperate to get called a "great"
i would really like to know your opinions on this .

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Totally agree mate .........but Hopkins is still the biggest and toughest challenge out there imo. I think Lacy (although not with hindsight) was the biggest challenge at that time, as was Kessler, so I think JC cannot be critised from that angle.

i don't see calzaghe getting any credit at all for winning.

if he wins decisively people will say hopkins is old, way past his prime, etc.

if he loses it will be he was a overated british fighter that got exposed once he went to the states and faced a great