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Yes, Hopkins is 43.
Yes his output isn't what it once was.
But isn't it also fair to say that he is a street better than anybody Calzaghe has beat. He knows every trick in the book and will be more suited to the weight than Joe. He is also fighting at home against Joe, who is fighting for the first time in America.
Ladbrokes have B-Hop at $2.83 and I am starting to like the look of those odds.
2/1 for Hopkins looks a bit stingy to me.
If he had a decent KO chance I could see a better case for backing him.. But he hasn't KO'd anyone since the Titanic went down. I guess he'll be able to spoil and bore his way to a few rounds and seeing as he's got the HOME advantage it could play a big factor but can someone with such a low output beat Calzaghe? Strongly doubt it.. Plus I think Calzaghe is the better fighter anyway
(Now that ive said that, rest assured, you can almost gaurantee a Hopkins win.. most likely by KO)
I see Hopkins only real chance being a big right that might just temper Calzaghe's output. Having said that look what happened when Kessler landed those uppercuts on Calzaghe. Calzaghe started to throw over 100 punches in some rounds and upped the tempo somehing rotten.
I cannot see Hopkins doing enough to win.
Points taken.
Hopkins just always looks so in control that it's hard to see him not win. I just can't remember the last time he looked in trouble - that's how good he is.
Ive picked Hopkins to win all of his recent fights. This one is stylistically all wrong for a Hopkins at 43 though. Calzaghes workrate is just so relentless. Hopkins can be outworked as even the limited Taylor showed and that will be the difference. Calzaghe is just too busy. Hopkins will land some peaches but if he doesnt stop Calzaghe I cant see him winning. He just wont land as many as Joe will.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greig
Calzaghe is going to stop Hopkins :o
I think its a serious possibility. Hopkins has been a great fighter with been being the operative word. No doubt about his legacy and all that. But Calzaghe is still doing his best work, I dont think Hopkins has been operating on that level for quite some time and to roll back the clock at 43? Calzaghe is that good and Hopkins really is that old. I think Calzaghe could do a TKO number on old BHop.Quote:
Originally Posted by Memphis
Thats prety much my take on it,allthough if anybody can come up with a blueprint of how 2 beat Cazaghe its B Hop,Taylor beat Hopkins on his workrate and Joes is higher than Taylors so it sort of makes sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by milesIve picked Hopkins to win all of his recent fights. This one is stylistically all wrong for a Hopkins at 43 though. Calzaghes workrate is just so relentless. Hopkins can be outworked as even the limited Taylor showed and that will be the difference. Calzaghe is just too busy. Hopkins will land some peaches but if he doesnt stop Calzaghe I cant see him winning. He just wont land as many as Joe will.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greig
I see the Taylor fights as the last time Hopkins wasnt in with a handpicked opponent. A long time ago now. Hopkins had issues winning rounds in the first half of both fights and essentially edged the close rounds in the second half of the fights as Taylor tired. Calzaghe has greater skills than any other fighter Hopkins has faced and Hopkins is beyond his best. Its not looking good for Hopkins. Years ago this was a close fight, now its elementary.Quote:
Originally Posted by njacketsThats prety much my take on it,allthough if anybody can come up with a blueprint of how 2 beat Cazaghe its B Hop,Taylor beat Hopkins on his workrate and Joes is higher than Taylors so it sort of makes sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by milesIve picked Hopkins to win all of his recent fights. This one is stylistically all wrong for a Hopkins at 43 though. Calzaghes workrate is just so relentless. Hopkins can be outworked as even the limited Taylor showed and that will be the difference. Calzaghe is just too busy. Hopkins will land some peaches but if he doesnt stop Calzaghe I cant see him winning. He just wont land as many as Joe will.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greig
I can't really see Joe stopping B-Hop but I can see a total lopsided decision for Joe.
hopkins is a very good fighter, his right hand is like a rader and he's rough on the inside, bika roughed joe up and got to him ( i re-watched this fight a few weeks back ) joe was spent half way through the 11th round and looked beat up, now hopkins is a much better boxer then bika and much more subtlely dirty...........however bika was 28 in that fight, hopkins is 43, i feel he's goner have a rough night with joes speed and punch output, i hope he wins but it maybe a fight to far
Joe failed to impress against Bika but he still won convincingly. Hopkins has his hands full just getting through this really. He is just too beyond the sphere in terms of age. No one has ever been at their best at 43 and to beat Calzaghe at that stage in the game? Not a chance in hell!!Quote:
Originally Posted by NUCLEAR BULL
Calzaghe always raises his game to a new level for the big fights and this will be his easiest big fight because Hopkins is so inactive and hasn't fought an opponent who wasnt handpicked since Taylor. Taylor was limited and he stretched the young middle aged version of Hopkins twice. Hopkins will get busted up badly with Calzaghe.
Speed, movement, output. These are the keys to the fight and Calzaghe has all 3 of them all locked up. It wont even be close.
... a pretty decent case can be made for both fighters, which is why i think either way we will get a good fight. I really won't look at either fighter any less win or loose.
While I agree with pretty much everything you wrote (except the part about hoping Hopkins wins), I think the biggest issue with the Bika fight was that JC didn't respect him as a legitimate threat. He allowed himself to be in a position to be roughed up due to a lack of preparation and a lack of respect for, and understanding of, Bika's ability and style.Quote:
Originally Posted by NUCLEAR BULL
Reid only threw round about just over 400 punches against Calzaghe which isn't a high work rate. And he still badly troubled Calzaghe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fenster
Yes Calzaghe had a very bad night but still pulled off the win. The sign of a "great" champion.Quote:
Originally Posted by ICBReid only threw round about just over 400 punches against Calzaghe which isn't a high work rate. And he still badly troubled Calzaghe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fenster
Ok ...but has B.Hop always delivered the goods when the questions have been asked....No, he hasn't, for whatever the reasons or excuses...he has not always delivered,Quote:
Originally Posted by Greig
And though he may well have fought the Taylors, Joneses or De La Hoya's (Please, Oscar at Middle weight) While the other two managed to beat him...
So why does that put a stamp of quality re level of opponents fought....Had he beaten them we would have had all questions answered by B.Hop, but he didn't...
Whenever Joe has had to deliver simply put ...he's delivered, sometimes with broke or damaged hands, and at times not looking too tidy even, but he has always come through...So what if it's been in the U.K lets be honest here with some reality...
He's the Champion...so if they want his Title they should go take it off him...why should he be pushed into the "Go to the U.S.A and prove yourself to the Americans to gain true greatness myth"..
Funny thing is B.Hop is hardly a Globe trotter himself now is he, not the most traveled of fighters when it comes to fighting over sea's...He would never have come to England to take on Joe....
Frank Warren tried to get him over a while back (Whatever the politics) but to no avail, so lets not pretend that this is just a Joe symptom, because it ain't...It's hilighted more with Joe because he's been a Champion for so long now..
When Joe wins on 19th April, that one single fight won't turn him into a great, it's everything that he has done throughout his career that will be the decider of that as time passes...and NOT that one fight..
Also there is, and has been far too much emphasis on Joe not dealing with the away from home factor, but why, he will rellish it, and he for certain will not be overawed, you will see him rise to the challenge....
He will not collapse from it, or crumble, because his mental strength and make up will not allow that, And they are big big insights into why he has always given the correct answers when he has been asked the questions through out his career...
Yes there can be a first time for anything, eg nerves, the occasion, wilting under pressure...but has Joe ever looked like he's about to crack ...no he ain't, and B.Hop in the U.S.A is not the opponent or place that is going to change that....
:badass::badass::badass:
How many times have you seen either of them almost getting KO.
This guys are good I expect a great fight I'm pulling for JC but B-Hop as much I despise that piece of shit, he still has talent at 43.