A JC fanboy's perspective

[Bomp]

Seems to be a lot of posting concerning last nights fight, but I'm very limited with time so can't go through much of em, anyway I don't want to have my viewpoints changed after joining in some petty arguments.

JC was awful, if the Nard was a few years younger he'd have won comfortably, he was just too gassed to throw punches in the last rounds. Hop did evrything he said he would, and everything we said he would, yet team Calzaghe had no clue what to do.

Joe was sluggish, by not having to get down to 168 he did it the lazy way, and his footwork was all over the shop (Joe if you're listening, it's the 'killing' yourself down to 168 that prepares your body and discipline for such challenges.). Bernard succesfully got Joe to do things he doesn't usually do, like throwing fewer punches and flurries, and Joe would plant his feet to throw a big left when he wasn't in position to do so. They totally underestimated Hopkins and did not prepare for him.

If Joe is serious about Jones or Pavlik, he needs to change his attitude big time back to where he was hungry and trained like a challenger. He might even need the contribution of a more knowledgaBle trainer, and definitely needs tougher sparring than Nathan fucking cletherly, he needs a bit of a reality check as to where he really is at this moment in time. If he doesn't make these adjustments and tighten up his defence, both guys will KNock him the fuck out.

Anyway, the Nard showed what a legend he genuinely is, his footwork and positioning is second to none in recent years, and (ignoring the holding) young fighters would learn a lot more from Hopkins' technique than form Joe.

[Beanflicker]

I disagee with your accessment of JC's performance. I think people were just expecting too much from JC. Outside of PBF, Bhop is the hardest guy in boxing to fight because he knows EVERY trick in the book to nullify and fustrate guys. People were expecting another Jeff Lacy-like performance, and that was just insane. You CANNOT do that against Hopkins. No one is going to dominate Hopkins. For JC to come back from the KD plus giving away the early rounds (which I believe Hopkins won) shows that he has a champion's determination and says a lot for his adaptibility, which is SO important on the highest level.

Agreed with the Bhop accessment though. He gave a great account of himself. They compare him to George Foreman but they forget that George showed his age, was slow as hell and relied on world class chin and power to get him through, not to mention a very weak HW division. Hopkins is fighting A-level opponents and looking good doing it. One of the all time greats for sure.

[Bomp]

I've had some time read a little of the sentiments of the board, I just don't agree with most of the other Calzaghe fans.

I did expect a tough fight, but Hopkins didn't bring anything to the table that we didn't expect him to, yet team Calzaghe's preparation was obviously deficient. I've been a fan of Calzaghe's all through his reign, but I'm not going to make excuses for him. While Hopkins' expected illegal tactics nullified JC's close game (which everyone expected), Hopkins's legal tactics were just as effective, and he WOULD have won if he were 6/7 years younger.

Papering over the cracks of Calzaghe's performance will not prepare him for the next challenge, he needs a reality check, and blaming his performance entirlly on Hopkins' holding and the ref will only be a case of denial.

Hopkins was very effective in maintaining his distance and making Joe fall forward, which is exactly the tactic I'd expect from Roy, yet Roy has more speed in his lead right (and lead lefthook) counters. He needs drastic, honest revision before taking the next fight, or his legacy may be tainted for ever.

[Fenster]

Are you sure you're not just disappointed because you expected more from Calzaghe?

Nobody looks good against Hopkins.

There's not a fight on earth he couldn't turn into an ugly disjointed mess.

[Taeth]

I don't think Calzaghe was any different in this fight, I was watching B-Hop vs Wright and Tarver, and I never believed Calzaghe's speed was much superior than Bernard's especially how quickly they think in the ring I thought B-HOp was always faster than Calzaghe in the regard. However I was surprised by how effective footwork is against Calzaghe, I mean I always knew Calzaghe is IMO pretty poorly balanced, and that he needs to set up to throw punches, but B-HOp really limited Calzaghe offense arsenal both in close and when they were fighting from a distance. I think Calzaghe has a really hard time chasing opponents down which is understandable when your used to fighting a certain way, but B-HOp made Calzaghe fight his fight, and B-Hop won this fight... imo.

[Bomp]

Are you sure you're not just disappointed because you expected more from Calzaghe?

Nobody looks good against Hopkins.

There's not a fight on earth he couldn't turn into an ugly disjointed mess.

Well we're talking about sticking Calzaghe top of the p4p, and IMO he looked very beatable last night. Hop was getting the better of the close exchanges as well when he had the energy to go punch for punch (which used to be Joe's bread and butter), which leads me to believe he could have one the fight if he was a few years younger.

I didn't expect it to be an easy fight at all, but I expected a more composed performance, he was way TOO relaxed at the start expecting an easy night. I just hope the camp are truthful when they're assessing the fight and realise they have to make changes before the next challenge, especially in his defence.