Calzaghe: Give me Hopkins next

[Gandalf]

Thing is Hopkins is retired so to make a Calzaghe fight ain't that easy, its fine for Calzaghe to start calling out Hopkins now that hes retired. Why doesn't Calzaghe call out Taylor or Wright who are both active. If Hopkins comes back he wants a challenge & IMO taking on the heavies is a bigger challenge than a super-middleweight.

He calls them out all the time.

"I would love to come out and fight," Calzaghe said. "I thought if the title fight was going to happen, then I would have come to America then and fight with Hopkins. Even if the fight was with Winky Wright or Jermain Taylor, yes, I would be willing to come. But unfortunately those people are sort of eluding me because Roy Jones got himself beat and Hopkins has retired. So we will have to wait and see. But it would be great to fight at least one fight in America." http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...dan&id=2621395

Oh and as you can see on a previous post of mine Calzaghe has been calling out Hopkins for years, he hasn't waited until Hopkins retired.

Good points bro, but in my book its one thing to say sh*t & another to do it. Action speak louder than words shall we say. Either way Calzaghe fights Hopkins he loses, same goes for if he fights Wright. I think he beats Taylor though.

Would you care to break down why exactly Wright or Hopkins beat Calzaghe at this stage in their careers?

Wrights jab & defense, Hopkins' experience & all round ability. Basically I think both guys are technically better than Calzaghe. IMO opinion gets a lesson from Wright & loses a decision to Hopkins as Hopkins makes it a sloppy boring fight.

Taylor lost to Wright IMO, but took it to the limits. Calzaghe has greater skills and output than Taylor and is bigger. Hopkins is old and lost to Taylor because of a limited output in the second fight especially so....

Would you care to add more to your critique?

I'll add. Granted I've seen a lot less of Calzaghe than most of you Brits, but every time I've seen him fight, his punches have looked extremely wide, and he's looked incredibly open right up the middle. That straight lead right is one of Hopkins' favorite punches, and I think he'd have about a 100% connect rate on it against Calzaghe.

Calzaghe is very quick and throws some creative combinations. I don't think his power is very good, and again, though his combos are quick, they are very wide and leave him incredibly open. That's fine and good against second-rate fighters like Jeff Lacy, but against a master technician like Hopkins or Wright, he would pay. I could be wrong, and he could switch everything up the first time he steps up to world class competition, but there's no evidence I've seen that would suggest this.

Hopkins would indeed land the straight right. But only when he is confident enough to throw that punch which in recent times is only after a fight has reached its latter stages. Hopkins is 42 years old!! He is not going to get any better than he was in his mid to late 30's. Calzaghe is a busy bee who swarms. Hopkins has not faced a fighter like that in many a year. Hopkins is a defensive wiz, but Calzaghes output is absurdly high when need be.

Hops would have his hands full. He could survive by being evasive...but the Calzaghe flurries will get through eventually. We arent used to seeing Hopkins hit flush too much, but Calzaghe would hit him square and frequently...

Shza, im as much a fan of Hopkins as Calzaghe and thats the main reason why this fight shouldnt happen. Hopkins will need to retire the way most fighters do....better he stays out like this with full dignity intact...

And my advice is to aquire more Calzaghe fights...