Hate to say it but..Hopkins might do a number on Calzaghe!!!

[buhlestnoble]

Good points guys. I cant wait for this one (bhop vs jc), cant come soon enough for me.

There are no certainties in the fight game but there are things we can probably mostly agree on

I don’t think we can say for sure that bhop is the best fighter jc has ever faced, only time will tell but IMO bhop brings several things to the ring better than any other opponent jc has ever faced

I think we can all agree that bhop brings to the fight the best footwork (when he was a middleweight) that jc has ever faced aswell as the best defence and the most experience.

I don’t think that will be enough for him to win the fight. The way I see it is that the only way bhop can win is by close decision whereas all other options are possible for a jc win, most likely a wide UD as opposed to a ko/tko.

If jc wins, of course the argument can always be made that hopkins was past it, he is 43 but it all depends on the manner of the victory. If its very close then excuses will be made perhaps justifiably. Anything else though and that just isn’t fair, you only have to look at boxing at the moment and it is littered with great champions fighting well into there 30s at the highest level and theres no doubt that Hopkins is a special fighter even at his age, as shown by the recent wins over winky and tarver as well as his domination of the middleweight division well into his late 30s (I needn’t remind that his biggest win against de la hoya came at the age of 39!). Hes no average 43yr old.

Take the example of the ages of the fighters of the light heavyweight division ring magazine ratings:

Hopkins 43
Erdei 33
Woods 35
Tarver 39
Glenn Johnson 39
Dawson 25
Green 35
Jones 39
Briggs 32
Diaconu 29
Reggie Johnson 41

Add calzaghe to this list, hes 36 in a few days! All but 2 of the top 10 are over 30, many nearer to 40yrs old and they are still beating the crap out of guys 10yrs younger. Put it this way, IMO it will be just as fair to use the excuse ‘jc was past it’ if he looses as the one already on the tips of the tongues of many Hopkins fans and jc doubters. Lets not forget jc has been boxing longer than Hopkins and has been littered with hand problems over recent years!