Quote Originally Posted by Bomp View Post
His succes has come from his unique style he's developed with Enzo, however it could definitely be improved upon, Hopkins exposed weaknesses in his general strategy.

Another benefit of another knowledgable trainer taking an eye at him is to set up strategy for specific opponents. Team Calzaghe claim they don't watch bugger all of the oppoennts beforehand, and after Saturday I believe them. I was watching with disbelief within 30 seconds of the first round when Hopkins was moving away and Joe couldn't reach him, he looked a little baffled then just walked forward straight into a right hand!!! I mean, what the HELL did they expect?
A little homework would have made it a much more comfortable nights work, even though Hopkins would have still made it awkward. It took Calzaghe 4 rounds to figure stuff out about Hopkins's strategy, stuff that EVERYONE else knew already. In the end it was Hopkins' date of birth that caught up with him.
I don't believe that they only watched one Hopkins fight. Joe had clearly watched the fight Hopkins had in Ecuador due to comments he made before the fight. I'm sure they've both sat down and watched endless Hopkins fights together before. They were first planning on fighting him six years ago and I bet they'd seen all his fights before then.

Hopkins can make anybody look awkward, especially a guy fighting in Vegas for the first time at a new weight with a huge reputation to protect, and especially when he knocks him down in the first minute. Calzaghe had to change his strategy after that knockdown because he couldn't afford another one against a boxing grandmaster away from home and still managed to do it. Look what Hopkins did to Winky and Tarver, but Joe managed to beat him despite the knockdown and with all the pressure. He's as good as ever apart from his hands.