Quote Originally Posted by Taeth View Post
I assumed before the fight that Hopkins wouldn't be able to keep pace with Calzaghe off the ropes, he did a lot better then I thought he did, but I thought going into the fihgt he would look more like Sakio Bika, or come forwad a lot more. I remember thinking in the first round when Calzaghe was giving Hopkins so much respect that, that was his oppertunity to lead in the fight. I feel when Hopkins declined the oppertunity to come forward he opted to fight in a much more tiring fashion. Looking back I still feel Hopkins had the advantage on the inside, and when he was coming forwad, Calzaghe only countered him a few times, and on the inside Calzaghe's punches were meaningless while Hopkins was landing solidly. I am not saying this would for sure work better, but it would be interesting to see Hopkins fight in a style more like he did against Pavlik with a lot more forward movement, a litte more willing to take punches for Calzaghe who can't hit that hard anyways to land heavier and more punches of his own. I thought going into that fight that the rougher it would be the better off Hopkins would be, but he didn't make it rough.
You have this one right, in my book. Hopkins did fight the wrong fight against Calzaghe, the same way he fought the wrong fight against Taylor. Hopkins is an arrogant guy. In his mind, rightly or wrongly, work rate is meaningless and the judges should be able to tell that his one-punch counters are far more effective than pity-pat flurries or ineffective aggression. Also, he hasn't made a point of trying to be entertaining in his fights. He's a throwback with an old-school mentality. A champion shouldn't lose his belt on a decision unless he is CLEARLY beaten. He expects judges to know that Calzaghe's flurries were completely ineffective and that every punch he landed against Calzaghe was worth two or three of Calzaghe's shot's in terms of effectiveness.

In the Pavlik fight, I think he learned from his mistakes. He wanted to put on a show, dominate, and be entertaining. The post fight interview pretty much spells that out. Losing those decisions to Taylor and Calzaghe woke him up to the reality of boxing in 2008, and his approach to Pavlik reflected that. Or perhaps because he respected Pavlik's power, he knew that the only way to beat him was to throw enough that Kelly couldn't get off.

Losses seem to have that effect on Hopkins. Look how lethargic Hopkins looked in the second Taylor fight. He knew he lost that fight, and came back against Tarver like he had jumped into the fountain of youth. After the Calzaghe loss, he seriously re-evaluated things and came up with a better plan.

Honestly, If Hopkins was as aggressive against Joe C. as he was against Pavlik, I think the result would have been different.