Hopkins - Calzaghe "signed by next week"

[bikersk]

This fight was obviously on when they had that little promo stunt at the Hatton Maywether fight and the "no white guy can beat me" comment. Nice way to get some talk started. And it didn't help Hatton having a plane load of fans at the venue and maywether having only a few fans as some people suggested. So i dont think it will matter for Joe either.

[Conrad]

My missus has been looking forward to booking a nice week away in the Canary Islands for the end of Feb - I've just rang and told her we aint going and to start saving for Vegas.

What's people thoughts on getting tickets for the fight? I wouldn't have thought it will be like Hatton Vs PBF, but then again Calzaghe and his Welsh fans haven't been to Vegas before.

Will the MGM (or Mandalay Bay) hold back half the tickets for the high rollers again?

[Tins06]

I don't think as many people will follow Calzaghe out there to be honest...Because the opponent isn't
"the best p4p fighter on the planet" Hatton's fight was soooooooooooooo easy to promote in the UK
with Floyd's title.Not as many people are going to be interested in paying thousands of pounds to watch Joe fight B-HOP...now if he was fighting someone like JT or Pavlik i woulda gone,

But unluckily the Massive massive names just ain't there for Joe.

[NUCLEAR BULL]

joe wouldn't want to fight thoses massive massive names anyway, he'd come out with a statement that there running from him, want to much money etc etc........ if b-hop was in his prime then this fight would generate huge interest like the hatton fight, but when you break it down......... its a 43 year old semi retired great who never had a style many neutrals liked, against a guy who's never been prepaird to leave his comfort zone in europe and turned down fighting roy jones and glen johnson to fight bika and manfredo instead........... i can see them selling out the venue but it wont be anywhere near as big as hatton mayweather

[p4pking]

I cant wait for this!

to be honest im amazed ANYONE is picking BHOP in this fight..it just aint rational...Im having £500 on a calzaghe win and will look forward to collecting my winnings! Joe = too fast = too much heart = better foot work = way way better work rate = awesome chin. BHOP will try to spoil and thats his only hope...people talk abouts BHOPS defence..which is sort of a valid point..he's cagey no doubt..fact is joe will not stop punching..when they aint in the clinch BHOP will be getting hit...

I will not be picking Hopkins to win this fight, I think Joe takes it but Hopkins WILL make it an extremely difficult fight one way or another. What I bolded in your post is what many people seem to think, that Joe just throws so many punches compared to Hopkins, that he can't lose... The fact is that if Calzaghe plans to go in there and throw 1000 punches, he'll probably land about 50 of them. Hopkins is a defensive master, has superb ring generalship, movement and footwork. He will not allow Calzaghe to fight at the pace he has done against other fighters. I think even the biggest Calzaghe fan(with a functional brain) should expect Joe's output to drop considerably since Hopkins will need to fight at a slower pace in order to be at all effective. No doubt Joe will be busier than Hopkins, but I still think Hopkins will dictate the pace not vice versa. He has to. Also, as old as Hop is, if Calzaghe comes forward flurrying without measuring Hopkins and jabbing his way in, Hopkins could still KO him with a good right hand down the middle. I believe Hopkins may hit Calzaghe as hard as he's ever been. I dunno, maybe I'm giving Hopkins too much respect for his skills and not enough flack for his output.. What I dislike about this fight is that although I'm a big fan of Hopkins, in order for him to beat top fighters these days, he pretty much needs to turn fights into a snoozefest. I'd love to see Calzaghe turn the tables and make him fight at a higher pace than he'd like, I just think it's more likely to happen the other way.

[El Gamo]

I would not rule Bernard out of this fight either P4P.He is still a defensive genius.He gets alot of hate and rightly so,for his style as of late,and as the 2 JT fights have shown,if you can pick your spots,and throw more than him,you have a BIG chance of winning. NO WAY Joe' throws nearly as many punches as he usually does though. I still see him winning based on his handspeed,picking his spots like he did v Kess and throwing those straight shots but 2 things:

Bernard executes southpaws,like 7-0 against them right? and Joe has shown a tendency to get rattled by rough fighters and not look as good against them(Bika being the prime example). None are dirtier than Bernard.However,the counter argument to that is Joe fights to the level of his opposition,as seen from the Kess and Lacy fights.

I don't know,I think it'll be close but I WILL DEFINITELY be rooting for Joe. I respect Hop but CANNOT STAND his fighting style and his big mouth.It dioesn't suit him.He's an old guy,why not act with some respect and class rather than the whiteboy comment and the staged thing with Winky.It's embaressing!

I'm hoping Joe wins and cements his legacy forever.He deserves it after all the flak he has taken.

[TheCruelBallet]

I cant wait for this!

to be honest im amazed ANYONE is picking BHOP in this fight..it just aint rational...Im having £500 on a calzaghe win and will look forward to collecting my winnings! Joe = too fast = too much heart = better foot work = way way better work rate = awesome chin. BHOP will try to spoil and thats his only hope...people talk abouts BHOPS defence..which is sort of a valid point..he's cagey no doubt..fact is joe will not stop punching..when they aint in the clinch BHOP will be getting hit...

I will not be picking Hopkins to win this fight, I think Joe takes it but Hopkins WILL make it an extremely difficult fight one way or another. What I bolded in your post is what many people seem to think, that Joe just throws so many punches compared to Hopkins, that he can't lose... The fact is that if Calzaghe plans to go in there and throw 1000 punches, he'll probably land about 50 of them. Hopkins is a defensive master, has superb ring generalship, movement and footwork. He will not allow Calzaghe to fight at the pace he has done against other fighters. I think even the biggest Calzaghe fan(with a functional brain) should expect Joe's output to drop considerably since Hopkins will need to fight at a slower pace in order to be at all effective. No doubt Joe will be busier than Hopkins, but I still think Hopkins will dictate the pace not vice versa. He has to. Also, as old as Hop is, if Calzaghe comes forward flurrying without measuring Hopkins and jabbing his way in, Hopkins could still KO him with a good right hand down the middle. I believe Hopkins may hit Calzaghe as hard as he's ever been. I dunno, maybe I'm giving Hopkins too much respect for his skills and not enough flack for his output.. What I dislike about this fight is that although I'm a big fan of Hopkins, in order for him to beat top fighters these days, he pretty much needs to turn fights into a snoozefest. I'd love to see Calzaghe turn the tables and make him fight at a higher pace than he'd like, I just think it's more likely to happen the other way.

Good analysis man I enjoyed reading that!

you are right...to an extent yeah... I think BHOP CAN / COULD slow him down.... im just not sure he will though. Even if he does slow him down and cut his work rate up it still wont be enough. Dont get me wrong here, I respect Hopkins, a great fighter no doubt about it.

The only issue I have with your post... you said that Hop will hit Joe harder than he's been hit before..in my opinion if Kessler couldnt drop him with that uppercut then he aint getting dropped at all..the guy has a very very good chin. Ive watched Joe for years, Im not saying im some kind of boxing genius but J

[TheCruelBallet]

oe really is one of the best Ive seen. "p4p" number 2 in my opinion mate. Ive said this for the last 5 years man so I aint on the bandwagon!

[p4pking]

I would not rule Bernard out of this fight either P4P.He is still a defensive genius.He gets alot of hate and rightly so,for his style as of late,and as the 2 JT fights have shown,if you can pick your spots,and throw more than him,you have a BIG chance of winning. NO WAY Joe' throws nearly as many punches as he usually does though. I still see him winning based on his handspeed,picking his spots like he did v Kess and throwing those straight shots but 2 things:

Bernard executes southpaws,like 7-0 against them right? and Joe has shown a tendency to get rattled by rough fighters and not look as good against them(Bika being the prime example). None are dirtier than Bernard.However,the counter argument to that is Joe fights to the level of his opposition,as seen from the Kess and Lacy fights.

I don't know,I think it'll be close but I WILL DEFINITELY be rooting for Joe. I respect Hop but CANNOT STAND his fighting style and his big mouth.It dioesn't suit him.He's an old guy,why not act with some respect and class rather than the whiteboy comment and the staged thing with Winky.It's embaressing!

I'm hoping Joe wins and cements his legacy forever.He deserves it after all the flak he has taken.

I said it in another thread I believe, that if Calzaghe's last fight was against Bika instead of Kessler, people would assess this match with Hopkins MUCH differently, with Calzaghe supporters giving Hop a much better shot imo.

[superheavyrhun]

I hope this fight gets made. That way Calzaghe can replace the 0 in his record with a 1 just like his buddy Hatton did.

Nah VD, you know Hopkins is going to add another to his impressive tally in the 'L' column. Sig bet again bro?

Alright. Your on. Let's see how Calzaghe does outside his comfort zone

Calzaghe will have thousands of fans at the weigh in and Hopkins will have three fans at the fight.

But even if there was an alternate universe where Hopkins had 12000 rabid fans who would buy tickets, Joe would still beat him like a gong. Just how much do you think Hopkins has? Do you think he'll be competitive with Joe in the fight? Honestly?

I agree that Joe will have loads of fans at the weigh-in, but my worry is that we end up with a similar situation to the Hatton fight where there are nowhere near enough tickets to go around the fans, with the casino taking a big wedge of those tickets.

[porkypara]

I hope this fight gets made. That way Calzaghe can replace the 0 in his record with a 1 just like his buddy Hatton did.

Nah VD, you know Hopkins is going to add another to his impressive tally in the 'L' column. Sig bet again bro?

Alright. Your on. Let's see how Calzaghe does outside his comfort zone

Hopkins will bring his 3 or 4 hundred fans to the show like normal and Calzaghe will bring at least 10000 from a country that is over 5 thousand miles away.

But it will still be like fight at home for Super Joe.

[LBSCFC]

Should be good if this one comes off.I would kill to go and watch it but never gonna be able to find the cash. Should be a UD for Joe, Unless B-HOP can find the fountain of youth.

yep I agree. joe will be too busy

[helminth]

I really can't believe that most people here think Calzaghe is going to win this. Hopkins is going to hurt this guy. Didn't you see how open Calzaghe was leaving himself when he was trying to shut out worn out Lacy! Man if he does that with Hopkins he is going to get laid out flat. Hopkins will grind Calzaghe's punch out put down. I believe Calzahge's style is too flail like to beat Hopkins.

[superheavyrhun]

I really can't believe that most people here think Calzaghe is going to win this. Hopkins is going to hurt this guy. Didn't you see how open Calzaghe was leaving himself when he was trying to shut out worn out Lacy! Man if he does that with Hopkins he is going to get laid out flat. Hopkins will grind Calzaghe's punch out put down. I believe Calzahge's style is too flail like to beat Hopkins.

Dude....it's a totally different thing leaving yourself open against a guy who's been beat down for 10 rounds and you can see the punches coming seconds before they get anywhere near him.

As for Hopkins KOing Calzaghe...he has two KOs in the past five years, and against the naturally bigger man with a good chin, there's no way in my mind Hopkins even gets Calzaghe in trouble, maybe a flash knockdown as a worst-case scenario, but no way a KO.

As for which style wins...the boxer or the gutter-spoiler, I think that Calzaghe won't let himself get dragged into a roughhouse war like he did with Bika, and will pop Ol' Popkins from the outside.

Then again, I'm an unabashed Calzaghe fan, so maybe my view isn't 100% balanced.

[leftylee]

I hope Calzaghe beats the daylight shit out of Ol'Popkins, I can't stand him especially with that racist remark it made me loose a lot of respect for him.