When I think about Bernard Hopkins, I think about one of the toughest guys in the sport, a man who will do anything to stay on top. A 43-year old pugilist with his Hall of Fame ticket punched long ago, who has rebounded from losses his entire career to shove them back down everyone's throat.

He lost his first pro fight, to a guy named Clinton Mitchell. He lost in a big showdown at RFK Stadium against Roy Jones, Jr. And he lost two times in disputed, hotly-contested decisions against Jermain Taylor.

Every time, he's come back hard. After losing to Mitchell, he won 22 straight fights. After losing to Jones, he went 24-0-1. And since losing twice to Taylor, he's 2-0, stepping up 15 pounds to beat the living hell out of light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver, and then outgutting Winky Wright last year.

Bernard Hopkins is also a guy that excels when he fights angry. There's always been a theatrical side to "The Executioner"; while he appears to have lived much of his life as the quintessential "Angry Young Man," a lot of that has been for show. Then again, a lot of it hasn't. Hopkins' temper is pretty volatile. It doesn't make him a dangerous human being in everyday life, but it makes a dangerous man to fight in the squared circle, no matter who you are.

And is there a boxer in recent times that adjusts mid-fight as well as he does? Maybe only one.

When I think about Joe Calzaghe, the word unique



he fought an American. Jeff Lacy was supposed to be a 168-pound Mike Tyson. Chiseled physique, big, booming punches, and a killer's demeanor in the ring.

But Tyson was never the unfazeable commodity he was billed as being early in his career. Once he ran into guys that fought back, Tyson began to struggle. But even "Iron" Mike on his worst days didn't look as overmatched, helpless, and flat-out bad in the ring as Calzaghe made Lacy look. For a fight without a knockout, Calzaghe's win over Lacy is as one-sided as it gets. It was 12 rounds of pure destruction.

I started changing my stance a little bit. When it looked like Calzaghe would duck unbeaten titlist Mikkel Kessler, the thoughts came back. "Why won't he fight this guy? What's he scared of?"

Then he fought him. Kessler fared as well as anyone ever has against Calzaghe. And it was a clear decision win for Joe Cool. The doubts are gone. Joe Calzaghe is the greatest super middleweight of all-time, a peerless fighter in the 168-pound ranks, and there's just no real matchup of concern for him left.

So, enter Hopkins, the former middleweight ruler and current 175-pound chief.

Hopkins won't let a "white boy" beat him. Calzaghe doesn't think Hopkins is much of a legend at all.

For a guy who lets his fists do the talking, Calzaghe has been more than willing to talk jive with Bernard in the build-up to this fight. Perhaps he feels the pressure. After all, Joe's not getting any younger, and not a single fight of his has made him a major star in the United States. I'm not one of those that thinks he needs to be, but unless Joe wanted that for himself, would he even be in America for the first time ever? I doubt it.

Calzaghe-Lacy and Calzaghe-Kessler were superb wins for Joe Calzaghe. But it's a little bit like what Jim Lampley said about Miguel Cotto before his third big win of 2007: "Beating Zab Judah was good. Beating Shane Mosley would be great."

If Calzaghe beats Hopkins, even a 43-year old Hopkins, then that's great. It would have to silence even the few remaining Calzaghe doubting thomases out there.

So Who's Gonna Win?



Betting odds currently favor Calzaghe, the younger man who is naturally bigger than Hopkins despite the idea that Hopkins is heavier, having fought at 175 before. Joe's power could be better adding the seven pounds, though he's never reported having any real trouble making 168 in his career.

Has Joe Calzaghe ever fought anyone as good as Hopkins? No, he has not. Has Hopkins ever fought anyone quite like Calzaghe? No. He has not. And anyone that thinks he has is underestimating Joe Calzaghe.

The only things that have given Hopkins real trouble over his career have been hand speed and athleticism. Jermain Taylor and Roy Jones, Jr., are really the only two fights that have beaten Bernard Hopkins. Both very athletic, very determined, very skilled fighters with fast hands.

Hopkins isn't slow, but he's not upper echelon quick, either. He punches with power, but it's not great power. And Calzaghe has a set of steel whiskers.

I know it's always foolish to count Bernard Hopkins out. And I do think he'll be the best he can be on Saturday, having done his usual insane training with Mackie Shilstone, and working with cornerman Freddie Roach, who has publicly taken the stance that he's just there to keep Bernard sharp, not really teach an old dog any new tricks.

But Joe Calzaghe is a different animal. And this is the fight of Calzaghe's life. Don't expect a Clinton Woods thing. Woods looked completely lost in America against Antonio Tarver last weekend, though it's worth noting that there may have been everyday life, contributing factors involved there.

The Vegas lights won't stun Calzaghe. A portion of the crowd booing won't bother him, and I don't expect it'll be that big a portion, anyway. Bernard has diehard fans, but he's a Philly fighter and has never been terribly popular away from the East Coast. This fight would have been much better off in New York, really.

Hopkins will test Calzaghe, take him to the limit, and lose. Joe Calzaghe will go to 45-0, look around, and wonder what's next. He won't retire, though. Too much money to be made for the man that just might retire "The Executioner."

should be a great fight, hard to call. Depends on which Hopkins turns up

ye i think it will be a proper fight who ever wins they will both hurt eachother!!!

calzaghe won brilliant
x

yep good, it was a tough bout and Calzaghe showed what a great champ he is getting up off the canvas to win

ye def did you hear the interview with hopkins after made me laugh he said that he made calazaghe look amature lol
and was saying how the american judges just scored it to get uk thanks lol
and that if it was in wales that wouldnt of happend lol
he think he won!

i dont think he did

It was very close, but Calzaghe definatly won in my opinion

ye it was i had calazage up by 4 rounds though from round 5 6 he was better in my opinion for all the rounds after hopkins was just grabbing loads that does my head in!!!

did u see when calazage got behind him and pretented to shag him hilareous lol

i wanted him to win more than ive ever wanted anyone to win after the comment hopkins made

i wont get beatan by a white boy!!!

he aint laughin now is he lol
x

Hopkins lost a lot of respect from a lot of people, the better man won. And that was really funny when he pretended to do that lol

i sky plussed it so keep watching that bit lol

and when he took that other 5 min and calazge just clapped to the crowed so funny

yeah he has lost loads of respect even from americans!

I wanted Calzaghe to win because Hopkins talked shit before the fight, saying he would never lose to a "white boy."

I saw the fight and I think it sucked.

Calzaghe definitely landed more punches, but they were weak, slap punches, and he never even came close to hurting Hopkins.

Hopkins scored a legitimate knockdown when he floored Calzaghe in the first round and he did hit Calzaghe flush a few times and drew blood in the early rounds, but he threw hardly any punches after the early rounds and he was definitely bullshitting when he claimed he was hit by low blows.

To be honest, I would call it a draw.

And given that Hopkins is 43 years-old, I was not impressed with Calzaghe's performance.

If Calzaghe kicks ass on Roy Jones -- and I mean really kickes ass, by hurting Jones -- then I'll be impressed with Calzaghe.

calazaghe will kick roy jones arse
and it was no way a draw lol


The Executioner who cried wolf that hopkins new name !!!!



"I wasn't slowing down. I was pacing myself for the long haul. Freddie told me to keep my pace and take him into the deep waters. I wanted him to run into my shots and I think I made him do that, and I think I made it look easy. I think I controlled the pace and the fight. I think it was an old-school execution.
"We have judges, we have officials. In the end, it's the fans who know who won the fight.

"I just feel like I made him look amateurish."

that was hopkinds quote loads of balls lol





Bernard Hopkins lost last to Joe Calzaghe, making Calzaghe the rare European star to come to America and succeed in knocking off a major American fighter.

If you had seen my scorecard, you know that I don't think this was a close fight. I thought some of the rounds were close and tough to score, but not all of them. I thought many of them were clearly won by Calzaghe. And the only rounds that I thought Hopkins did win were the first, when he got a flash knockdown, and the tenth, when he was Daniel Day-Hopkins in There Will Be Low Blows. Seriously, could he have milked that any harder? The fact that he came out of the recovery period throwing big shots doesn't make it any better, if you ask me.

But let's say Bernard really was that hurt. (He says his junk was knocked outside of his cup, which is what hurt.) The fact that he started changing his gameplan would mean that, for once, someone got to Bernard. Bernard didn't get to Joe Calzaghe.

There's a first time for everything. And if you believe Bernard Hopkins, there's a fifth time for everything.

He doesn't think Roy Jones, Jr., beat him. He doesn't think Jermain Taylor beat him either time. I'm sure he doesn't think that Clinton Mitchell beat him in his professional debut. And he's saying he doesn't think Joe Calzaghe beat him.

But I look at the situation a little closer, and I see a beaten man within the fight. A man that knew he was losing. A 43-year old legend that can still go, but not with someone like Joe Calzaghe.

It took a hell of a long time for the ruthless "Executioner" to look his age, but last night's fight in Vegas -- where most of the 14,000 in attendance rooted for the Welshman, Calzaghe -- was where it happened.

Bernard Hopkins knows he didn't beat Joe Calzaghe. But why would he say it? When has he ever? To Hopkins, there has always been a vast conspiracy against him. He's a different man who has seen a far different world than most of us. I'm sure a lot of what Hopkins will tell you about certain situations is truth.

Both Hopkins and Glen Johnson in the past two weekends have made massive to-dos about "robberies," and I think it's a shame. Johnson's loss to Chad Dawson was a true toss-up decision. I had it a draw, and I really think that the fight was even steven. Johnson is making it sound like Lewis-Holyfield.

I think Calzaghe dominated Hopkins. I didn't see any massive difference in Calzaghe's fight with Hopkins compared to Calzaghe's fight with Kessler, one where everyone agreed that Joe had decisively won the bout despite Kessler doing some things well and probably boxing to the best of his ability.

The difference is that this is Bernard Hopkins, not an undefeated Dane of whom most folks had, at best, a mild amount of knowledge and opinion.

Look at Hopkins during this fight. His endless clinching of Calzaghe was a wise tactic, because when Calzaghe let his hands fly, Bernard looked really bad. He not only couldn't fire back in trade past one counter shot, he couldn't even defend fast enough to keep up with Calzaghe.

"My face isn't marked up," said Hopkins. Calzaghe carries with him a small cut on the bridge of his nose from the opening round, when Hopkins did land one beautiful right hand. So what?

It was even Hopkins that caused the Oscar nominee low blow, as Calzaghe's punch was going to the body and Bernard pushed his head down, which lowered the fist's destination point. Calzaghe clinches, too. BLH's Matt Miller noted after the Calzaghe-Kessler fight how much of a master of the offensive clinch Joe is, and it's very true. He uses it to disrupt rhythm, neutralize counter opportunities, and as an opening for more offense of his own.

Hopkins does something similar, but against Calzaghe, it looked like a fighter that couldn't combat the hand speed and the athleticism of his opponent. The two things that have given Bernard Hopkins trouble in his career have been hand speed and great athletic fighters. Jones. Taylor. Calzaghe. It is not a coincidence.

Watch him huff and puff in between rounds for much of the fight. As Freddie Roach and others talk strategy, Hopkins has other things on his mind, asking for towels and such at a point where you'd expect, "OK," or, "Alright." Joe Calzaghe never seemed to be approaching the realm of tired -- he was dealing with a fiery father-trainer, and I think this may have been the best job Enzo Calzaghe has ever done. Enzo kept it in Joe's head that he couldn't let up for even a second if he wanted to beat Hopkins. He sent him into the 12th round telling his son that he needed a knockout.

Bernard Hopkins is a great fighter, even still. He is in all-time ranks in the sport of boxing. He is one of the best middleweights ever. He may not always be a favorite (or ever, if you aren't from Philadelphia), but he's always either been the man winning or the guy across the ring when the winner says, "That was maybe the toughest fight of my career."

No one is unbeatable. Roy Jones had Antonio Tarver. Shane Mosley had Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright. Vernon Forrest had Ricardo Mayorga, of all people. Calzaghe is the exact type of fighter that makes Bernard Hopkins struggle and makes Bernard Hopkins look bad. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and if Hopkins decides to hang up his gloves, he should do so with his head held high.

But he lost. I think if you take the name "Bernard Hopkins" out of it, it's very clear that he lost. People say they like the aggressor. Calzaghe was the aggressor for 100% of the fight. People always talk about momentum and rhythm -- Calzaghe had that for the majority of the bout. They talk about dictating the pace, and I guess you could say Bernard did that. He dictated a pace that didn't get him pummeled with combinations. But Calzaghe was enough to pull that favorably toward his side anyway, outlanding and outworking the chess master. Those that want big, meaningful punches won't find a ton of it from Joe, but you won't find much more from Hopkins, either.

As always, it's very easy to respect Bernard Hopkins, as everyone should. But like too many times in his Canastota-bound career, it's also very easy to find his complaints to be the same old song and dance.

At the end of the day, ignoring all analysis and everything else, I just have a hard time believing this one: a European star goes to America for and is rewarded with a decision he didn't earn over a big-time, star American fighter. Maybe "anti-American" can be Bernard's newest conspiracy theory.

And as for chess masters, even Fischer and Kasparov lost. The crown to Calzaghe, if you please

Which Brit paper published the article you're quoting?

Like I said, I wanted Calzaghe to win.

I just wasn't impressed with Calzaghe's performance against a 43 year-old.

I don't like fighters who don't have knockout power.

It's far from a sure thing that Calzaghe will beat Jones, much less kick Jones' ass.

Jones is much faster than Hopkins and kicked Hopkins' ass.

actually it was espn.com lol


and as for calazage not being a knockout puncher
out won 45 (KO 32

thats pretty good
he wasnt at his best on sat and he has admitted that but he still won even not being at his best
and being held all the time its hard to get a good hit in

Ooooh.......Jones vrs Calzaghe now that would be a fight i'd pay to see. Have to agree with Zorro on that one, I think Jones would knock Calzaghe out inside 6 rounds I hope if they ever did fight that I was wrong and Cazaghe won. I disagree with Zorro that the Hopkins fight was a draw, I only had Hopkins winning 4 rounds.

they saying at millenium its gona happen im def gona go
i think it will be close but calazage will be fighting on home ground so will be better and he wont want to retire with a loss so he will fight more than ever

i only had hopkins winning first 4 rounds 2