Calzaghe/Hopkins In July 2007?

By Manuel Perez: According to the latest boxing gossip, IBF/WBO Super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (42-0, 31 KO’s) is considering a fight with recently retired former middleweight & light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, (47-4-1, 32 KO’s) possibly to take place in July 2007, and to be shown on HBO PPV. In truth, however, aside from a few boxing diehards that are infatuated with either of the fighters, this would probably turn out to be a real stinker of a fight. Though, I can see why Hopkins would want to take the fight, considering it would give him another shot at a huge payday, possibly amounting to millions of dollars, while at the same time, due to his advanced age of 41-years old, giving him a ready made excuse if he were to lose to the 34-year old Calzaghe.

Besides that, Calzaghe recently looked less than impressive in his last bout, a 12-round decision over Sakio Bika in October 2006. In fact, Calzaghe has been under intense criticism since that time by fans, many of whom felt that he was out-punched by the tough African fighter and seemingly lost in the ring. In fact, at one point during the bout, it got so bad that Calzaghe was heard asking his father for advice on how to deal with Bika. Ultimately, the fight turned out to be much closer than the final scorecards would indicate, and Calzaghe took a huge hit in terms of his reputation, which up to that point, he had been considered invincible as a fighter. Calzaghe’s immense popularity, at least to some critics, was largely a result of his previous beating of former Olympian Jeff Lacy, whom he soundly beat in March 2006, winning a lopsided 12-round decision.

However, the bout only seemed to show that Lacy had been a product of hype, rather than anything spectacular done by Calzaghe. In his very next bout, Lacy’s reputation was further stained against Vitali Tsypko, in which he struggled to defeat the Russian fighter, winning a controversial 12-round decision. Lacy looked so bad, in fact, it appeared to completely erase the triumph Calzaghe’s win over Lacy.

While I can see fans being interested in Calzaghe/Hopkins, largely because there are few other viable opponents in the Super middleweight division, I find this fight less than appealing for a number of reasons. For one, Hopkins is now old and far beyond his best years as a fighter. In the past three years, he has been on a downhill slide, losing twice to Jermain Taylor and looking old and slow in his fight against Antonio Tarver. Though he was able win by 12-round decision, the style in which Hopkins accomplished this, throwing two punches, followed by clinching and wrestling, which was far from interesting to watch, in my opinion. Against Calzaghe, we could only assume that Hopkins’ fighting style would be the same, only worse, since he would be at a tremendous speed disadvantage. Overall, a Hopkins/Calzaghe fight somehow reeks of spectacle, something like an exhibition bout or a sparring match, more so than an actual boxing match. I certainly don’t mind exhibition bouts, but please, don’t ask me to pay $49.95 to watch it on PPV.

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Posted December 28th, 2006 l 91 views

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