Calzaghe/Hopkins keys to victory?

Question

What does Calzaghe have to do to win this fight?

What does Hopkins have to do to win this fight?

The one huge factor in my mind is can Hopkins nuetralize Calzaghe's hand speed?

What do you folks think?

Answer 1

We Folks Down Herea Thinks The Key Is Who Wins Thanks Ya So Much

Answer 2

The key for Calzaghe is workrate.  Throw and land lots of punches.  It's that simple.  He's the younger man.

The key for Hopkins is quality punching.  Make every shot a good shot, try to shake Calzaghe and do what Mayweather did to Hatton:  take the opponent into the deep end of the swimming pool and drown him.  Try to neutralize JC's attack, then look to land a big counterpunch and take the Welshman out of his comfort zone.

I like Calzaghe to win by decision, by keeping it simple, make it boring and cruise to an easy win.  Watch early on to see if Hopkins can put a scare into Calzaghe with big punches, if the answer is no, you  can safely assume JC will win a lopsided fight.  If the answer is yes, look for Calzaghe's game to come apart at the seams, and he'll get Hattonized.

Answer 3

I think Bernard Hopkins will make it a dirty fight by keeping it close on the inside, slowing the pace down, wearing on Calzaghe and neutralizing Calzaghe's handspeed.  He will also take advantage of Calzaghe's free-throwing style with skillful counterpunching.  The wiley Hopkins will bring all his experience and ring intelligence to bear in this fight, which is what will carry him over to a decision-victory.

Answer 4

Well Gosh Dern.  Who Em Ever Groans The Mostest Will Lose This One Fight Here ---Saaaaaaluute

Answer 5

I believe that Calzage needs to get inside and use his superior hand speed.  Hopkins needs to stay away and pick his spots to mix it up and counter punch the aggressive Calzaghe.  Good question sir.

Answer 6

hopkins be urself, calzaghe, give 110%.

Answer 7

Hopkins needs to control the pace.  He needs to use his punch and hold tactics.  Also Hopkins has an underrated right hand he needs to utilize this alot.  Finally Hopkins needs to place some good body shots.

Calzaghe needs to be first.  He needs to move.  He needs to avoid clinches.  Calzaghe has to break through Hopkins defense which is not an easy thing to do.

Answer 8

The key to Calzaghe winning is volume of punches, he has to be   more active and throw a disproportionately large amount more than Hopkins, even if Hopkins lands the more effective shots, Joe has to land 2 or 3 to one to decision the older fighter.  I don't think Joe has the power to stop Hopkins, and if he does, it will be numbers of punches landed that does it, not any one big shot.  Calzaghe must be the more active fighter and numbers will make the difference on the cards.

The Key to Hopkins winning this fight is he must back Calzaghe up, press the fight and intimidate Joe.  No small task, Calzaghe almost never backs up, but Hopkins must gain Joe's respect early with something hard.  Joe has a solid chin, Kessler tested it, and it passed.  Bernard must make it clear to Joe early that Kessler and Lacy were lower tier fighters and show Joe that he is now in the big leagues.  Bernard must take away Joe's early momentum with aggression of his own, but in Bernard's case it must be effective aggression, the judges expect Calzahge's output to surpass Bernard's, so Hopkins has to make his shots count.

Bernard will not win a decision unless he drops Calzahge at least a couple times in the fight, and truth be told I think Hopkins needs a KO to win it.

Which ever fighter dictates the exchanges and initiates the action will carry this fight in the eyes of the judges.  Odds are good it will go to the cards, and I think lateral movement and foot speed will be the difference.

I predict Calzaghe by decision based strictly on numbers of punches thrown.  Effective aggression will be ignored in favor of punch stat numbers.

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Answer 9

calzaghe has to stick to what he knows and thats boxing, he dosent want to get into a brawl with hopkins because hopkins is dirty and will have the favour of the ref because he is fighting on home turf. calzaghe should stick to the plan and box this chumps head off. the same way he did lacy and kessler.

hopkins neads to put calaghe off his game plan. kind of like the way mayweather did to hatton. wind him up and get him to start throwing wild punches and when hes wound up so much that hes missing his punches go for the kill and knock him out.

Answer 10

This is what I think that each needs to do to win:

Bernard Hopkins- keep the fight on the inside where he can offset Calzaghe's handspeed.  Hopkins cannot try and outbox Calzaghe; if he wants to win, he's got to make it a dog fight and put pressure on Calzaghe- particularly to his body, which has never really been tested.  He should also throw his overhand right, especially as a counter, which has been his key weapon in defeating every southpaw that he has ever faced (see his fights with Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright to see how effective it is).

Joe Calzaghe- he needs to keep the fight on the outside in order to land his fast combinations.  Calzaghe should move to his right away from Hopkins' hard rights because that is the most effective punch against a southpaw.  Calzaghe's also got to use his piston-like jab a lot to make sure that Hopkins does not get set.  He should also use a lot of movement so that he can throw his combinations from all different angles (see his fights with Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler).  And last but not least, he should never try and trade in close with Hopkins because B-Hop has more power than him and the inside will be Hopkins' territory while the outside will be Calzaghe's territory.

Who I want to win: Bernard Hopkins- he is one of my favorite fighters and I think it is amazing that he is able to compete at such a high level and be the light heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 43; reminds me of a modern-day Archie Moore.  I also love to see a master of his craft like Hopkins just take a guy completely out of his rhythm and be able to turn a fight that most thought would be competitive into a dominant, one-sided affair (see fights with Felix Trinidad, and Antonio Tarver).

Who I think will win: Joe Calzaghe- I just think that Calzaghe's workrate will be too much for Hopkins at this stage of his career.  If this fight happened a few years ago, I would have picked Hopkins easily, but as it stands, I think that Calzaghe will be too acive for Hopkins and will win a fairly close decision.  I also think that about halfway through, Hopkins will start to try and make it an ugly fight, but it will still not be enough to overwhelm Calzaghe's fast offense.

Answer 11

hopkins will win because he is the man

Answer 12

What HOpman is going to do is clinch Calman when Cal closes in. use dirty style to demoralize Calman. and heat butt to cut Calzaghe. Hop-man cannot handle superior steed and stronger opponent.

Calzaghe stick and move, stay away from hop-man and fire from long distance. and don't let hop-man clinch him. Cal wll for sure KO hopman.

Answer 13

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