Rolling Boxing Thread / Anticipating Manny vs. Mayweather

Loldley took 5 rounds to break his punchbag.

Some guff on screen about freeview people needing to switch channels before 3am so it may be PPV for them. Last trailer thing they showed has me stoked. I'm going for a tight (maybe even split) Calzaghe points win then bringing Hopkins back to a stupid big UK stadium to knock him out in a rematch.

I thought I was harsh on Audley until I saw McGuigan & Co. on Setanta getting wired into the poor guy. I think if he learned to tuck his chin in and maybe swapped some bulk for a bit of mobility/speed he'd have a shout. He never seems to throw those great combinations that won him the Olympics but he still has enough weapons to take out most of what passes for a top heavyweight division these days.

I've been lolling all week at Joe C trying to out trash-talk Bernard Hopkins. He can't get a word in and when he does it's always in the most unconvincingly tough accent ever. You can't say "this week the executioner will be executed" in that accent and expect to be taken seriously.

lol what is this fuckin gibberish comin outta tom jones' mouth

hahaha

Well, that didn't take long.

Can't see a way in for Calzaghe here. Hopkins' tactics spot on so far and his counter-punching is superb.

yup

Found his range a bit there but he needs to stay outside or he'll never claw back the points he's already lost.

shit ref

he keeps letting Hopkins use his head

Whatever the fuck Hopkins is doing now it isn't boxing. Nothing but diving in and holding and headbutting.

lol is this your first hopkins fight?

The point is the ref keeps letting him away with it.

Seriously what the fuck is this ref doing?

This the same ref that stopped Hatton doing exactly what Hopkins is doing?

Calzaghe needs to throw more or this is gone.

Hopkins will win.

This other dude is a sucker.

If he ups the workrate he has a chance
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Hopkins hasn't shown anything but his head since the 5th. He's just trying to suck the life out of the fight now, and it's working.

he's totally at it now

and funnily enough he looks totally fine

he just wanted a rest

Hopkins looks knackered

Hopkins rubbing his balls for 3 minutes did him the world of good, he's started fighting again :)

that break certainly benefited hopkins

He's a fuckin pussy and wants to stop crying and holding his nuts.

(I am a bit drunk)

Calzaghe was poor there but Hopkins ran away for 2/3 of the fight.

im not sure hopkins did much in the later rounds tbh. but who knows how the judges will score it

YES!!!

Hopkins runaway tactics gets him beat haha

I'm going for a tight (maybe even split) Calzaghe points win then bringing Hopkins back to a stupid big UK stadium to knock him out in a rematch.

-- onimo, Sunday, 20 April 2008 02:45 (Sunday, 20 April 2008 02:45) Bookmark Link

Shoulda put money on that.

Fucking yes

Rematch for sure. Lets see if Hopkins can come to the UK and fight.

the way hopkins was wasting time and holding i got the feeling he wasnt convinced he was winning.

Hopkins is in his 40s, he wasn't going to knock Calzaghe out so I think he was making sure he did everything he could to take it the distance. To be fair he came back in it in the last couple of round after his ball break. He's a smart boxer, as is Calzaghe, they both changed their game as the match went on and I think Calzaghe walking forward and throwing more punches edged it. I don't think he came close to hurting Hopkins.

he should come to the uk for a rematch. put his money where his big mouth is and fight instead of running away.

It was close though. Dunno how that judge had Calzaghe 5 ahead.

Weird that with Hopkins actually being there he seemed to see a different match from everyone else. Maybe if he'd looked for that right-hand more than the grapple he'd have built on his excellent first three rounds. Jumping inside and holding doesn't sell rematch tickets. He's now lost (I think) as many fights as Frank Bruno :)

Not sure Calzaghe should fight at this weight again. I know he struggles to make super-mid but if he isn't carrying enough power at light-heavy to hurt a 43 year-old man who's running away he's going to struggle. I think Roy Jones (who he hinted at) would take his head off.

I think you are right.

I do feel the weight is just too much for Calzaghe.

and whatever that judge was drinking was too much as well

I scored this so wrong, I had 15-12 Hopkins.

N.B. I know nothing about boxing but watch every big fight and at least I wasn't drunk this time.

you saw 27 rounds? You didn't half score it wrong!

Haha, 115-112 even, or was it 115-111? Anyway it was heavy wrong.

I had Hopkins with all a 40-35 lead after four rounds so it's hard to see how anyone could give it to Joe by more than a couple of points, particularly with Hopkins having his fair share of the last three.

As I see it Calzaghe didn't "finish Bernard Hopkins" as he claimed and Hopkins certainly didn't "take Calzaghe to school" as he claimed.

Calzaghe was the more adventurous fighter for most of the fight and Hopkins was cagey enough to prevent Calzaghe having much of an impact.

Both of them have had their best successes as counter-punchers. It didn't suit Joe to go forward and Hopkins never had any intention of going forward so it didn't make for a good fight.

i don't think either one acquitted himself very well. this was my first time seeing cal - dude's pretty dirty, even in contrast with hopkins. his swings are incredibly amateurish. if bhop had more than one speed he could've run away with the fight in the second half - overall he landed less but i thought when he did land his shots were a lot cleaner. cal couldn't hurt him at all, he was just slapping away at bhop the whole time. i don't have a problem with the decision, it was a close enough fight, but calzaghe came off like an incredible punk.

Thank god Hopkins and Hatton could never match weight.

Of course he came off like an incredible punk, he's a boxer.