Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe

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HBO poster for Hopkins vs. Calzaghe
HBO poster for Hopkins vs. Calzaghe

Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe was a boxing match that took place on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, between The Ring light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and undisputed super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. The fight was dubbed the "Battle of the Planet",[1] and the fight was for the The Ring light heavyweight championship.

Calzaghe was knocked down by a right hand in the opening exchanges and struggled to find his range early on. Hopkins continued to have success with his right, but Calzaghe outworked him in the latter half of the fight.[2] One judge scored it 114-113 for Hopkins, but the two others saw Calzaghe winning by margins of 115-112 and 116-111. The win extended Calzaghe's unbeaten record to 45 fights, while Hopkins fell to 48 wins, five defeats and one draw.

Contents

[edit] General information

Records before April 19, 2008
Battle of the Planet
Flag of the United States Bernard Hopkins
Nickname The Executioner
Record 48-4-1 (32 KO)
Hometown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Recognition The Ring Light Heavyweight Champion
versus
Flag of Wales Joe Calzaghe
Nickname Pride of Wales / Italian Dragon
Record 44-0 (32 KO)
Hometown Newbridge, Wales
Recognition The Ring Super Middleweight Champion
WBC Super Middleweight Champion
WBA Super Middleweight Champion
WBO Super Middleweight Champion
Title(s) on the line
The Ring Light Heavyweight Championship

Hopkins made 20 consecutive title defenses as a middleweight before two losses to Jermain Taylor. At about the same time, Calzaghe made 21 consecutive title defenses in the super middleweight division from Europe during a decade-long reign. Calzaghe never could be lured to fight anyone in the United States, instead defending the WBO title he has held since September 1997 against anybody willing to travel to face him. Hopkins was similarly set in his ways, staying in the United States to clean up the middleweight division.[1] Hopkins claims Calzaghe declined to fight him after Don King's "middleweight tournament" in 2001, in which Hopkins won three title belts, although Calzaghe denies this.[1]

On July 21, 2007, Hopkins defeated Winky Wright by unanimous decision to retain The Ring light heavyweight championship. After the fight, Hopkins called out Calzaghe and said that he wanted to fight him at Yankees Stadium on the fourth of July.[1] On November 3, 2007, Calzaghe defeated Mikkel Kessler by unanimous decision to retain his WBO super middleweight title and win the WBC and WBA super middleweight titles, thus becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion.

On December 7, 2007, Hopkins and Calzaghe met face to face in the media room set up for the Floyd Mayweather, Jr.-Ricky Hatton fight. Hopkins and Calzaghe began shouting insults and taunting each other, with Hopkins shouting, "You're not even in my league! I would never let a white boy beat me. I would never lose to a white boy. I couldn't go back to the projects if I let a white boy beat me."[3] Hopkins would later explain his comments, saying that it was not meant to be taken as a racial slur or a reflection of his feelings on white fighters, but simply said to create some hype for his fight with Calzaghe.[4] On January 23, 2008, the fight was officially announced to take place on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.[5] For his training, Hopkins worked with Freddie Roach, Nazim Richardson, John David Jackson (who fought Hopkins in 1997), and Mackie Shilstone.[6] Calzaghe was trained by his father, Enzo. The fight was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Frank Warren's Sports Network. The bout was televised on HBO World Championship Boxing in the United States and on Setanta Sports 1 in the United Kingdom and the referee was Joe Cortez. Both fighters weighed in at 173 lb (78 kg).[7] 14,213 were in attendance for the fight, with at least half of them making the trip overseas from the United Kingdom to support Calzaghe.[8]

[edit] Bout summary

In the first round, Hopkins dropped Calzaghe with a straight right hand, and Calzaghe suffered a small cut on the bridge of his nose.[8] Calzaghe landed with his first meaningful shot in the second round, a chopping left hand, but Hopkins continued to pick him off on the way in and Calzaghe looked very wary of letting his hands go.[2]

In round five, Hopkins started to slow his movement down a bit, allowing the more aggressive Calzaghe to keep Hopkins back against the ropes a bit more towards the end of the round.[8] In round six, Calzaghe began closing the distance on Hopkins and letting his hands go more with Hopkins punching less. From the seventh round on, Calzaghe increased his aggression, forcing Hopkins to stay alert on his toes at all times.[8] By the end of the eighth round, Calzaghe had turned the fight around so much that he felt comfortable doing a little clowning towards his opponent.[8]

In round ten, Calzaghe landed a low blow, which dropped Hopkins on the canvas.[2] Hopkins took his time in recovering, while Calzaghe was in the corner with his arms raised in the air, trying to get the crowd excited. In the next round, Hopkins went down again to his hands and knees from a questionable low blow and gained more valuable rest time. Calzaghe easily got the better of Hopkins in the final round.[8] In the end, judges Chuck Giampa (116-111) and Ted Gimza (115-112) scored the fight for Calzaghe, while judge Adalaide Byrd (114-113) scored the fight for Hopkins. According to CompuBox, Calzaghe landed more punches on Hopkins than any of his previous opponents.[9]

[edit] Aftermath

After the fight, Calzaghe called Hopkins one of the toughest fighters he had ever fought. He said, "I knew this wouldn't look pretty tonight. He's so awkward. He gave me some good shots. It wasn't my best night, but I won the fight. The world title in a second division and a win in America is just icing on the cake for my career."[10] Roy Jones, Jr. has been discussed as the next most likely opponent for Calzaghe.[11] As for Hopkins, he was upset with the official decision and said that he was robbed of a clear points win. Hopkins said, "I just really feel like I took the guy to school. I feel like I made him fight my fight, not his. I wanted him to run into my shots. I think I made him do that, and I think I made it look pretty easy. I think I controlled the pace, and I controlled the fight."[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Hopkins-Calzaghe's 'Battle of the Planet' just days away. CBSSports.com (2008-04-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
  2. ^ a b c DeSisto, Mark (2008-04-20). Calzaghe Remains Undefeated, Decisions Hopkins. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
  3. ^ Smith, Tim (2007-12-09). Bernard Hopkins jabs at Joe Calzaghe, tossing out race card. NYDailyNews.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  4. ^ Vester, Mark (2008-01-31). Bernard Hopkins Explains “White Boy” Comment. BoxingScene.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  5. ^ Bernard Hopkins to Fight Joe Calzaghe on April 19 in Vegas. TransWorldNews (2008-01-23). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  6. ^ Calzaghe/Hopkins: Bernard Hopkins trains with his "Execution Squad" for highly anticipated bout with Calzaghe. East Side Boxing (2008-03-20). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  7. ^ Cozzone, Chris (2008-04-18). Hopkins 173, Calzaghe 173!. Fightnews.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  8. ^ a b c d e f DeSisto, Mark (2008-04-19). Calzaghe Remains Undefeated, Decisions Hopkins. Maxboxing.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.
  9. ^ Vester, Mark (2008-04-19). Joe Calzaghe Outpoints Bernard Hopkins to Win!. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.
  10. ^ Vester, Mark (2008-04-19). Calzaghe: "Hopkins Was My Toughest Fight". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.
  11. ^ Vester, Mark (2008-04-20). Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones Jr. Could Be Next. BoxingScene.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.
  12. ^ Vester, Mark (2008-04-19). Hopkins: "I Took Joe Calzaghe To School". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.

[edit] External links