The Boxing Thread

[ShadowDancer]

True, one good punch and the win could be his afterall.

Still doesn't quite top the 42-1 for Buster Forgethissurname to beat an undefeated Tyson in Japan back in the nineties

James Buster Douglas.

[DeathAdder]

What time UK time does the Calzaghe fight start?

[RuBiQ]

its in Vegas so expect a start of around 3/4am

[mikewl]

Setanta are saying its a slightly earlier start than usual for a Vegas fight, first bell is due to go for the main event at 3am.

[DeathAdder]

Unlike the football, this suits Japan time perfectly. 11 o clock here now.

Anyone else following it and on the forum at the same time?

[Nembot]

I`m glad he won, but that could`ve gone either way.

I`m surprised Calzaghe let Hopkins dictate for so long, but then again, he was on the recieving end of a solid right hand to the chops from the off. I love the way the the Americans are always so magnanimous in defeat too.... NOT!

Joe Cortez was up to his old tricks and wtf was **** with the american national anthem? That **** was milking his 2 minutes of fame for all it was worth.

It`s official, I hate americans!

[mikewl]

I had Joe winning by 2 rounds, from about the 5th onwards he did more, punch stats also show Calzaghe landing about 50% more punches than Hopkins, a fair result but not a great fight, very ugly.

Just want to add, Hopkins is such an awful fighter to watch and his complaining and milking the low blow took the mick, I just hope theres no rematch.

[Adrock]

A low blow is a low blow. If he gets hit at the top of the cup and it moves sufficiently to pinch/knock his nuts hes gonna feel it a lot. As most blokes will know glancing blows hurt more than full on hits sometimes.

I dont see how Calzaghe could have won it by such a margin from Giampa. I personally had it just in favour of Hopkins, whilst all of the work was being created by Calzaghe there was never anything of real substance to what he did. He never troubled Hopkins and I thought all of the telling punches came from Hopkins.

I understand I'll more than likely be a minority and will be shot down. I dont really care about how hard a guy works, if the opponent is the one nullifying all of that and landing the better punches then he should get the decision.

All in all it was a very tight affair, you could make an argument for either side, for me it was Hopkins though.

Ah well, everybody is touting Roy Jone Junior for his next bout. That guy is such a waste of time in terms of boxing spectacle, he has nothing at all to offer nowadays.

[VR46]

Not a great performance from Calzaghe, very lucky to win on points, fighting an American on his home soil with American judges and being knocked down. Pleased he won, thought he deserved it in the end, never been a big Hopkins fan, certainly nothing tonight to change that opinion.

Audley Harrison fought on the undercard, he won, but a pretty poor performance.

[Nu-Eclipse]

A low blow is a low blow. If he gets hit at the top of the cup and it moves sufficiently to pinch/knock his nuts hes gonna feel it a lot. As most blokes will know glancing blows hurt more than full on hits sometimes.

I dont see how Calzaghe could have won it by such a margin from Giampa. I personally had it just in favour of Hopkins, whilst all of the work was being created by Calzaghe there was never anything of real substance to what he did. He never troubled Hopkins and I thought all of the telling punches came from Hopkins.

I understand I'll more than likely be a minority and will be shot down. I dont really care about how hard a guy works, if the opponent is the one nullifying all of that and landing the better punches then he should get the decision.

All in all it was a very tight affair, you could make an argument for either side, for me it was Hopkins though.

Ah well, everybody is touting Roy Jone Junior for his next bout. That guy is such a waste of time in terms of boxing spectacle, he has nothing at all to offer nowadays.

Have to agree with the majority of this.

Joe Calzaghe put up a poor display, imho. He worked harder for sure, but I feel like it was more about the quantity of his punches thrown rather than the quality - Calzaghe missed as many punches as he connected, if not more so. Hopkins may well have lost the fight by failing to press home his advantage after dropping Calzaghe in the first.

Any average boxer can throw hundreds of punches, but it takes real skill and natural talent to be able to deflect punches, counter punches and make your opponents miss the large majority of the punches that they throw, and that's why I personally always tend to lean towards defensive-type fighters with accurate punching - TRUE defensive boxing is an artform sadly lacking in the fight game today, and it should be both protected and promoted. I feel that Bernard Hopkins did this to an extent (as well as throw the classier shots), but threw it away by trying to spoil the fight in the latter stages.

[Shoju]

Compubox had Calzaghe landing a higher percentage of punches in 8 of the 12 rounds with 1 even.

[Hombre]

Compubox had Calzaghe landing a higher percentage of punches in 8 of the 12 rounds with 1 even.

Compubox can kiss my arrrrse

I agree with Nu-Eclipse's comments, defensive boxing (like Floyd Mayweather Jr.) definitely takes more skill than throwing hundreds of slaps like Eddie Honda from SF2 (take note Joe Calzaghe). That's why I deplore the amateur boxing circuit, all about throwing little slaps to gain points rather than teach true boxing skill.

Although, all credit to Joe, winning in Las Vegas isn't to be sniffed at.

Still, he will always be the fighter who was protected by his management (damn you Frank Warren).

Rant over...

[Dazzyman]

Couldnt understand why Joe won. Got flashed early on, nearly took another one later on (when he started arsing about with his chin straight after) and rest of the fight it looked toe to toe to me. One of the scores seemed way off in Joes favour. Wasnt impressed with Bernards tactics though with the clash for the cut and of course the I didnt get hit in the bollox but I will pretend I did anyway. That graized the top of the belt so no way thats knocked his cup unless he had it poking up He was a great defensive fighter though and he was the one that got the cracking solid punches in all the way thru not those fleabite taps.

Big fan of Joe but I thought he was damn lucky and cant expect a rematch with that *cough* Warren behind him

[VR46]

Just remembered the Calzaghe "wiggle" behind Hopkins when he was bent over, not seen it mentioned since, not seen Stallone so vocal for years.

Think it will be a Roy Jones money-spinning final bout for Calzaghe, money involved from the US TV companies etc will be too tempting to turn down I'm sure.

Can't see Hopkins fighting again.

[Dazzyman]

Aye Sly went mental when he did that. Noticed James Beluci was sat behind him as welll. I couldnt understand why he went down till the replay and it showed a graize on the belt. Their was alot of tit for tat with that as he smacked Joe in bollox on one of rounds in return and they where both doing blows to back of the head.

Got to admit though Ive seen better fights on ITV for the money and expected more from both of em lol