Round 6: Hopkins not putting out enough offense. Although his defense is subtlety spectacular. Calzaghe begins to razzle dazzle. 10-9 Calzaghe.
Round 7: Calzaghe can’t hurt Hopkins. Right counter by Hopkins at end of round. 10- 10 even.
Round 8: Tough round to score. Calzaghe seems to do enough. 10-9 Calzaghe.
Round 9: Calzaghe’s best round. Mad Flurries. 10-9 Calzaghe.
Round 10: Low blow by Calzaghe. Hopkins, the veteran, takes his time to recover and slow down Calzaghe’s momentum. Hopkins goes after Calzaghe hard. 10-10 even.
Next Saturday Night, April 19, 2008, Bernard Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KOs), Light heavyweight Kingpin and living legend will step into the ring once again, this time at of 43, to take on Super Middleweight Boss and Welsh hero, the undefeated Joe Calzaghe, (44-0, 32 KOs).
I am always in the mood for “Execution Time” when Bernard Hopkins steps in the ring. (Remember, I used to roll into the ring with Bernard Hopkins’ Entourage in the late 90’s early ‘00’s. Don’t believe me? Watch the fights from that era; I was the young guy, custom suited down, typically Armani, blown open, Brioni pocket square, sometimes smoking cigarettes walking toward the ring, handsome and smooth. Or just look for the only non-African American guy in the crew. Either way works. For the record, I really try to stay out of the public eye. In fact, you will rarely see me except maybe a glimpse at ringside.) And this fight is no different.
After Dropping two close fights to Jermain Taylor, Hopkins bounced back in impressive fashion by dominating Antonio Tarver, and defeating the very tough to solve Ronald “Winky” Wright.
The Pride of Wales, is fresh off a big win over Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler. Before that, Calzaghe defeated Peter “The Pride Of Providence” Manfredo Jr. of Contender fame, Sakio Bika and Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy.
Calzaghe & Hopkins Clash Verbally
Here is how I see the fight shaping up:
Hopkins Strengths
Hopkins has never been a pretty boxer. He is however, a winning boxer. That is what he does, he wins. He is extremely disciplined, having fought almost his entire career at Middleweight. He doesn’t get out of shape between fights. The Executioner is also an extremely intelligent fighter with excellent game plans and execution (no pun intended).
As Hopkins has grown older, he has continued to find a way to win. The Executioner is a subtle master of the little things in Boxing, like controlling distance.
Hopkins also has a great team in Freddie Roach, Mackie Shilstone, John David Jackson, and Naseem Richardson.
Hopkins is also a Master of Mental Warfare. Round one for Hopkins starts when the fight is announced.
Calzaghe’s seems like he is in the prime of his career. He has got great boxing skills and fast feet and hands. His work rate and sheer amount of punches he can throw over the course of a fight make him extremely tough to beat, especially on a decision. Keep in mind, almost every decision is won by the guy who throws more leather.
Hopkins weaknesses
Age. Pretty obvious here. Any 43 year old boxer’s weakness is age. Hopkins is an incredible athlete for not only being a champion at this age, but for being one of the best Champions in the entire sport. Some experts think he showed his age in his last few fights. Well, obviously. But he still wins. He has found a way to win despite his age. You just never know when that is going to end.
Calzaghe’s weaknesses
I wouldn’t really say Calzaghe has any real “weaknesses”. But, I don’t think he is exactly a murderous puncher despite 32 KO’s on his docket. His Knockouts have been more by the swarming and accumulation of punches variety as opposed to the one punch variety.
And with 44 fights, you can’t say he doesn’t have experience.
I would say as compared to Hopkins, Calzaghe’s quality of opposition just doesn’t compare. People talk about his huge win over Jeff Lacy. But really, who did Lacy ever beat? His other “big” wins: Peter Manfredo Jr.? Sakio Bika? Come on. And Mikkel Kessler barely ever fought out of Copenhagen. Copenhagen is more known for fly Blond Scandanavian girls than it is for boxers.
Hopkins has beaten Lupe Aquino, John David Jackson, Glen Johnson, Simon “Mantequilla” Brown, Robert Allen, Keith Holmes, Felix “Tito” Trinidad, William Joppy, Oscar De La Hoya, Antonio Tarver and Ronald “Winky” Wright. Big difference.
Like Hopkins said, “His (Calzaghe’s) resume looks like a Mary Poppins script,”
Hopkins keys to victory
Hopkins just needs to do what Hopkins does best: Intimidate, rough up his opponent, use “grey area” tactics, lunge in with shots and if he misses, check Calzaghe and throw elbows. Essentially, Hopkins needs to take Calzaghe to the Streets of Philly. And by “take Calzaghe to the Streets of Philly”, I don’t mean for a Cheesesteak with extra Wiz, either.
Hopkins needs to stay busy enough and start fast enough as to not give away early rounds. If Hopkins loses a bunch of the early rounds, he is going to have a long night.
If Hopkins can hurt Calzaghe early and come on strong in the later rounds, maybe score a knockdown, then he has a decent chance.
Hopkins also has to, and I mean has to, work the body early.
Calzaghe keys to victory
Calzaghe whole game plan must be to stay on the outside and control the fight with his legs and superior work rate. He must also try to get Hopkins on the ropes and take advantage of lapses in Hopkins punch output. Hopkins has the tendency to take part of the round off these days. But who can blame him? He is 43! At 43, the only activity I am going to be doing is relaxing at a tropical hotel pool bar, linen down, drinking absinthe, slowly losing my mind and walking fly local girls up to my villa.
A couple of other issues:
Calzaghe is fighting in the United States for the very first time.
Yeah, this is a factor, but from the response Ricky Hatton got in the US, I think Calzaghe will have more fans in the arena than Hopkins. As long as Calzaghe stays out of the Spearmint Rhino the week before the fight, I really don’t think this is going to be as big a factor as everyone else does.
Age
Big question mark for Hopkins. But keep in mind Calzaghe is 36. What about the age factor on him?
Mental Warfare
It seems so many people (especially squares and non-boxing and non-street people) underestimate the intimidation and mental games guys like Hopkins and Mayweather play on their opponents. (Anyone pay attention to Muhammad Ali?) Many people think that a true professional like Calzaghe will not get rattled by Hopkins’ tactics. But ask yourself, did De La Hoya get rattled by Mayweather? Had anyone ever talked to Oscar like that before?
Has anyone talked to Calzaghe like that before?
I don’t think so.
(Take it from someone who has won plenty of battles with his mouth…)
The Prediction
Ok. So, pretty much all the “experts” is picking Calzaghe to outwork, out-point and use movement to get a decision over Hopkins. I can see that happening as well.
But there is something about Hopkins that I think he has a chance in this one. (If they would have fought 5 years ago, I think Hopkins would have taken him apart.)
One thing is, Hopkins actually has less to lose than Calzaghe. Hopkins already has his seat in the Hall of Fame secure no matter what happens in this fight. Calzaghe, on the other hand, has to win. If he doesn’t, everyone will just think (unfairly) he was a bum that just fought over in Wales and was protected. That is a lot of pressure.
Depending on the odds you can get, I would throw dough on the underdog Hopkins. But keep in mind, I might be biased because I used to roll in Hopkins Entourage, and I have picked like the last 20 fights correctly on The G Manifesto. So I can gamble a bit.
Invasion of the Bodysnatchers: Miguel Cotto Defeats Alfonso Gomez
Miguel Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs) systematically dismantled Alfonso Gomez (18-4-2, 8 Kos), of Contender fame, tonight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City tonight.
Round By Round
Cotto established his jab and body attack in the first round and never looked back. Cotto consistently beat Gomez to the punch and truly outclassed the popular Mexican fighter. At the end of round one, Cotto staggered Gomez with a jab to the body, then confidently stared him down as he returned to his corner.
Round two, Cotto continued to dominate Gomez with the jab and began to pick him apart. Gomez fell from being off balance and out boxed and the referee ruled it a knockdown.
Round three, Cotto came out extremely confident, and he seemed like he was treating the fight like a sparring session. At the end of the round, Cotto became the Bodysnatcher and dropped Gomez with a left to the solar plexus. Gomez showed heart in getting up.
Round four, Cotto rips Gomez with every punch in the Book. Cotto looking very calm. By the end of the round the punches landed on Gomez totaled 60. Gomez’s face showed it.
Round five, more of the same. Cotto then dropped Gomez with a hard jab to the mug.
The ringside physican was kind enough to stop the massacre between rounds.
For Cotto, it was a very impressive performance. He really showed versatility with his jab being the main weapon in the fight. Cotto landed an impressive 188 of 369 punches (51 percent) while Gomez landed 63 of 316 (20 percent).
In the other fight in the Doubleheader, The Tijuana Tornado, Antonio Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs) dusted off Kermit Cnitron (29-2, 27 KOs) with a body shot in the sixth round to take one of the title belts three years after he first knocked Cintron out.
Margarito used a pressure, pressure, pressure approach on Cintron and was able to take the KO artists best shots.
Margarito used an uppercut, left, straight right, left hook to the body combo. The body shot put Cintron on ice.
Margarito landed 207 power punches to 89 for Cintron, and also landed 257 of 611 total punches (42 percent) to 30 percent for Cintron.
What does this all mean?
Well, it means that Cotto VS Margarito will probably happen in summertime.
Cotto might be better suited to try to set up a fight with Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather, because Margarito is so big.
But Miguel Cotto VS Antonio Margarito will be a huge fight. The winner will have some real leverage to get Mayweather in the ring at the end of the year or early ’09.
Joel Casamayor vs Michael Katsidis Fight Video ROUNDS 8,9,10
Great KO. Great Left hook.
Casamayor puts Katsidis on ice. And I don’t mean that now-defunct wack club in Las Vegas called Club Ice either. Actually, I never went, but I am sure it was wack.
Saturday, April 12 we will see Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico and Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2, 8 KOs), from Whittier, CA step into the ring for a 12 round title fight from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Cotto is on a roll defeating Zab “Super” Judah and Sugar Shane Mosley in his last two fights. He desperately wants a fight with Floyd “Money” Mayweather and a win over Gomez puts him in that direction.
Gomez is best known for being on the show “The Contender” beating guys like Ahmed “Babyface” Kaddour and Jesse Brinkley. Since the reality show, he has gotten wins over a faded Arturo “Thunder” Gatti and a faded Ben “Wonder” Tackie.
Although, Alfonso Gomez has been a tough warrior in all the fights I have seen him (and in the “Contender” fights it was kind of difficult to tell his skills because of the cheesy editing) I think he is in way over his head with Cotto.
I had the opportunity to see Cotto spar during a January trip to Puerto Rico, and he looked very impressive. Almost as impressive as the girls in Puerto Rico.
Look for Cotto to systematically dismantle Gomez with his body attack. Gomez will give it his all, and land some shots, but look for him to fold in rounds 6 to 10.
Kermit Cintron VS Antonio Margarito
Also on the card, Kermit Cintron (29-1, 27 KOs), from Reading, PA (via Puerto Rico), battles former champion Antonio Margarito (35-5, 25 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico in another 12 rounder. The hard hitting Cintron will be looking to avenge the only loss on his record. The winner will most likely face the winner of Miguel Cotto VS Alfonso Gomez in a welterweight title unification bout.
