Sharkie’s
Machine
By Frank
Gonzalez Jr.
April 19th,
2008
“White Boy
Beats Bernard Hopkins”
Undisputed Super
Middleweight (WBA/WBC/WBO) Champion, Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32
KO’s) made his debut fight in the USA, as a Light Heavyweight
Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas,
against America’s legendary, former undisputed Middleweight
Champion and current (IBO/NBA, no, not basketball) Light
Heavyweight Champion, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins
(48-4-1, 32 KO’s).
n the lead up to this
fight there was a lot of emphasis on
Hopkins’ age and
his workouts with his conditioning coach as well as Calzaghe’s
methods of training with his father, a jazz musician turned
boxing trainer. And of course, there were some typical mud
slinging, mostly by
Hopkins. Calzaghe
kept to his usual polite demeanor, even after
Hopkins’ told him
that he’d, “never let a white boy beat him.” Calzaghe just
responded saying, “If you fight me, you will lose.”
The ring answers all
questions, with no regard for all the hype, pre-fight talk,
pound for pound rankings and even the official Judges’ Score
Cards at the end. Fortunately, the winner of this fight got
the W at the end of the day.
At 36 years old, Calzaghe
is no spring chicken but he hasn’t shown any signs of aging or
slowing down and has won all his fights so far. At 43,
Hopkins may be
“old” but he remains in excellent shape and is possibly the
craftiest fighter I’ve ever seen. His ability to win the
psychological battle and foul opponents opposite the ref’s
view is an art form worthy of recognition. His fights can be
boring but he is tenacious in finding ways to win.
As they made their way to
the ring, thoughts of how open Calzaghe’s style leaves him to
the straight right hand, and how
Hopkins knows how
to deliver one, danced in my head. There were no loyalties
here for me; I like both Hopkins and Calzaghe. Both are great
fighters in their own right.
Calzaghe is a slapper, a
rhythmic boxer, who doesn’t generate big power with single
shots so much as he wears opponents down with his overall
volume of offense, good stamina and athleticism.
Hopkins is the
master of getting inside his opponent's head. He has sneaky
power and good accuracy when he punches. He takes away what
his opponents do best and can hurt opponents with his
specialty; holding while hitting (opposite the ref’s view). If
Hopkins has a
signature punch, it might be the low blow or the head butt.
But seriously, the man is a legend.
The Fight
Round One -
They felt each other out for a moment, Calzaghe pressed
forward,
Hopkins waited to
counter. They traded shots and
Hopkins clinched
against the ropes until the ref broke them. As Calzaghe came
in,
Hopkins landed a
clean right and put Calzaghe on his seat. Calzaghe up
immediately but was tentative and Hop landed another right.
They brawl in close, ref brakes them. Calzaghe kept coming
forward, throwing one at a time. Calzaghe’s nose bled from a
small cut caused by a
Hopkins punch.
10-8
Hopkins.
<In the corner, Enzo
Calzaghe told his son, “You’re letting him bait you in for
that kind of punch.”>
Round Two
-
Calzaghe the aggressor and exchanges with
Hopkins against the
ropes. Referee Joe Cortez working hard already. Calzaghe
landed two low slapping punches, no warning.
Hopkins held every
time Calzaghe got close enough.
Hopkins landed a
nice straight right.
Hopkins overreacts
to an unnoticed low blow.
Hopkins used his
left arm to hold Calzaghe when in close and punch with his
right. Calzaghe countered with the same.
10-9
Hopkins.
<Ref warned
Hopkins' corner
about hitting behind the head.>
Round Three -
Hopkins boxed outside, moved and came
in with shots aimed at the body, scoring too.
Hopkins held and
hit until Cortez broke them. Calzaghe gets Hop in corner and
flurries with slapping punches. Crowd roars. They trade and
both score. Calzaghe started finding his rhythm and exchanges
dirty shots with
Hopkins. Ref warned
Calzaghe and crowd booed.
Hopkins landed more
telling shots and matched athleticism with Joe.
10-10
<Freddy Roach tells
Hopkins that
Calzaghe’s a sucker for the right hand.>
Round Four -
A sloppy start with Calzaghe chasing Hopkins, who held and hit
when possible. Cortez getting a work out. Calzaghe starting to
wrest control of the tempo as they brawled into the ropes,
where Joe scored. The ref said, “Brake!” And
Hopkins threw a
punch that landed. Ref paused action to warn both to ‘keep it
clean.’ Calzaghe chased
Hopkins around the ring,
dropped his hands, taunting
Hopkins in. Hop
scored nice off the ropes with counter punches. Lot of
wrestling initiated by
Hopkins. Calzaghe
pressed forward and punched his way in and out. Calzaghe
landed a left at the bell.
Hopkins hit
Calzaghe from behind, right in front of Cortez, who broke them
apart yet again. Momentum starting to shift as Calzaghe
started landing more and forcing
Hopkins to fight
his fight instead.
10-9 Calzaghe.
Round Five -
Calzaghe jabs his way into
Hopkins, whose only
direction is backwards and sideways, always away from
Calzaghe. Calzaghe showboats a little as his confidence starts
to soar.
Hopkins eats some
leather as Calzaghe landed a nice left and a flurry of little
shots. Calzaghe forcing
Hopkins to keep
busy.
Hopkins back
against the ropes, committed to defense as Calzaghe pressured
him.
Hopkins to the
body. Calzaghe landed a series of lefts to the head and after
the bell,
Hopkins kept
punching.
10-9 Calzaghe.
<In the corner, Roach
told
Hopkins, “I need
more than one at a time, throw combinations!”>
Round Six -
Calzaghe stalked
Hopkins.
Hopkins backed up
and held when Calzaghe got close enough. Calzaghe's pressure
starting to bother Hopkins, who holds after throwing any
punches. Calzaghe started using his jab to move
Hopkins around.
Hopkins, one punch
and hold, every time. Calzaghe shoe-shined
Hopkins until the
bell, Cortez got between them and pushed Calzaghe, who went to
the floor.
Cortez told
Hopkins corner,
“Bernard, I don’t want any more of those tactics, I don’t want
to take any points. I want a clean fight!” Then he went to
Calzaghe’s corner and said the same thing. Calzaghe’s father
was screaming at his son to pick up the aggression.
Calzaghe 10-9
Round Seven -
Calzaghe landed jabs and got
Hopkins on the
ropes. Calzaghe landed more and more,
Hopkins held more
and more.
Hopkins led with
his head and continued to hold. No warnings from the ref
either for all the holding. Calzaghe got the better of the
exchanges and
Hopkins was less
and less effective. Calzaghe dropped his hands then went after
Hopkins against the
ropes. Calzaghe landed slapping shots.
Hopkins landed a
short right that buckled Calzaghe’s balance. Too little too
late. 10-9
Calzaghe.
Round Eight -
More of the same as Calzaghe pressured
Hopkins, whose path
was the ropes as he backed up and waited for counter
opportunities. Calzaghe landed a clean left to the face.
Hopkins held.
Calzaghe threw combinations.
Hopkins landed a
right then backed up. Calzaghe a left, Hopkins a right.
Calzaghe threw more, landed more and
Hopkins is tricky
but doing so much less. Calzaghe rallied with punches and
scored and taunted
Hopkins to the
bell.
10-9 Calzaghe.
<Roach told
Hopkins, “You need
to throw more combinations.”>
Round Nine -
Calzaghe has his spacing down, his confidence up and his
rhythm working as he landed a straight left on the face of
Hopkins. Calzaghe
flurries,
Hopkins holds.
Calzaghe harassed
Hopkins with little punches
that kept
Hopkins going
backwards. Hop landed a nice right. Calzaghe landed a bigger
right. Calzaghe in control. Calzaghe landed another straight
left. He mimicked
Hopkins, dropping
his hands and was even winning the psychological battle at
this point.
10-9 Calzaghe.
<Enzo Calzaghe screamed
at Joe, “You won the last four rounds in big style, I think
this guys ready to be knocked out. TRUST ME! TRUST ME! TRUST
ME!”>
Round Ten -
More of the same, with Calzaghe controlling the tempo, forcing
Hopkins backward
and popping punches. At one point, they got close,
Hopkins turned round and with
Calzaghe behind him, he did a little taunting dance in front
of
Hopkins backside.
Prior to the theatrics, Calzaghe threw a sloppy uppercut
toward the body that was low but didn’t have any steam on it
but Hopkins played it to the bone, taking a knee and
pretending to be in pain, while taking a few minutes to get
some oxygen as the crowd got restless and annoyed by his
bullshit. Calzaghe bounced around, spread his arms in askance
of “what?” The crowd complained as Hop milked the clock.
Calzaghe incited the crowd, walking back and forth, bouncing
around, waving the crowd in… and drawing cheers in his
direction and jeers in
Hopkins’. When
action finally resumed, it was back to work for Joe, who kept
the pressure on.
Hopkins landed a
straight right as he jumped in to deliver it.
Hopkins rallied a
bit but always held whenever Calzaghe got close enough.
Hopkins did score
some decent shots. Calzaghe scored some too as
Hopkins landed two
low shots opposite side of Cortez. Calzaghe kept fighting. The
long rest helped Hop get some energy back. They traded to the
end. Good round for both guys, Hopkins gave a good effort
late. I’ll
call it even, 10-10.
Round Eleven -
Calzaghe pressured
Hopkins and they traded shots
until
Hopkins held.
Calzaghe landed a sneaky right as they tussled inside.
Calzaghe landed a clean combo to Hop’s face against the ropes.
Calzaghe’s pressure made
Hopkins try
another; ‘I got hit by a low blow’ routine, but Cortez didn’t
stop the action.
Hopkins rallied and
they traded, both landed. Calzaghe outworked
Hopkins and landed
more often.
Hopkins did some
good work but just not enough to win the round.
10-9 Calzaghe.
<Calzaghe’s corner,
possibly fearing a bogus decision, tells him, “You got to STOP
him!”>
Round Twelve -
Calzaghe reached out to touch gloves but
Hopkins didn’t
share his enthusiasm; they commence to brawl and Hop lands one
and Calzaghe lands about five.
Hopkins tried to
land the straight right, charging in with it on a few
occasions. Calzaghe keeps
Hopkins outside and
keeps punching. Calzaghe landed a nice left,
Hopkins landed some good shots,
Calzaghe countered well and
Hopkins held.
Calzaghe had too much energy and
Hopkins didn’t have
enough. Calzaghe bounced and punched,
Hopkins darted in
with combos when he struck. Calzaghe, in charge since about
the fourth round, kept taking it to
Hopkins as they
slugged to the bell. The crowd cheered wildly.
10-9 Calzaghe.
<As Calzaghe jumped up
onto the ropes to address the crowd, they cheered some more.
It was obvious who the crowd thought won the fight.>
The Official Scores were 114-113
Hopkins, 115-112
for Calzaghe and 116-111 for Calzaghe, who won by Split
Decision. The Judge who scored in favor of
Hopkins was the
only one wearing glasses. According to the unreliable
Compu-Box stats, Calzaghe landed more punches against
Hopkins than anyone
ever has.
* *
During the post fight
interview, Calzaghe was told of his Compu-Box numbers over
Hopkins and asked
how he did it and he said, “I don’t know, to be honest. I
found it really hard tonight. He caught me in the first round.
I think I slipped (laughing), but I had to dig deep. Bernard’s
a great fighter.” He thanked the fans in attendance. Then
went on to say that he felt more loosened up after the fourth
round and felt stronger in the fight and knew it wasn’t going
to be pretty but, a win is a win.
Interviewer: You said you
felt you slipped. (Calzaghe never said that) It was a clean
knock down; did he ever hurt you in the fight?
JC: “I said I slipped.
You know I’m joking. (laughs). He caught me with a flash knock
down, it’s only the third time in my career I’ve ever been on
the floor and I got up and did what all great champions do, I
went on about my business and like I said, I’m so happy right
now.”
When asked about Kelly
Pavlik and Roy Jones Jr. Calzaghe said he didn’t know just
yet. He did say maybe Roy Jones Jr. since he just beat
Hopkins and is now
a “Legend Killer.”
Of course
Hopkins said he won the fight
when he was interviewed but after
Hopkins
demonstration of honesty in the ring (the low blow show), how
much credibility do his words really have?
Congratulations to Joe
Calzaghe, the new man to reckon with at Light Heavyweight.
There’s still three other major belt holders in the division
in Zsolt Erdei (WBO), Chad Dawson (WBC) and Antonio Tarver
(IBF) and one belt that is up for grabs at the WBA. It’s
likely that Joe goes for Roy Jones Jr. next, unless
Roy out-prices
himself to prevent it from happening. Can anyone imagine Jones
traveling to
England
to fight Joe Calzaghe? I can’t. If
Roy can’t dictate all the terms
of the fight from the money to the venue to the gloves, etc,
don’t expect
Roy to be a serious
consideration.
I’d like to see Roy Jones
Jr. finally fight Bernard Hopkins in a long overdue rematch
but we know that’s not going to happen.
Hopkins may have
lost this fight but he is still way too dangerous for Jones to
seriously consider. The only thing Jones has is his name at
this point and that name has lost much of its luster since
2004. If Jones is for real, he would do well to prove it by
fighting
Hopkins before 2008
ends.
Why can’t they just have
a tournament at Light Heavyweight between Dawson, Tarver,
Erdei and Calzaghe and out of that quartet; the last man
standing would be the undisputed Champion. I think Calzaghe
has what it takes to beat them all but speculation means
nothing until they fight in the ring.
Dawson is only a
champ due to a horrendous decision win over Glen Johnson, who
beat him but didn’t get the Judges blessings. Erdei is
seriously untested and Tarver is on the downside of his boxing
career.
* * *
Comments can be emailed to
Frank Gonzalez Jr.
4-19-2008
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