Worlds Collide: Hopkins vs. Calzaghe

April 19, 2008

Thomas & Mack Center-Las Vegas, Nevada

Excuse the delay in this article. I have been sick this week.

The official attendance for this event is 14,213. An estimated 10,000 of them are fans of Calzaghe's that have flown over from Britain to see this match. Many of the remaining 4,213 were born in the United Kingdom, but currently living in North America.

The Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight (175 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Bernard Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KO's, 1 NC, 173 pounds) (c) vs. Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KO's, 173 pounds)

Hopkins won this championship by defeating Antonio Tarver on June 10, 2006 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey in a blowout 12-round unanimous decision. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native is making his second defense of this title.

Hopkins amateur career consisted of boxing on the prison boxing team at Graterford State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. He learned to box there, while serving 56 months from the ages of 17-years-old to 23-years-old. Shortly following his release, Hopkins turned pro with a 4-round majority decision loss to Clinton Mitchell on October 11, 1988 at the Resorts International in Atlantic City.

Following the loss, a discouraged Hopkins would spend the next few years continuing to work at his day job at a hotel in Philadelphia. He would continue to learn how to box and returned to the ring on February 22, 1990 with a round 4 unanimous decision victory over Greg Paige at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia.

Hopkins would win 22 straight matches until he faced a far more experienced Roy Jones, Jr. in a match for the vacant IBF Championship at 160 pounds on May 22, 1993 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Jones would take the match in a 12-round unanimous decision. However, the loss motivated Hopkins to train harder and he would not lose again for nearly 12 years.

Hopkins would gain the recognition for his efforts as The Ring's number 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, following Jones' loss to Tarver on May 15, 2004. The Philadelphia native would lose that ranking with a narrow 12-round split decision loss to Jermain Taylor at 160 pounds on July 16, 2005 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Following a narrow 12-round unanimous decision loss in the rematch with Taylor on December 3, 2005 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Hopkins would jump up 2 weight classes for his title win against Tarver.

The Philadelphia native had announced his retirement following the victory over Tarver to fulfill a promise to his late mother to get out of boxing before he was 42-years-old. However, Hopkins later decided he was personally unready to retire and faced Winky Wright in his last match on July 21, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Hopkins won the match via 12-round unanimous decision. The victory gave Hopkins his second straight victory over an opponent who employs the southpaw stance. Hopkins has defeated every southpaw opponent he has faced in the ring. The match with Wright was at a catch weight of 170 pounds. However, Hopkins Ring Championship at 175 pounds was still on the line.

It was an ugly brawling match up. Hopkins was holding constantly throughout the match and delivered an intentional looking "rebound headbutt", almost like ROH World Champion's Nigel McGuinness' "rebound lariat". The headbutt busted Wright open badly above his left eye, and Hopkins used every dirty trick in the book to work on the cut. Hopkins began clinching and rubbing his head or anything else he could against Wright's open wound. Since, Wright was considered the superior technical boxer on the outside and the referee was letting Hopkins hold and foul on the inside with impunity, Hopkins took advantage. Hopkins' roughhouse tactics wore Wright down throughout the match, and allowed Hopkins to win the final 5 rounds on all of the judges scorecards. Hopkins showed himself in that match to be possibly the most savvy ring veteran in the sport of boxing today, with his knowledge of the veteran tricks that are not necessarily legal, but will not draw point deductions.

Hopkins is The Ring Champion at 175 pounds. The Ring, also ranks Hopkins at number 4 on their pound-for-pound rankings, behind number 1 pound-for-pound boxer, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Calzaghe is indisputably the greatest boxer in the history of the 168 pound division. His last loss came as an amateur in 1990, when the Soviet Union was still unified under the communist rule of Mikhail Gorbachev. At that time in the United States the boy band "New Kids on the Block" had an animated cartoon show on ABC on Saturday mornings. "Dead Poets Society" won the BAFTA for best film that year.

The Welshman's last match was a dominant 12-round unanimous decision victory over Mikkel Kessler in front of 50,150 fans at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on November 3, 2007. The event set the record for largest crowd ever to see an indoor boxing match in Europe at the converted rugby stadium and was estimated to bring over $20 million to the local community. HBO's Max Kellerman said of Calzaghe in that match, "It's not that Calzaghe's performance in this match was perfect, it's that it was beyond that."

The victory moved Calzaghe within reach of some of the greatest records in the history of boxing. It was his 21st successful defense of his WBO Championship at 168 pounds. The all time record for consecutive title defenses is 25 and held by the legendary Joe Louis. The immortal Rocky Marciano holds the record for a boxer retiring with a perfect record at 49-0. If Calzaghe walks away from the sport with 26 title defenses, which would require a minimum record of 50-0, following a victory in this match Calzaghe would have to be listed among the greatest boxers in the history of the sport. However, Calzaghe has expressed hesitation to go after these milestones. Calzaghe has said the boxers that hold these records are legends. To break Louis and Marciano's records it may somewhat diminish their legacies, and their records do not mean enough to Calzaghe for him to do that.

Calzaghe is The Ring Champion at 168 pounds. He is also ranked by The Ring, at number 5 on their pound-for-pound rankings.

Calzaghe at 36-years-old is 7 years younger then the 43-year-old Calzaghe. Hopkins holds the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Calzaghe stands 6' tall. Calzaghe holds the reach advantage with a 24" arm length, measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to the 23" arm length for Hopkins. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available, but it is likely that Hopkins will be the heavier of the two boxers entering the ring. Hopkins will box out of the orthodox stance and Calzaghe will employ the southpaw stance. Calzaghe is a 2.5 to 1 favorite.

There are many celebrities in attendance in this match including: Whitney Houston (who looks awful, crack is whack), Catherine Zeta-Jones (who is from Wales), Simon Cowell, Sylvester Stallone, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jay-Z, Jim Belushi, Pete Sampras, Michael J. Fox, Bruce Willis and several others that HBO could not find for good camera shots.

Returning from successful surgery to treat throat cancer and announce this event is the legendary Michael Buffer. First off he introduces to sing the Welsh National Anthem, Sir Tom Jones. Jones is wearing a great purple sport coat and shirt. The American National Anthem will be sung by Ray J. Whitney Houston who did probably the best rendition of the National Anthem ever at Superbowl XXV and Jay-Z are at the show and they go with Ray J. That is disappointing.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. Two of the judges are from Nevada and the other is from Illinois. The referee is Joe Cortez. Keeping unofficial score for HBO is Harold Lederman.

A straight right hand from Hopkins scores a flash knockdown on Calzaghe with 2:00 to go in round 1. Calzaghe appears a little dazed getting back up. The action resumes with 1:48 to go in round 1, after Calzaghe has easily answered the referee's count. Hopkins allowed Calzaghe to recover, by not throwing another punch until there was 1:11 to go in the round. With about 15 seconds to go in round 1, Calzaghe is beginning to bleed from a cut on the bridge of his nose. It was probably caused by a Hopkins headbutt. Hopkins was studying on tape the fact that Calzaghe was bothered by a headbutt that cut the Welshman in a match in October 2006 with Sakio Bika. It was the first significant cut of Calzaghe's career and reportedly Hopkins was intent on opening up a similar wound in this match. Hopkins wins round 1 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-8. According to CompuBox in round 1, Hopkins landed 4 of the 16 total punches he threw. A hesitant Calzaghe landed 7 of the 35 total punches he threw in round 1, according to CompuBox. With 45 seconds to go in round 2, Calzaghe hits Hopkins with a short left hand to the groin during a clinch. The referee warns Calzaghe, and Hopkins turns around and walks to the corner. The referee then stops the match for an injury timeout with 38 seconds to go in the round. Hopkins takes several seconds, while the crowd boos and then action is resumed. The fouling in this match has been very clever. Hopkins has been constantly holding Calzaghe throughout the first 2 rounds with the arm that is on the opposite side of the referee. Similarly, the low blow by Calzaghe occurred on the opposite side of the referee, and the official never saw it. Round 2 is very close, but possibly Calzaghe, 10-9. The reason for that is the incessant holding from Hopkins. Lederman scores round 2 for Calzaghe, 10-9. Calzaghe is more active and wins round 3, 10-9. After 3 rounds the match is even on my scorecard, 28-28. In round 3, Calzaghe landed 23 of the 70 total punches he threw, for a 33% total connect percentage. In round 3, Hopkins landed 10 of the 45 total punches he threw, for a 22% total connect percentage. Calzaghe has out-landed Hopkins in each of the first 3 rounds. Lederman scores round 3 for Hopkins, 10-9, and has the Philadelphia native winning the match after 3 rounds, 29-27.

With 1:43 to go in round 4, the referee calls time following Hopkins spinning Calzaghe around and punching the Welshman with a wrap around uppercut to the head. The referee tells both boxers to avoid rough tactics and that he does not want to deduct any points. Hopkins wins round 4, 10-9. Lederman scores round 4 for Calzaghe, 10-9. Very close round 5, that Calzaghe probably wins, 10-9. Calzaghe wins round 5 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. The boxers flurry in a clinch to end round 6, and the referee knocks Calzaghe to the ground trying to separate the boxers. The referee correctly rules that Calzaghe slipped, and the bell sounds to end the round. Calzaghe wins round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, Calzaghe leads on my scorecard, 57-56. Through 6 rounds, Calzaghe has landed 94 of the 322 total punches he has thrown, for a 29% total connect percentage. Hopkins has landed 51 of the total punches 191 he has thrown through 6 rounds, for a 27 % total connect percentage. After round 6, the referee warned Hopkins in the corner to stop fouling or he would start deducting points from the boxer. Lederman awarded round 6 to Calzaghe, 10-9, and has the boxer from Wales leading on his scorecard after 6 rounds, 57-56.

Calzaghe nearly suffers another flash knockdown from a Hopkins right hand at the end of round 7. However, Calzaghe is much busier in round 7 and that is good enough to win the round, 10-9. The one good punch from Hopkins earns him round 7 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Calzaghe wins round 8, 10-9. Well after the bell sounded to end round 8, Hopkins hit Calzaghe with a left hook to the head. This is the same referee who worked the Mayweather-Ricky Hatton match, and the boxers in this match are getting a lot more leeway then Hatton got in that match. Lederman scores round 8 for Calzaghe, 10-9. Calzaghe dominates and wins round 9 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. No one has ever pressured Hopkins, like Calzaghe is doing in this match. After struggling with Hopkins power in the first several rounds, Calzaghe appears to have made the adjustments he needed and is pulling away in this match. Calzaghe is winning this match after 9 rounds on my scorecard, 87-83. Lederman has Calzaghe winning the match after 9 rounds, 86-84.

With 2:27 to go in round 10, Calzaghe catches Hopkins low, again. Calzaghe circled around behind Hopkins and did a rather lewd taunting dance, before Hopkins dropped to all fours. The referee calls time with 2:21 to go in the round for Hopkins to take an injury timeout to recover. There will be no point deduction. Hopkins is a receiving a chorus of boos while staying down from an angry partisan crowd that has had enough of his constant fouling and saw turnabout as fair play. It was clearly an accidental low blow and the referee has ruled it such. Hopkins pulled Calzaghe's head down when the Welshman was punching, and the Hopkins' foul of pushing Calzaghe's head down is what guided the punch low. The punch appeared to be a very weak open hand slapping punch, that Hopkins, who is a very big pro wrestling fan, is selling for all he is worth to get a point deduction. Hopkins also appeared to heavily embellish the severity of the low blow in round 2 to give the referee the idea that on the next foul he would need to take a point from Calzaghe. This gets back to Hopkins being potentially the most savvy ring veteran in the sport, who knows every trick in the book. The HBO commentators are also, wondering if the long time Hopkins is taking to recover may be an effort on the boxer's part to break Calzaghe's momentum. The referee is getting frustrated with how long Hopkins is taking to recover and asking if the boxer is ready to continue. In response Hopkins did not even look at the referee, but limped away continuing to grimace and take deep breaths. After several minutes a still grimacing Hopkins says he is ready to return to action. Hopkins comes back amazingly fresh from the low blow and may have won a very close round 10, 10-9. After 10 rounds, Calzaghe leads on my scorecard, 96-93. Through 10 rounds, Calzaghe has landed 188 of the 575 total punches he has thrown, for a 33% total connect percentage. Hopkins has landed 105 of the 365 total punches he has thrown through 10 rounds, for a 29% total connect percentage. Lederman scores round 10 for Calzaghe, 10-9, and has the Welshman winning the match after 10 rounds, 96-93.

With 28 seconds to go in round 11, Hopkins sells a low blow that the referee did not see. Calzaghe's body positioning in the corner may have obstructed the referee, while he delivered a receipt for Hopkins numerous fouls. This forces another injury timeout. There is no penalty and the action is quickly resumed after Hopkins walks around a little to the frustration of the referee. Calzaghe wins round 11, 10-9. The HBO cameras did not pick up the vicious low blow that Hopkins was selling at the end of round 11, either. The punch occurred in a corner where a camera was set up, and the punch may have been below the camera's sight line. However, it still appears Hopkins was doing a lot of acting to draw a point deduction in a close match. Calzaghe wins round 11 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Calzaghe's aggression and superior workrate win a close round 12, 10-9. Calzaghe wins the match on my scorecard, 116-111. Lederman scored round 12 the same and has the final score the same.

The official decision as read by Buffer is that the judges have scored the match: 114-113 (Hopkins), 115-112 (Calzaghe), 116-111 for the winner by split decision, still undefeated, and the new Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, "The Pride of Wales" Joe Calzaghe. The win moves Calzaghe to 45-0 with 32 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Calzaghe landing more total punches on Hopkins then any opponent on record. The previous record for total number of punches landed against Hopkins was 206 by Jones. Calzaghe landed 232 of the 707 total punches he threw, for a 33% total connect percentage. The Welshman landed 187 of the 483 power punches he threw, for a 39% power connect percentage. Hopkins landed 127 of the 468 total punches he threw, for a 27% total connect percentage. The boxer from Philadelphia landed 116 of the 375 power punches he threw for a 31% power connect percentage.

Calzaghe said in his post match interview said he wants Jones in his next match. The Welshman said that with a smile on his face and a glance towards press row, because Jones is doing color commentary on this match for BBC Wales.

Hopkins said in his post match interview that the world, except for the British know he won this match. Kellerman who was conducting the interview seemed somewhat bewildered, to steal one of the New Yorkers own favorite terms, that Hopkins was so insistent he won the match decisively. When asked about retirement, Hopkins said he would think about it with his family and partners at Golden Boy Promotions. However, the way Hopkins said it sounded like a definitive no. This entire interview sounded like a promo for a rematch, only without Hopkins directly challenging Calzaghe.

Calzaghe was great in this match. He is now the undisputed champion of 2 weight classes and it appears no boxer at 175 pounds or below would be able to come close to beating him. Kellerman said before this match, that a win over Hopkins could make Calzaghe not only the greatest British boxer of all time, but potentially the greatest European boxer of all time. Following this victory, Calzaghe has been moved up to number 3 in The Ring's pound-for-pound rankings. Reports out of the UK say that Calzaghe wants 1 more match, and then he will retire. Jones has offered to face Calzaghe at 168 pounds in Cardiff at Millennium Stadium. That match makes the most sense, and Calzaghe who is now calling himself "The Legend Killer" (he watches pro wrestling, too) would like to take out one more legendary boxer on his way to retiring with a perfect record. Calzaghe has said the one thing that still matters to him in boxing is leaving the sport with a perfect record, and to join Rocky Marciano as the only other champion who retired undefeated. The fact that this was a split decision is surprising. Calzaghe dominated the second half of this match with a superior workrate, and is cementing his legacy as one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all time.

Hopkins looked good in this match. It was a much better performance, then in his match last year against Wright. The Philadelphia boxer was only ranked down to the status of number 1 contender at 175 pounds by The Ring and dropped 1 spot in The Ring's pound-for-pound rankings to 5. Hopkins is not going to retire, and appears unlikely to get a rematch with Calzaghe. His next most likely opponent would be a match with the winner of Tarver and Dawson sometime in late 2008 or early 2009.

This was a good match between 2 future hall of famers nearing the end of their careers, but still at the top of the sport. There are no more replays of this event, but it should be replayed around Christmas and is worth watching then to see 2 of the best of all time face each other.

News and Notes: One of the best moments of the awful New Kids on The Block cartoon was when they did a live action montage of the band in Germany. Donnie said he wanted to bring a huge piece of the recently destroyed Berlin Wall home to his family. Released on September 18, 2007, the Collector's Edition of the PC Game "World in Conflict" came with a piece of the Berlin Wall. (There are currently only used copies of the game available on amazon.com for $18.99.) The world has changed a lot, since Calzaghe last saw an opponent's hand raised.

Following up on boxers who watch pro wrestling Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton, gave himself "The Hitman" nickname. Hatton, did not take the nickname from Thomas Hearns or any other legendary boxer who used the moniker, but from the legendary wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart. If Hatton is looking to draw a record crowd at Wembley Stadium for his rumored match in Spring 2009 with Mayweather, he will have picked the right Hitman's lead to follow.

Should Jones not face Calzaghe he threw out some other interesting potential opponents. ON ESPN's Friday Night Fights on April 18, Jones said he would like to face UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva in a boxing match. Jones then ran down Dana White, saying the UFC President was not allowing the match, both Silva and he (Jones) want, despite offering Floyd Mayweather, Jr. an MMA match with Sean Sherk. The Florida based boxer then said he would like to challenge Glen Johnson, who came out looking the best of the 4 light heavyweights who competed on Showtime on April 12. Jones did not say that he thought Johnson beat Chad Dawson that night, but won in the public's eyes. That makes a match between the two appealing to him.

Nevada has suspended its provisional rule change from a few years ago that required boxers to wear 10-ounce gloves for matches taking place above 135 pounds. Almost everywhere else, boxers wear 8-ounce gloves for matches that take place under 148 pounds. The rule change was designed to promote boxer safety, and actually does the opposite. However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission said there research into the subject said the change made no difference. The rule was rolled back in an attempt to get the Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito match scheduled for July 26 to come to Las Vegas.

Mayweather has been given the ceremonial honor of waving the green flag to start this year's Indy 500. It is also a safe bet to expect to see Mayweather waving the proverbial matador's red cape at Oscar de la Hoya and wearing a ridiculous amount of jewelry from ringside on May 3 at the Home Depot Center. Considering this is Mayweather and it is Cinco de Mayo weekend in de la Hoya's hometown in front of a crowd that will be of largely Mexican descent, the Las Vegas resident may actually bring a real matador's red cape to taunt de la Hoya.

Brothers Anthony and Lamont Peterson signed recently with Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions for a $100,000 signing bonus without their manager reviewing the contract. This has lead their manager to file an arbitration claim for $300,000 in damage to block the deal. He was in negotiations with Golden Boy Promotions for reportedly a signing bonus of double what Arum paid. Additionally, Golden Boy Promotions was going to debut the brothers on the undercard of de la Hoya-Steve Forbes on May 3. Top Rank will debut Anthony in the opening televised match on a Versus card on June 26 and Lamont in the opening televised match in a Showtime Championship Boxing event on July 5. All of this makes the Petersons' signing with Top Rank seem like a terrible business decision.

Ring Champion at 135 pounds, Joel Casamayor following his victory over Michael Katsidis said he had no interest in rematching Nate Campbell to unify all of the major titles at 135 pounds. Casamayor wanted a match with Manny Pacquiao, but Pacquiao is not intending to face Casamayor, soon. Therefore, it appears Casamayor will face Campbell sometime in the fall. The winner will likely face Juan Diaz who is scheduled to box sometime in early September.

Amir Khan is the number 1 contender to one of Campbell's titles. However, Khan may give up his title shot at Campbell to face Pacquiao, following Pacquiao's match with David Diaz on June 28. Khan spoke on ESPN's Friday Night Fights about wanting to come to Las Vegas to prove how good he was, while he was young in his career and not old like Calzaghe or Hatton. (Apparently, Khan cannot tell the difference between boxers still in their prime from boxers who are over the hill, or to close his mouth before he learns it. Comments like these are causing a severe backlash against Khan in the UK.)

Also, if anyone saw the ESPN E:60 piece on the fight club in Silicon Valley, it may mean real bad press for MMA and pro wrestling. It was scary stuff combining the worst of backyard wrestling and untrained MMA to equal all human cockfighting. This is scary stuff, and bad articles are going to start rolling out soon. It is a matter of time until these idiots or a copycat group kill someone, and things could get real bad for pro wrestling and MMA.

A deal is being put in place for Kelly Pavlik to defend his 168 pound titles against Marco Antonio Rubio on September 27. This match will take place near Pavlik's hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, in Cleveland, Ohio. This match is contingent on Pavlik defeating Gary Lockett on June 7 at Boardwalk Hall.

Again as a reminder, Showtime will be replaying the entire Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez trilogy on May 3 at 10:45 PM Eastern. For anyone who has missed a minute of this action, they absolutely need to go back and catch all of these matches. There will be no better series of matches between 2 boxers for many years, possibly several decades, and this is not an exaggeration. Hyperbole is overused in this business, but to call this one of the greatest series of matches of all time is a requirement. This trilogy is better then Micky Ward vs Arturo Gatti. It is must see television. There will be replays throughout the weekend on numerous Showtime channels if it is missed on the first viewing, because it is being run opposite the de la Hoya match at 10 PM Eastern on HBO.

The next recap will come out May 4, recapping Oscar de la Hoya's return to HBO and likely last non-PPV match on May 3.

Sincerely,

Jereme Warneck

Boxing and Video Game Correspondent for wrestlingobserver.com and f4wonline.com

Hidden Valley Lake, CA

I can be reached for feedback and comments at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or as JeremeW on XBOX Live. I read everything.

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