Joe
Calzaghe Split Decisions Bernard Hopkins
April 20, 2008
by Hal Clarke
Bout of April 19, 2008.
He clinched. He head butted.
He faked being hit by low blows. He cried to referee Joe Cortez.
He ran for 12 rounds. But in the end loud mouthed Bernard Hopkins
was forced to eat his words and accept the result for his cowardly
actions: a split decision victory for Joe Calzaghe. It was sweet
justice for the boxer who had to endure Hopkins' childish pre-match
promotional banter ("I'd never lose to a white person")
and actually tried to box rather than consistently use
illegal tactics to spoil the bout. All's fair in love and war,
I suppose, but in the end instant karma's gonna get you.
The bout for the light heavyweight
championship of the world (175 lbs and below) opened in surprising
fashion as Hopkins, the former undisputed middleweight champion,
landed a first round counter right straight on Calzaghe's chin
dumping him to the canvas. More embarressed than hurt, Calzaghe,
the current supermiddleweight champion, leaped to his feet, shook
the cobwebs, and maintained a high guard the rest of the round
and the subsequent three, mindful of another counter until he
could find his rhythm. For his part, Hopkins backpeddled, squirmed,
and when he did attack, which was once in a blue moon, dove in
with his head down, his right lunging in, and his left seizing
Calzaghe's left in vicious clinches that often resulted in Hopkins
bending Joe's elbow. When he wasn't running or holding, the dastardly
Hopkins could be found attempting to spin Joe around and punch
him from behind, rubbing his forehead into Joe's eyes on the break,
and generally playing defense at all times. Sound fair or exciting?
Of course not, this is Bernard Hopkins we're talking
about, and it's no surprise that the man who has spent a career
bending the rules would do so once again, earning the boos of
the crowd even as he absurdly declared post-fight that they know
who really won. Ha! And the worst of it: Hopkins' antics
almost worked.
With the knockdown and the early
rounds in the bank, Hopkins jetted to a healthy lead on the scorecards.
But once Calzaghe found his groove he was able to apply more and
more pressure to the old man until it became obvious only faked
low blows could buy Hopkins the time he needed to regain his wind.
And that is precisely what Hopkins did in the 10th, prancing around
the ring as if in the ultimate pain, milking the five minutes
Cortez gave him to recover and inevitably slowing down Calzaghe
and stealing away the round. Yet for all his tom-foolery it wasn't
quite enough to stymie The Calzaghe Express who triumphantly outworked
Hopkins the last two rounds to earn the well-deserved split decision.
You see, the difficult thing
about fighting Bernard Hopkins is that the officials let him get
away with his dirty tactics. He never gets warned for his outrageous
amount of initiated clinches, never penalized for hitting low,
hitting on the break, and hitting behind the head, and is always
allowed to do whatever the hell he wants whenever he wants because,
"oh, it's just Bernard Hopkins and that's the way he fights."
And that is exactly the problem.
Boxing fans and writers cry their
eyes out when fighters such as John Ruiz make a career out of
hugging their way to victory, but when it comes to Hopkins there
is rarely cries of foul. That double standard is ridiculous and
needs to stop. Both Ruiz and Hopkins are rule breakers, plain
and simple, and the recent incarnation of Ricky Hatton is as well.
These are fighters who tie up their opponent every time he gets
close regardless of the situation, an act that when done in excess
is illegal. Sure, clinching is a part of boxing but there is a
limit to how many times a boxer can lock up his opponent before
he must be warned and then penalized. Again, clinching is not
illegal, but excessive holding is and it's about damn time referees
start taking away points for this bogus style of defense.
In the end, Hopkins' dirty tactics
saved him from tasting the canvas but they neither won him the
judges nor the crowd and probably guarenteed that this was the
last big fight of his career. Sure, Hopkins has a great record,
a great resume, and when allowed to do his thing can defeat almost
anyone, but when no one wants to see Hopkins fight because he
is a boring cheat, then it's obvious he has dug himself a hole
perfect for a 42 year old former champion to retire in. And that
is precisely the situation Hopkins finds himself.
As for the new 175 pound champ,
Joe Calzaghe, the sky is the limit. Will he fight Roy Jones, Jr,
Kelly Pavlik, Jermaine Taylor, or perhaps one of the other 175
pound paper champions? Whatever he chooses we wish him the best
and thank him for yet another terrific performance. Joe proved
last night that he is one of the best ever, clearly beating an
all-time great (even if Hopkins is a cheater) and doing so in
a way that showed he never loses his cool and can adapt to even
the most difficult situation. Calzaghe is a class act, through
and through, and if ever there was a man worthy of the highest
accolades this is the guy. Go Joe Calzaghe, go the Pride of Wales,
and go into retirement Bernard Hopkins.
Hopkins best defense was being
a good ass.
Calzaghe moves to 45-0 (32
KO)
Hopkins falls to 48-5-1
(32 KO)
Here is the official scoring
of the fight:
116-111, 115-112, 113-114
(Calzaghe by split decision)
My Scoring of the Fight:
| Round |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Total |
| Calzaghe |
8 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
114 |
| Hopkins |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
113 |
Quote of the night by Bernard
Hopkins:
"He knocked my privates
out of my cup." (referring to a low blow he received during
the match). Ironically, Hopkins wouldn't have been hit below the
belt at all in the fight if he didn't consistently pull Calzaghe's
head down when he threw punches, which was precisely the reason
the blows barely fell below his belt line.
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Want to tell Hal Clarke he doesn't know anything
about anything? Or maybe you agree. Email him at halclarke@undependentmedia.com
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