Originally Posted by Boxerboy

The fight was disappointing as a spectacle. I think everybody expected it to be messy,but with the hype and everything in the week leading up to the fight being so entertaining, I think maybe a few people (myself included) thought that it would live up to the build up. I thought the fight was enthralling, if not entertaining

I thought Hopkins won the fight, I felt he was landing the cleaner shots when Calzaghe was on the way in. I cant re-call Calzaghe landing a shot which had B-Hop in trouble. I also feel he was unfairly blamed for all the clinching. Joe was a culprit too. He seemed to throw combinations moving forward and if they missed or were blocked he ducked his head under Hopkins arms. Hopkin's clinching and holding tactics, while not pretty, were the clever thing for a 43 year old fighter to do. Joe's strength is his work-rate and quantity of punches. By holding, Hopkins slowed him down and frustrated him, and neutralised this threat.

I'd like to see referees being stricter on clinching,having said all that! At times, this fighthad a rhythm of 3 shot exchange, then hold. It was ridiculous! I think Joe Cortez was at fault. He had zero tolerence on holding in the Hatton fight, but seemed to allow it here.

Credit to Joe though for coming back off the floor and taking the fight to B-Hop. Big Respect! I'd like to see him fight Pavlik Next!