Bout Summary
In the first round, Calzaghe, who was seven years younger than Hopkins, was knocked down with a straight right hand which led to Calzaghe suffering a small cut on the bridge of his nose.
Calzaghe was warned by referee Joe Cortez in the second round for throwing a low blow. Cortez later warned both fighters for hitting behind the head. The fight was definitely slipping into the pattern that favored Hopkins - slow, down and dirty.
Cortez called a timeout and brought both fighters to the center of the ring for a lecture in the fourth round. He did that after both of them had committed fouls - Calzaghe for holding and hitting and Hopkins for hitting on the break. Calzaghe still managed to land a couple of blows to the back of Hopkins' head at the end of the fifth round.
Calzaghe never got the opportunity to showcase his blazingly fast hands and his combinations. Hopkins would smother him whenever he tried to come in and throw more than one punch. But Hopkins seemed to slow down in the later rounds.
In the 10th round, Calzaghe hit Hopkins with a punch that was low. Hopkins crumpled to the canvas and was slow getting up. Cortez didn't take away a point, but gave Hopkins a two-minute break to gather himself. Calzaghe thought Hopkins was acting and waved for the crowd to show their displeasure with Hopkins. The fans booed on cue.
"It was a low blow," Hopkins said. "It knocked my privates out of the cup. That's why Joe gave me (two) minutes."
Hopkins complained of another low blow in the 11th round, but this time Cortez ignored his plea for time and told him to keep fighting. He came out and tried to ferociously attack Calzaghe, but Calzaghe charged back.
In the end, judges Chuck Giampa (116-111) and Ted Gimza (115-112) scored the fight for Calzaghe, while judge Adalaide Byrd (114-113) scored the fight for Hopkins.
HBO's unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman scored the bout 116-111 for Calzaghe.
"It was a good fight. I thought Bernard (Hopkins) won though," commented former undisputed Heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson.
According to CompuBox, Calzaghe landed more punches on Hopkins than any of his previous opponents. Calzaghe landed 232 punches, almost double the amount of punches landed by Hopkins (127).
Read more about this topic: Bernard Hopkins Vs. Joe Calzaghe
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