ATE: Calzaghe-Hopkins Review, Hatton-Pacquiao, Pacman’s Best Win, Cotto-Margarito, A De La Hoya Defeat And More

In this week’s edition of Ask The Editor (ATE), we conduct a review of the Joe Calzaghe-Bernard Hopkins boxing match from all different angles, consider the prospects of a Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao battle and ask what has been the Pacman’s best career win so far? We take a look at the welterweight blockbuster between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, contemplate whether Oscar De La Hoya could lose to Steve Forbes and much more.

Name : Ian Benson
Country : Canada
Your Question :
Ok guys, I know I’m gonna get slammed for this, but here goes. I just sat through the so-called big fight .Yes I’m talking B-Hop vs. Calzaghe, and I’m asking how either one can be called the best light heavyweight in the world? I just cannot find it in my heart to see anything outstanding about the fight, maybe I was tired or expecting miracles but I was very under-whelmed to say the least. First, Bernard did his level best to spoil and be slightly dishonest and looked shop-worn in doing so. Then, Joe worked but nowhere near the so-called high workrate he has. I’m kinda wondering where our next light heavyweight star is going to come from? On this performance, I would fancy a fight with both if I was, say Glen Johnson and company. Looking forward to hear other people’s views and I hope someone can restore my interest, because at the moment, we seem to be getting a number of over-hyped money fights that fail to deliver.

CLIVE BERNATH ANSWERS: Ian, lets be honest, this fight was never gonna be a classic, given the styles. I always fancied Joe to beat Hopkins, but I did not expect the fight to be that close. In previous fights Joe has been allowed to stand in front of his opponents (Lacy, Kessler, Manfredo etc) and be able to tee off at will. Against an awkward, spoiling and counter punching Hopkins that was never gonna happen. It was a clash of styles. And for the record I’d like to see Glen Johnson and Joe Calzaghe next. Lastly, I don’t think Hopkins is ’shop-worn’.

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Ian, it certainly wasn’t the best performance by Calzaghe or Hopkins. Let’s not forget these guys are 36 and 43 years old, respectively. Of the ‘name’ fighters that people go out of their way to watch at 175 – all of them are older - Antonio Tarver, Roy Jones, Glen Johnson and now Chris Byrd, to name a few. I have to say Calzaghe is the best light heavyweight right now and hopefully Joe and these other guys will keep fighting each other. I also welcome the next 175 lbs. star, but it’s not like this division has been a hot bed of great fights over the last 15 to 20 years.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: I’m going to give credit to both men who are world class boxers and were able at times to nullify the advantages of each other through their own tactics. Hopkins clearly got off to the better start, than Calzaghe was able to get back into the fight. Hopkins then doing whatever he could to stay ahead. It wasn’t the most exciting battle from clean punching action, but it was still exciting for me because the fight was still relatively close and I always enjoy seeing how the best of the best deal with each other in the ring. The simple fact is that neither man looked that good because they were in their with a quality opponent. It happens so many times in boxing that there is something to it. They are the best at what they do so it is going to be hard for the boxer they are in against to look good.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: I, and many others, anticipated an ugly twelve rounder on Saturday night and that’s exactly what we got. The right hand that sent Calzaghe down in the first round had a big part to play in the dynamic of the fight. From that point, the Welshman was wary of that punch and didn’t attack as aggressively as he usually does. Give Hopkins credit, he fashioned the pace of the fight and gave himself a chance but he just didn’t throw enough punches or do enough damage (apart from the first round) with the shots he landed. For me, you watched the two best light heavies on the planet on Saturday evening but Hopkins’ style just isn’t conducive to a crowd-pleasing event.

Name : Thomas Peak
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question :
After hearing Hopkins’ post fight comments after Saturday’s big fight I had to ask your expert opinions - and give mine. The three words that best describe Hopkins based on that performance are, ‘un-sportsmanlike’, ‘un-gamely’ and down right ‘cheat’. I’m aware it’s a fight and not a tea party and anything goes so to speak to get the job done, but the fight also finally helped me understand why they call him a throwback - he’s a throwback to the days of London prize ring rules. Well, he was soundly beaten by a man who widely abided the Marquess of Queensbury rules and now I hope the fool stays retired. Hopkins head-butted, hit low himself all night, was constantly and unremittingly hitting on the blind side in clinches and the comical, cowardly act of (and yes I know cowardly is a very strong offensive term to describe a man who ’fights’ for a living) rolling around like a football (soccer) player after pretending to have been struck low twice by the super middleweight champion of the world was embarrassing for him and our sport. I used to be a huge fan of Hopkins before his racist outbursts and his disgusting performance last night, but I don’t think he has anywhere left to go. Calzaghe on the other hand really surprised me in his post fight interview. In years gone by Joe would have been calling out everybody left, right and centre. I suppose now he has beaten everybody there is to beat. I hope his farewell fight at the end of the year however is a meaningful one to truly cap his platinum career. I think a win over Roy Jones or maybe the one no one is mentioning perhaps, Antonio Tarver, just to be sure there’s nobody else who dares claim Joe’s light heavyweight title? In short, I think last night it wasn’t only Hopkins who was well and truly beaten, I think Floyd Mayweather Jr was also toppled from the title of worlds best fighter...or am I going over the top?

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Thomas, I want to watch the replay of the fight one more time, but I tend to agree with most of what you are saying. Calzaghe truly is ‘The Man’ now.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: I hear what you are saying Tom, but to put it in perspective, Hopkins is 43. Physically he can’t match it anymore with a great fighter like Calzaghe who is 36, so Hopkins uses everything he can to get the win. If he goes toe to toe with Calzaghe, Hopkins may get knocked out, so he does what he can to try to win. If Hopkins was breaking the rules, then the referee should have done something about it. That’s not Hopkins’ problem. I still see Mayweather as pound for pound No.1. Calzaghe’s recent wins over Hopkins, Kessler and Lacy are very good, but I still think Mayweather’s performances out-do that.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: WOW, Thomas! You just gave Hopkins the kind of beating that Calzaghe wished he’d handed out, albeit a verbal one. Hopkins was completely ungracious after his loss and he did carry a ‘whatever it takes’ mentality into Saturday nights fight. But what’s new? I still think he could fight, and beat, most light heavies but he’ll probably retire. On your lb for lb statement – I have Calzaghe at number two behind Mayweather.

Name : Mark Tuita
Country : Australia
Your Question :
So I watched Hopkins-Calzaghe on the weekend. Now I’m gonna go against the flow here (and probably get attacked endlessly on this website). I actually scored the bout for Hopkins by one round. Everyone I was watching with also actually scored it for him by varying small margins. Whether or not Hopkins ’deserved’ the decision after his shenanigans is a totally different story. But based on the ref’s decisions to ’believe him’, I felt Hopkins was the better fighter (in judging terms... definitely not in tactics and ethics) on the night. I think CompuBox is often misleading. Their idea of a ’landed punch’ often seems incorrect. For example, I remember checking the numbers after some Winky Wright fights and noticing the numbers looking rather ’high’ in terms of punches landed on Wright. Do they count punches caught on gloves, elbows and shoulders as landed? I mean, we all know that Wright (compared to most other fighters) takes very few clean punches. Basically, I felt Calzaghe’s punches just weren’t generally effective. Yes he threw a good number of punches, but many landed on shoulders and elbows, and many more did no damage. It is true that looking at Bernard’s face tells the tale. He had no bruises because he was simply taking comparatively few solid punches. I felt Calzaghe was trying to look active to steal rounds... he was struggling to land anything of real consequence so he resorted to the quick, short punches (that many observe look like they’re slaps). On the other hand, Hopkins did land a fairly good number of clean, solid shots. Did any of your SecondsOut writers score the fight for Hopkins? Or was it a Calzaghe whitewash?

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Mark, you may be in the minority, but you’re not the only person who thought Hopkins won. I had Calzaghe ahead by a point or two, but in my opinion, it certainly wasn’t an emphatic victory by any means.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: I’m with you Mark. I had Hopkins winning 114-113. But I don’t have a problem with anyone who had Calzaghe winning. It was a close fight. I don’t think that Calzaghe won by three of four rounds. In a fight like that, the method of scoring a fight we use will always lead to a variance in scores. It comes back to your own personal philosophy of scoring a round. Do like lesser harder punches or more lighter punches? For me, the ultimate decider of a boxing match is the knockout. So working back from that, I give greater credit to harder clean punches, than volume lighter punching. But that’s just me. Answer this yourself. If you watch a round and Boxer A lands 15 clean lighter punches and Boxer B lands 3 clean heavy blows, who wins the round? There is no magic formula to work this out. You have to ‘evaluate’ the effectiveness of the punches and to me that gives more weight to the harder punches hurting the other boxer. There will always be controversy on scoring a boxing match because it is so subjective in nature. We have to remember that CompuBox is about counting punches and is only one person’s opinion on what punches they think landed watching from ringside.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: Mark, I scored the fight 116-111 in favor of Calzaghe. If I could score points on theatrics I would have given Hopkins the nod - especially after he reacted like he got hit in his plums with the claw end of a hammer when he needed a rest. A couple of the rounds that I scored for Calzaghe were by narrow margins but I thought he deserved the victory with his output. Hopkins just didn’t land enough shots.

Name : James Hill
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question :
I hope now Joe Calzaghe gets the recognition he deserves, what a fighter, what a champion, and a top bloke to go with it. Just a shame it’s taken this long for him to convince America. Knockdown aside, Hopkins did little, how can he claim to have won, at times he still had the odd world class shot but that’s exactly what it was, "at times". All the pressing was done by Joe, and the CompuBox stats backed up the scorecards, out-jabbed, out-punched and out-fought. I understand Hopkins’ feelings, but what a shame he couldn’t of gone out like a legend and congratulate Joe. I don’t like to talk too much about pound for pound rankings, but surely now only Mayweather stands above JC? Anyway, that’s for higher powers than me to decide, all I know is in years to come when we all look back, Calzaghe will be right up there among the greats, to me its just the old saying about not knowing what you have got until its gone.

CLIVE BERNATH ANSWERS: James, yes all the pressure and volume of punches came from Joe and I did make him a two round winner but the better quality shots I feel came from Hopkins, though, they were few and far between. At 43 years of age Hopkins is still incredibly fit but did have to conserve his energy, hence the conservative punch output. Five years ago this fight may have had a different outcome.

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: James, it’s fitting that the UK sports Calzaghe - a modern all-time great - in the historical place where boxing all started. He’s cemented his place in history now.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: I agree with you James. All credit to Calzaghe for beating Hopkins. But this win only prompts me to ask why did he hide this talent away for ten years dating back to 1998, with world title fights against the like of Evans Ashira, Mario Veit, Kabary Salem, Mger Mkrtchian, Tocker Pudwill, Miguel Jimenez, Will McIntyre, Juan Carlos Ferreyra and Branko Sobot? Finally at 36, Calzaghe has shown the ‘world’ his talent. Why didn’t he do this five years ago?

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: I agree on you lb for lb standings. In my opinion, Calzaghe should go down as the greatest ever super middleweight fighter, James. It’s his own fault, however, that he left it so late to show the world just how good he is both as a fighter and a person. He should have fought in the ‘States five or six years ago – maybe against Roy Jones Jr or Bernard Hopkins. I think he would have beaten them both, even back then. Calzaghe is comfortable with his decisions, though, and he knows how good he is - as do most people who have followed his career. I get the feeling that he’s happy enough with that.

Name : Barnaby Chesterman
Country : Italy
Your Question :
This might seem a bit contentious but it’s a valid point. I’ve just read something about Calzaghe’s face looking worse that B-Hop’s following their fight and it got me thinking. Has anyone ever noticed how by and large, the lighter a fighter’s skin, the more likely he is to cut and mark up, whereas the darker, the less likely? The Lewis-Klitschko fight of a few years back seems a perfect example. Given the difference in the state of each fighter’s face it would seem as if Lewis gave Klitschko a pounding, but in fact the Ukrainian was ahead on the scorecards and had largely out-boxed the Briton. Look at John Duddy’s face after his last fight and look at the problems Hatton has with cuts - and these are very, very white men. Whereas a Ben Tackie, a very dark man, has had his head battered around the ring by some of the top light-welters in the world and always comes out looking fine. Would you agree that basically, and notwithstanding exceptions, the lighter a boxer is the greater his disadvantage when it comes to cuts. I can’t think of any black boxer who’s ever been stopped on cuts, but many a white boxer has. Just a thought.

CLIVE BERNATH ANSWERS: Interesting observation, Barnaby. You may have a point. It does appear that white fighters cut up far more in the high profile fights.

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Barnaby, there is probably some truth to the fact that blood shows more prominently on lighter skin. However, I’ve seen some pretty nasty cuts on African American fighters over the years. Bruno’s face was a mess in the second fight with Tyson. Leonard had a terrible gash in the third go with Duran and Hagler was cut up against Hearns. However, in keeping with your point, none of those fighters were stopped because of the cuts.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: Barnaby, I would think that it has more to do with bone structure combined with the force of the head butt/punch rather than skin tone. Off the top of my head - Floyd Patterson was stopped on cuts in his last ever fight against Ali and I remember Silence Mabuza getting stopped on cuts against Rafael Marquez in their first fight a few years ago.

Name : Tim Harding
Country : USA
Your Question :
While he lost to Joe Calzaghe, surely we have to give extra credit to Bernard Hopkins for his performance at age 43? To be able to make a pound for pound boxer like Calzaghe work like he did for the win was impressive.

CLIVE BERNATH ANSWERS: Spot on Tim. I agree and to be honest whilst I had Calzaghe winning by a couple of rounds if the fight was judged a draw I would not have complained. Bernard is an incredible athlete regardless of age and for what its worth I think he has plenty of fights at world-class level left in him.

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Tim, that’s a good point…arguably the best PFP fighter in the world, Calzaghe, was more than challenged by a significantly older guy. Hopkins can still perform at a very high level. A rematch would probably also be very close.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: I think in the rush to praise Calzaghe and to criticise Hopkins, many are forgetting that Hopkins is 43. He has to be one of the best boxers of all time fighting in his forties. We reference George Foreman’s performance when he beat Michael Moorer, but George lost every round until he unleashed that KO right hand. Hopkins is a freak to have made Calzaghe fight so hard for the win. If you are a Hopkins fan, you could console by asking that if Calzaghe was so good, why didn’t he stop your man who was so old?

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: Agreed wholeheartedly, Tim. In fact, I think he could continue for another fight or two. I just hope that if he does, it won’t be against the new 175lb version of Chris Byrd - paint drying contest anyone?

Name : Ben Hall
Country : United Kingdom
Your Question :
In the last ATE, all the talk was of Hatton fighting Lazcano, Malignaggi and Mayweather. Nobody seems to be mentioning Hatton vs. Pacman. To me this makes sense, Hatton could have a junior welterweight belt and Pacquiao a lightweight belt by September, setting up a fight between the two at junior welterweight. This would be an exciting fight and with their fan bases, would surely make a lot of money. What’s your view on the likelihood of this fight happening and the outcome if it did happen?

CLIVE BERNATH ANSWERS: Ben, I see where your coming from but Manny is too small for Hatton. Ricky would be far too strong as far as I’m concerned.

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Ben, good fight forecasting! That would indeed be a great scenario for everyone, except Junior Witter. I’m not sure if Pacquiao is physically big enough to fight Hatton at 140.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: Great fight! I like it. I have actually heard promoter Bob Arum talk about that fight for the future. It makes sense. There are reasons why both boxers would want it.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: There is talk about that fight taking place. I can see why it would make sense from a money point of view but, just like De La Hoya would be too much for the Englishman, I think Hatton would be too big and too strong for Pacman. I don’t think it will happen but you never know. Money talks.

Name : Ramon Quirino
Country : Philippines
Your Question :
Which of his 46 wins and 35 knockouts has been the best of Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao’s career so far?

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Ramon, I’ll go with Pacman’s original world-title winning effort versus Lehlohonola Ledwaba in 2001. The South African was a "hot property" and was knocking out some good opposition coming into that fight. What was supposed to be a "show-caser" for Ledwaba turned out to be a "coming out party" for Pacquiao, who looked dominant.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: Good question! I’m going to say Pacquiao’s second fight with Erik Morales who he knocked out in round 10 in January 2006. Ten months earlier Pacquiao lost on points to Morales and at that time, not many people would have foreseen the Pacman coming back to stop the great Mexican in a rematch.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: I think his stoppage of Marco Antonio Barrera in November of 2003 must go down as his best. It was the victory that catapulted him into a star in the United States and set up the memorable contests that we’ve all enjoyed since.

Name : Brendan Griffin
Country : Ireland
Your Question :
My question is simply who do you think wins Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito? I’m leaning towards Cotto because of his boxing ability and body punching, though Margarito is no slouch in that department either. I think Margarito may have a slightly better chin just because I can’t remember ever seeing him hurt. His height and reach may also be an advantage, although Cotto’s pressure may negate these and they won’t have any trouble finding each other. I think Cotto wins a close decision in a fight of the year candidate. I also think Floyd will have a really hard time avoiding the winner, especially if its Cotto. It could become one of those fights where it is so big it just has to be made due to public demand, kind of like Lewis-Tyson was. I sure hope so, your thoughts?

CLIVE BERNATH ANSWERS: Brendan, I think Floyd will have his work cut out with both of Cotto and Margarito. As for facing each other, I feel Cotto has the inner steel to prevail in a great action packed fight. It won’t be easy and Cotto may even hit the canvas but I think he wins.

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Brendan, spot on…Margarito has the tools to beat Cotto, but for whatever reason, probably won’t. Mayweather-Cotto will happen and when it does, it’s going to be a monster promotion. For purposes of quicker timing, it’s a shame PBF has already made so much money because a hungry Mayweather needs Cotto more than vice versa.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: I’m going to say Miguel Cotto, but I don’t think he will have it all his own way. Margarito is very good, but I think Cotto is better. Let’s just hope the winner of Cotto-Margarito gets to face Mayweather Jr sometime in 2009.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: Brendan, this is a shoo-in for a strong fight of the year candidate. With the volume and ferocity of punching that both guys will land, it’s hard to see this go the distance. If I had to choose, and I guess I do, I’ll stick my neck out and forecast that Margarito will win in the late rounds of an exciting war - just because I’ve seen Cotto wobbled before and he’s never met a boxer who combines power and volume quite like Margarito does. In saying that, this really is a pick ‘em fight - I’ll hardly be surprised if Cotto emerges victorious. Floyd should fight the winner, but he doesn’t seem to want either guy. Instead, the De La Hoya rematch and Hatton rematch seems to be on the menu. If Hatton loses to Lazcano or Malignaggi then Mayweather will surely be under real pressure to fight Cotto or Margarito in 2009.

Name : Steve Andrews
Country : USA
Your Question :
Any chance that Oscar De La Hoya loses his upcoming fight to Steve Forbes and then retires, meaning no more ‘Golden Boy’? Will his absence hurt boxing a lot more than we realise when he does retire?

CLIVE BERNATH ANSWERS: Hi Andrew. Even if Oscar loses ‘Golden Boy’ will live on. Oscar and Richard Schaeffer have built up the Golden Boy brand over the years and many feel they are the natural successors to Don King and Bob Arum. No, we will be seeing Oscar and co for a long time to come yet.

GREG JUCKETT ANSWERS: Steve, with no disrespect to Forbes – an extremely talented former world champion, the ego-driven De La Hoya hand-picked the ex-130 lbs. titlist based on size difference. Oscar is a physically bigger and stronger guy. If the Golden Boy’s parade is going to march on, he needs a win over a respectable opponent, and Forbes fits the bill. I’m okay with it because De La Hoya has never backed down to anyone and Forbes gets a nice payday…let’s see what happens.

PAUL UPHAM ANSWERS: Yes, there is always a chance of an upset, but I think Forbes got the fight for a reason. The fact is, if De La Hoya can’t beat Forbes and do it well, he has no chance in winning a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr and should not be in the ring with him. I think De La Hoya wins and wins well against Forbes. The return of Floyd Mayweather Sr in Oscar’s corner is also a plus. I agree with Clive, Golden Boy the promoter will be around for a long time, but it will be a long time before we see another boxer with the mainstream media appeal as Oscar De La Hoya.

MICHAEL NORBY ANSWERS: Sure, there’s certainly a chance that De La Hoya could slip on a banana peel in the form of Steve Forbes on May 3. Forbes will need to knock him out, though, and with nine knockouts in 33 wins I don’t think that’ll happen. You have to figure that there is less than a zero per cent chance that the 31-year-old will get a decision victory fighting Oscar in LA on Cinco de Mayo weekend and with a mega-bucks September rematch with Floyd Mayweather looming. Remember what happened with Felix Sturm before the Golden Boy took on Hopkins?