Fight Between Hall of Famers: Calzaghe vs. Hopkins

This fight is not going to take place until April 19 but I am so excited about watching it that I'm going to write a preview of this fight more than a month in advance. Joe Calzaghe has made a record-tying 21 consecutive defenses of the Super Middleweight title. His record is a perfect 44-0 with 32 knockouts; however, the Welsh fighter is going up in Light Heavyweight in order to fight against a fellow boxing legend, Bernard "the Executioner" Hopkins.

Bernard Hopkins has not had an easy life. At the age of 17 he committed armed robbery and was sent to prison. Prison was where he learned how to box and where he began to master the craft. His professional career began with a rocky start with Hopkins losing his first fight; a very unlikely beginning for one of the best middleweights in the history of boxing. Hopkins would go on to win the middleweight championship and defend it more than twenty times before eventually losing it to Jermaine Taylor. Hopkins has since beaten Antonio Tarver and Ronald "Winky" Wright, both extremely good fighters.

Although Hopkins is one of my favorite fighters because of his ability to systematically take apart his opponent throughout the course of a fight, I think you have to give the edge to Calzaghe. Jermaine Taylor beat Bernard Hopkins twice, primarily because he was the more active fighter and he was always on the offensive. Even though Hopkins was landing the cleaner punches the judges still felt that the more active fighter deserved the victory. Joe Calzaghe is the epitome of an active fighter and he literally smothers his opponents and pummels them with a endless combinations. There is no doubt in my mind that Hopkins can out-box any fighter out there, but I doubt Calzaghe gives him any breathing room and I think he might even score a knockout.