One of the big fights of the year is tomorrow night: Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Hopkins is one of the greatest fighters of our time. A street criminal in his youth, Hopkins went to prison at age 17. He discovered boxing in prison and never looked back once he was released at age 22. He became the undisputed middleweight champion of the world–no easy feat with four sanctioning bodies–and defended his title against all comers. Hopkins is now 43 years old, but still in tremendous condition with an impressive win over “Winky” Wright in his last outing. Hopkins’ record is 48-4-1.
Joe Calzaghe is from Wales. He has been a champion in the welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions. Calzaghe is undefeated at 44-0. A tireless, relentless fighter, he is the Energizer Bunny of boxing.
Last May, Calzaghe beat highly-regarded Danish super middleweight Mikkel Kessler in a unanimous decision. Calzaghe has a unique style: if you watch him for one round, you may think he’s a pretty good, but odd, fighter. If you watch him for ten rounds, you may think he’s the best boxer in the world. Tomorrow night’s fight, on HBO, will be at light heavyweight, where Hopkins is the current champ. It could be a great one; Calzaghe is the betting favorite. Here is the official promo video:
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