| Bad Left Hook Unofficial Scorecard | |||||||||||||
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
| Bernard Hopkins | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 110 |
| Joe Calzaghe | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 117 |
Official Scores: 114-113 (Hopkins), 115-112 (Calzaghe), 116-111 (Calzaghe)
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Photo © Reuters
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Adalaide Byrd is the judge that scored it for Hopkins. I think she's off her nut, and I mean it. Harold Lederman of HBO scored it 116-111 for Calzaghe.
Compubox numbers:
Calzaghe: 232/707, 33%
Hopkins: 127/468, 27%
No one has ever landed more punches against Bernard Hopkins. The previous record was 206 by Roy Jones, Jr.
Hopkins knocked Calzaghe down on a right hand in the first round, and then I didn't have him winning a round again until the 10th.
Hopkins complained of a low blow in the tenth, and the shot was low. But when I say Hopkins complained, I mean he complained. He wandered around the ring, grimacing, limping. He complained in the 11th of a low blow that referee Joe Cortez didn't see, and no one else did, either.
It felt like Hopkins was preparing an excuse for not winning. I hate saying stuff like that, but we all know how Bernard can be.
And of course, after the fight, Hopkins said "everyone" except "the Brits" will know he won the fight. "I made it look slightly easy."
Frankly, I think he's delusional.
"One thing about boxing, the fans are the judges. ... I took a guy to school. ... I made him fight my fight. I think I won the fight, no question."
Well, here's one fan that saw Joe Calzaghe run away with the fight against Bernard Hopkins. And I'm not Welsh, British, or anything else.
Bottom line is, a 43-year old man finally looked like an aged fighter who couldn't hang with the opposition, at least to me. Hopkins' claims are not being met with any amount of cheering from the crowd in Las Vegas.
Bernard Hopkins is Bernard Hopkins. What can you do?
Congratulations to Joe Calzaghe, the new light heavyweight champion of the world. If they fought again, and I doubt it'll happen, I think Calzaghe would beat him even more convincingly. It took Joe a while to find his groove, but once he did, it was all over. He pressured Bernard, kept him moving all over the ring, wore him out, made him look tired and old.
Calzaghe is a great, great fighter. It's in the books. Calzaghe beats Hopkins on American soil.
What's the next question for Joe Cool?