LAS VEGAS – Give Bernard Hopkins some credit. The 43-year-old warrior from Philadelphia went toe-to-toe for 12 rounds with an undefeated fighter seven years his junior.
But in the end, it wasn’t Joe Calzaghe’s youth as much as his persistence and ability to beat Hopkins at his own game that earned Calzaghe a close victory last night at the Thomas and Mack Center.
Calzaghe, a Welshman fighting for the first time on American soil, overcame a first-round knockdown to earn a split decision over Hopkins before a crowd of 14,213 mostly Calzaghe fans.
One judge saw Hopkins winning 114-113 while two other judges favored Calzaghe 115-112 and 116-111. The Post scored the fight 114-113 for Calzaghe, who won his 45th fight without a loss.
Though it often was an ugly, mugging brawl with lows blows, hitting behind the head and on the break, there also were plenty of flurries and exchanges that made it an entertaining bout.
Hopkins got the better of things early, dropping Calzaghe in the first round with a straight right hand. But Calzaghe got back in the fight by throwing a heavy volume of punches. He was credited with connecting on 232 of 707 punches, the most ever landed against Hopkins in 21 fights tracked by CompuBox. Hopkins landed 127 of 468.
“I had to let the punches go as the fight wore on,” Calzaghe said. “He was very defensive. I was only hurt one time, but he never caught me with a clean punch. It was one of the toughest fights of my career. He’s very clever.”
Hopkins (48-5-1) was stunned at the decision, thinking he had done enough to win.
“I wanted him to run into my shots, and I think I made him do that, and I think I made it look pretty easy,” Hopkins said. “I felt I controlled the pace and the fight.”
Hopkins scored the first big blow of the fight when he dropped Calzaghe with a straight right midway through the first.
Calzaghe jumped to his feet and didn’t appear hurt, but it was the first of a several right hands Calzaghe would eat in the early rounds, causing a cut over the bridge of the Welshman’s nose.
Aside from the knockdown, Hopkins had the kind of fight he envisioned: a brawling, ugly, wrestling match with lots of clinches and hitting on the break. When it became more wrestling than boxing, referee Joe Cortez stopped the action in the fourth round and lectured both fighters to clean it up.
Calzaghe started to find some space as the fight entered the middle rounds. He started avoiding Hopkins’ right hand and scoring with quick combinations inside as Hopkins looked to counter when Calzaghe came close.
“I knew this wouldn’t look pretty,” Calzaghe said. “He’s awkward. It wasn’t pretty, but I won the fight. It wasn’t my best night, but I know I won.”
The championship rounds decided the outcome. Early in the 10th, Hopkins went down apparently from a low blow. Replays showed it landed on the belt-line, though Hopkins milked it for a full two minutes as Calzaghe stormed around the ring in disgust.
In the 11th, Hopkins complained of another low blow, but this time Cortez ignored his pleas. The fighters went toe-to-toe, bringing the crowd to its feet for the 12th round won by Calzaghe on all three scorecards.
“He hit me low, and what made it hard is, he knocked my privates outside my cup,” said Hopkins, who didn’t discuss his future plans.
“He actually landed three low blows in the fight. I think fighting on HBO let the fans see who really won the fight. It’s the fans who really know who won the fight. I really think I took him to school.”