Hopkins Plans To Send Calzaghe Home Crowned Dub Joe: The Prince Of “Wails”

Written By William Trillo
Photos: Bret "The Threat" Newton

And thus was the mood of Hopkins on this day, deliberate, motivated and sure that he will be able to accomplish his coming task at hand.

When asked by one of the press in attendance, 'What does Calzaghe bring to the table in this fight?’, Hopkins was quick to retort, "I know he's bringing an 0, and I am going to take that away!"

Actually Hopkins knows exactly what Joe is bringing to the table, it's those much ballyhooed 1000 punches per round of Calzaghe's that Hopkins has his own opinion on. "I brought in Mackie because all I hear about is how Joe throws 1000 punches around.  I'm not crazy.  I’m getting ready for those 1000 punches a round and have to be ready to hit him 1000 times too. But let me ask you something, all they say is 1000 punches a round but they never say anything else about those punches. What they forget to talk about is the punches that land, if any do, and there ain't no way he is landing 1000, and when he misses is when I have to make him pay. If a guy is throwing and landing 1000 punches a round then he must be fighting a guy who likes to get hit and just won't go down."

We all are aware Bernard knows he is in the hurt business, he has told us that many times, but don’t expect Bernard to be oblige when Calzaghe is trying to land those 1000 punches.

Being in the business as long as he has, Hopkins has learned a trick or two about fending off even the trickiest of opponents, and while nullifying his foe’s best, Hopkins more often than not knows exactly what he needs to do to get the victory, his record speaks for itself. Yet there are those who tell you that the tricks Hopkins employs are dirty and his victories are nothing more than Smoke & Mirrors.

Not so says Hopkins, "I think that saying I can manipulate my opponents is an insult to my abilities and takes away from them too.  I feel you should just look at my professionalism and know that I have been able to master the sport of boxing and hone the skills I have been able to develop, mold and maintain.  The only thing that I am going to get in his head is this left and right hand. Basically I know what I am doing and no one can take that away from me.”

It’s hard to argue with that.

After a chat with the press while trainer Freddie Roach wrapped Hopkins hands, Bernard slipped into his gloves and proceeded to go through the rigors of a workout that left no doubt, he is ready to go.

At times Hopkins would stop for a moment and joke, “I’m a 43 year old man, I’m getting tired.” Seconds later Hopkins, who calls his age the new 33 (actually 43) jumps back into his workout, with even more vigor.

After some moving around with Roach, in stepped John David Jackson, part of the Hopkins training team, who slipped on the mitts for a few rounds of work on his punching combinations.

Now we all know Jackson is a grizzled former champ and is as tough as they come, but the workout had most of us groaning for the shots Jackson was taking. Hopkins would land a series of punches on the mitts and then dig to the ribs of Jackson, and body protector or not, those shots had to hurt. And that wasn’t the worst of it.

About 2 or 3 rounds into the work Hopkins caught Jackson flush on the jaw. The blow had such a jolt it sent a projectile out of the stunned Jackson’s mouth. For a few seconds we all thought it may have been a tooth, but as it turned out it was just a small piece of gum that Jackson was chewing at the time. Jackson rubbed his jaw and in less than 20 seconds they were both at it again. Upon completion of the mitt work I spoke to Jackson who said he was okay and added, “That’s how I know he is ready. When we start camp this kind of stuff doesn’t happen, but as the fight gets closer he gets a bit meaner and punches slip. That’s good though, like I said, that tells me he is almost ready!”  

Hopkins finished his work-out and sat down by the ring for one final chat with the press before he called it a day.

“No one Joe has fought comes close to Bernard Hopkins. Not one of his 44 opponents will even be considered to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, none of ‘em will even be considered for nomination,” Hopkins noted.

On the other hand Bernard ran down a list of sure fire Hall of Famers he has fought and beat and warned us that Calzaghe has never seen anything like what he will see on April 19^th in Las Vegas.

And Hopkins had a word of warning for Calzaghe as well, “If I was Joe Calzaghe and I knew I had to fight Bernard Hopkins… I would fall down and break my ankle.”


Questions Or Comments? Email Will "The Thrill" Trillo