Calzaghe sneaks by on split decision

BOXING/LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT:JOE CALZAGHE maintained his undefeated record, and fulfilled his ambition of becoming the world's best fighter at two weights, when he scored a split-points decision victory over the veteran Bernard Hopkins at the Thomas and Mack Center here in an ugly and foul-strewn light-heavyweight contest that was one of the hardest fights of his career.

Picking himself off the floor in the first round after being downed by a straight right, Calzaghe recovered to claim the Ring Magazine Belt, the only title at stake yesterday morning, with scores of 116-111 and 115-112, the third judge awarding the fight to the American 114-113.

Hopkins protested the verdict and there was a palpable relief in the Welsh camp, who must have feared the fight was slipping away.

Roared on by a contingent of 7,000 travelling supporters, who mercifully did not repeat the jeering of the American national anthem that caused outrage when Ricky Hatton was in town for his December showdown against Floyd Mayweather, Calzaghe must have barely regained his composure after Tom Jones' thunderous rendition of Land of My Fathers when he was staring up at the television lights above the ring.

"I slipped," he joked afterwards.

But it had looked a real possibility then that he would not only suffer his first defeat but might be knocked out, with Hopkins repeatedly finding precise right-hand counters as he sought to fulfil his pre-fight boast of being The Southpaw Assassin.

Hopkins, a superbly conditioned 43-year-old, had worked out a precise plan for what may have been the last hurrah of a long, distinguished career. The strategy, devised with trainer Freddie Roach, saw him fighting almost exclusively off the back foot, concentrating on hurtful right hands to negate Calzaghe's southpaw advantages, while holding and roughing up his opponent whenever the action came in to close quarters.

Referee Joe Cortez, the man reviled by Hatton supporters after his tough interpretation of the rules in December effectively stopped the Mancunian working on the inside against Mayweather, was in a more forgiving mood. He dished out numerous warnings to Calzaghe and Hopkins without deducting penalty points as heads (particularly the shaven pate of Hopkins), holding and low blows disfigured the contest.

Hopkins stuck to his script, settling into the kind of rhythm where he is at his punishing best. He was never going to merely plough forward in the manner of Jeff Lacy, whom Calzaghe swamped in a world super-middleweight title unification match in Manchester two years ago, nor try the more gung-ho style adopted by Mikkel Kessler during his unification fight with Calzaghe in Cardiff last November.

One can only guess what might have happened if a 33-year-old Hopkins had been in the ring, but the reality of the 2008 version was that he began to run out of gas soon after halfway, while Calzaghe's fitness and will to win dragged him into the contest.

Although there was a fear the American judges would favour the home fighter, they went for the man who landed the more shots and tried to force the action through the scrappy later rounds. It may not have been pretty but, not for the first time, Calzaghe had lived up to his maxim that "true champions find a way to win".

In the 10th round a tired Hopkins was struck low and appeared to be ushered to the canvas by Calzaghe's push and ill-considered pelvic thrusting that caused the American's supporters, including an animated Sylvester Stallone at ringside, to leap to their feet in protest. The foul was clear, but the old ham actor in Hopkins found every conceivable facial expression of pain to urge referee Cortez to give him the maximum time to recover.

The Calzaghe camp believed Hopkins was cheating, trying to buy some respite, and their feeling was underlined in that round when he recovered to fight with renewed vigour and match Calzaghe for the rest of the round.

Calzaghe's camp were even more aggrieved when Hopkins mysteriously clasped his groin, claiming another low blow in the 11th, only for the referee to tell him to get on with it.

Perhaps it was a psychological ploy designed to make Calzaghe raise his game in the final rounds, or maybe it was the expression of a genuine fear that Hopkins had racked up sufficient points early in the fight to still have a lead.

Either way, Calzaghe was told by his corner he needed to win the last four rounds, and was even instructed by his father, Enzo, that he needed to stop Hopkins in the final round.

The celebrations in the Welsh camp when the scores were delivered soon gave way to speculation as to what this national hero might do next.

Sitting at ringside, Roy Jones Jr was quick to make his availability known, probably reasoning that his slick skills might replicate the problems set by Hopkins, though another option for Calzaghe might be the current world middleweight number one, Kelly Pavlik.