Judges point to Calzaghe

The stunned look on Bernard Hopkins' face said it all.

Hopkins couldn't believe he had just lost a 12-round split decision, not to mention his Ring Magazine light heavyweight title, to Joe Calzaghe on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Hopkins had nary a mark on his 43-year-old face and thought he had done enough to win the fight.

But the judges saw it differently, particularly Las Vegas' Chuck Giampa, who had Calzaghe comfortably ahead, 116-111, despite the Welshman suffering a first-round knockdown. Ted Gimza of Illinois had Calzaghe winning, 115-112, and Las Vegas' Adalaide Byrd had Hopkins ahead, 114-113.

"I thought it was pretty close, but I thought I had won," said Calzaghe, who raised his record to 45-0 and made $3 million, the same as Hopkins. "It was one of the toughest fights of my career. He was very clever, but I hit Bernard Hopkins with more punches than anyone in his career. I'm a legend killer."

The final CompuBox stats supported Calzaghe's claims. He threw 707 punches, several hundred less than he's accustomed to. But he landed a higher percentage than Hopkins, and the 232 punches landed by Calzaghe were the most Hopkins has absorbed in his 21 fights that have been tracked by CompuBox.

Hopkins (48-5-1) didn't want to hear any of it.

"I took him to school and made him fight my fight," he said. "I made him look amateurish. It was an old-school execution. He really didn't land any shots."

Calzaghe landed enough punches in the second half of the fight to sway the judges. From round seven on, the judges were in agreement on four of the last six rounds, all scoring it in Calzaghe's favor.

The announced crowd of 14,213 agreed, roaring its approval of the decision. Calzaghe jumped into his father and trainer Enzo's arms when he was declared the winner.

"I didn't box as well as I could have," Calzaghe said. "It's difficult to look good against someone like Hopkins. But a true champion adapts, and I found a way to win."

It was a tough, nasty fight with plenty of holding and hitting, head butts and low blows. Hopkins was hit below the belt three times, particularly in the 10th round when he crumpled to the canvas 39 seconds in.

Referee Joe Cortez, who spent virtually the entire bout trying to separate the fighters, gave Hopkins time to recover and Hopkins milked it for all he could. He took nearly five minutes to compose himself as a clearly agitated Calzaghe waited for the fight to resume.

By then, Calzaghe had gained the momentum. In the first round he had walked into a straight right hand and was put on his back. He was having a tough time finding his rhythm early as Hopkins worked him to the body and head with a lethal right hand.

Eventually Calzaghe began taking the fight to Hopkins, who absorbed a fair number of blows despite being a master of defense.

By the end, Hopkins appeared to be showing his age, though he denied it.

"I wasn't slowing down," he said. "I was pacing myself for the long haul. I felt I controlled the pace all night.

True enough, Calzaghe never seriously hurt Hopkins, except for the low blow in the 10th, but he definitely wore him down. Hopkins was clutching and grabbing in the later rounds far more than early on, and Calzaghe clearly had more left in the tank.

Calzaghe said his first venture on American soil went well and he wouldn't mind returning to the U.S. Roy Jones Jr. said he would like a shot at Calzaghe, but Calzaghe didn't say yes.

Hopkins wasn't sure what his future in boxing holds.

"I'm 43," he said. "I want to be able to talk the way I do now and be able to count my money. I've made $20 million these last three fights, and with this bad economy, I gotta make some good investments. I'm just gonna chill with my family and enjoy my new mansion."