http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xRgENK_lEY Calzaghe vacated his super middleweight titles in early 2008 and made the step up to light heavyweight to challenge the RING champion, the legendary Bernard Hopkins. The fight took place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, marking Calzaghe's first fight on the other side of the pond. Seven years older than Calzaghe, Hopkins was a massive star, who'd dominated the middleweight division for many years from the mid 1990s to the mid 2000s, making 20 successful defences of his world title. But after consecutive defeats to Jermain Taylor, 'The Executioner' then stepped up to light heavyweight to defeat Antonio Tarver to become the lineal (RING) light heavyweight champion. Calzaghe got off to a disastrous start, dropped to the canvas by a straight right from Hopkins in the opening round. The fight became dirty, more a pattern of Hopkins' fights than Calzaghe's, with both men being warned for fouls by the referee. This was seemingly playing into veteran Hopkins' hands. But under the cosh, Calzaghe ploughed on and did his best to execute his fast hand combinations. As Hopkins slowed down in the later rounds, Calzaghe was able to carry out the more effective work. In the end, the bout was close and contentious, but Calzaghe claimed a split decision points victory. One judge scored the fight 114-113 to Hopkins, but the other two judges scored the fight to Calzaghe, 116-111 and 115-112 respectively. Calzaghe's win over Hopkins gets better with age, as Hopkins is once again a world champion at a record breaking age of 49. The Executioner has beaten fighters such as Kelly Pavlik, Jean Pascal and Tavoris Cloud since his defeat to Calzaghe.
Martin Perry is a writer for WhatCulture, who has a passion for the blood, sweat and tears world of Boxing, and an enthusiasm for the world of WWE. Other interests include Football and Darts. You can follow and contact him on Twitter @MartinPez