JOE Calzaghe battled his way back from a first-round knockdown to win a split decision war over Bernard Hopkins at the Thomas & Mack Center but the final bell did not spell the end of a fight week full of acrimony.
Veteran Hopkins fiercely protested the 116-111, 115-112, 113-114 verdict in favour of the Welshman, who had been sent to the canvas from a jolting right hand and struggled to combat the 43-year-old in the early rounds.
With victory, Calzaghe str
etched his unbeaten professional record to 45 fights and assumed the position of the world's No 1 light-heavyweight on his debut at the weight. But it was a coronation bitterly opposed by Hopkins, who said: "I believe I won the fight. I know questions will be asked and it was close. But when all is said and done history will reflect well on Bernard Hopkins. I got beaten tonight but it wasn't by Joe Calzaghe."
Perhaps it was not quite the conclusive style in which Calzaghe dreamed of winning his first fight in Las Vegas in front of a phalanx of A-list celebrities and almost 10,000 roaring Welsh supporters.
But Calzaghe gradually got to grips with Hopkins' rough-house tactics, circled away from his most potent weapon and came on strongly to claim victory in a dominant second half of a gruelling fight.
Calzaghe, who bled from the bridge of his nose in the opening round and was harshly penalised for a supposed low blow in round ten from which panting Hopkins was given three minutes to recover, was in no mood for niceties.
Calzaghe said: "Hopkins was head-butting me, hitting me with low blows and cheating. He was holding me with one arm on the blind side of the referee and he was sticking his head in my face.
"He basically cheated and had five minutes off in the tenth round. He stopped my momentum by turning his back on me and feigning injury. It was ridiculous because I know I didn't touch him.
"I had to keep my composure because I knew that if I retaliated I might get a point knocked off. He came to steal the fight and he was just trying to survive. He was knackered and there was no low blow."
Hopkins' refusal to accept his loss was predictable, but the verdicts allowed Calzaghe to pick up the nominal 175lbs Ring magazine title to go with the undisputed super-middleweight crown he still owns. Calzaghe is now likely to see his future at the higher weight. But he might have been having second thoughts when he shipped a succession of early right hands, one of which sent him toppling back on to the canvas.
Calzaghe had soon scrambled back on to his feet and admitted: "When I went back to my corner my dad was ranting and raving and I told him I slipped, but I don't think he bought that.
"I knew Hopkins was a good counter-puncher and I fell straight into the trap. I didn't see the punch. I was momentarily stunned but I just got back to my business and fought more carefully."
Calzaghe landed his first punch of note with a left hand in the second round but he had an early points deficit to retrieve and only began showing signs of making inroads when he found his range late in round three. The Welshman began unloading towards the end of that third round, banging home a fine right hand as the American was backed against the ropes, but Hopkins again responded with rights to the body before the bell.
By the fourth, the Welshman was making Hopkins miss with his rights and landing accurate lefts in the increasingly fractious exchanges. With the fight in balance, the cleaner work in each round would prove crucial.
Hopkins, beginning to blow, increasingly sought refuge in skirting the rules. Round six ended with Calzaghe wrestled illegally to the canvas, and a jolting right on the bell to end round seven reminding the Welshman of the dangers.
When Hopkins went down in the tenth, doubling over in a neutral corner and protesting at length about the alleged low blow which replays suggested had never come, it seemed the desperate actions of a tired man.
But after a three-minute break, with furious Calzaghe briefly lured into a dangerous close-quarters tear-up, Hopkins arguably did enough to shade the round and leave the verdict still in the balance.
Hopkins tried to take another breather in the 11th but was ordered to fight on immediately by Cortez, again prompting another wild barrage by Calzaghe who slammed home a right hand which seemed to hurt Hopkins for the first time. At the final bell, both men raised their arms to proclaim victory but it was Calzaghe who had done enough to add the best chapter yet to his remarkable career, and reign over two different divisions.
"The one thing missing from my record was to come to the US and beat one of the biggest names," added Calzaghe. "It would have been easy to stay at home, have a few more fights and retire. I fought at a new weight for the first time and I was put down in the first round but I still managed to win. I showed the true heart of a champion. It hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm sure it will in the next few days."
Meanwhile Hopkins looks likely to head back towards temporary retirement, but there are few indications he will call it a day for good.
Hopkins added: "There comes a point where I know where I am in history. Why keep pushing the envelope when you've accomplished everything? But I came back and made 20 million (US dollars) from my last three fights.
"There are a lot of things I am doing besides boxing and I have an eight-year-old daughter who wants me home more than away. I think it's deserving that I give my only child some time. But the reason I came back after the two Jermain Taylor fights was to make history and prove I had a lot left. I have done that, and tonight you saw a true craftsman at work."
The full article contains 1058 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
