Hopkins is all smiles in the ring. Calzaghe is climbing the ropes acknowledging his legion of fans. The attendance tonight is 14,213, most of whom are here to cheer The Pride of Wales.

Michael Buffer has the decision:
114-113 Hopkins
115-112 Calzaghe
116-111 Calzaghe

Joe Calzaghe is the new Ring Light Heavyweight Champion of the world!

CompuBox Stats:

Hopkins 468 punches thrown, 127 landed = 27% connect rate.
Calzaghe 707 punches thrown, 232 landed = 33% connect rate.
Calzaghe’s 232 landed punches are most against Hopkins in 21 fights tracked by CompuBox.

Round 12 Hopkins meets Calzaghe in the center of the ring. Every punch is thrown to end the fight. The fighters exchange punches in the corner. Calzaghe lands a left. Hopkins lands his right. Hopkins is holding now, forcing Cortez to separate the fighters. A Calzaghe left lands flush; Hopkins holds. Hopkins is up on his toes in the final minute of the round. Both fighters raise their hands in victory.

Round 11 Calzaghe lands a short left hand; Hopkins lands a right. Hopkins bends over, the result of another low blow. Hopkins taps his gloves together and says, “come on!” The fighters explode and the crowd erupts.

Round 10 Hopkins goes down from a border line low blow. Calzaghe holds his hands out questioning the time out called by Cortez. Calzaghe looks exasperated, but not frustrated. Three minutes into the timeout Calzaghe exhorts his faithful. “Who are ya? Who are ya?” the crowd asks Hopkins. More wrestling in the middle of the ring. A bull rush by Hopkins is ineffective. The fighters flurry at the bell.

Round 9 Calzaghe lands a lead left. Hopkins mouth is open. Hopkins lands a counter right. Hopkins lunging in, trying to land the straight right that dropped Calzaghe in the first. Hopkins’ jab is landing. A brief flurry finds both fighters landing lefts and rights. Hopkins retreats at the 10 second warning, mouth open and hands down.

Round 8 Hopkins is using his head to ward off Calzaghe. Cortez breaks them up. A straight left by Calzaghe lands flush. Another Calzaghe left brings the crowd to their feet. A lead right lands for Hopkins. Calzaghe continues to march forward, dictating the pace of the fight. Is Hopkins tiring? Hopkins lands a short hook inside to end the round.

Round 7 An overhand right by Hopkins lands, followed by a straight left from Calzaghe. A strong left lands for Calzaghe, momentarily stunning Hopkins. Hopkins gets in a good body shot. Calzaghe bulls his way in, but is tied up by Hopkins for his effort. A flurry at the bell is punctuated by a Hopkins hook that wobbled Calzaghe.

Round 6 Hopkins is able to avoid Calzaghe’s straight left, ducking it and circling away. Cortez warns Hopkins for coming forward head first. Calzaghe has picked up the pace, forcing Hopkins to fight this round. A check left hook by Hopkins lands flush. Hopkins puts Calzaghe in a headlock and Calzaghe hits him low. It’s chippy in the ring as the fighters exchange illegal blows.

Round 5 More of the same from Hopkins; circling, throwing a punch and then tying Calzaghe up. Calzaghe lands a four punch flurry, and then another. The pace has slowed in the fifth. Both fighters tried to win the round in the final 10 seconds and fought beyond the bell in so doing.

Round 4 Calzaghe is the aggressor, taking the fight to Hopkins. After some rough housing, both fighters are warned by Cortez. Hopkins tactic of choice is to throw a punch and then tie up his opponent. Calzaghe is letting his hands flow more freely now. He’s up on the balls of his feet and has begun to clown with Hopkins. Calzaghe has a new found confidence. The pro Calzaghe crowd is once again having a good time.

Round 3 Hopkins is content to fight from the outside. With the referee on his back, Hopkins gets in a low blow . Referee Cortez is staying busy, separating the fighters as they clutch after brief exchanges. Calzaghe is warned for hitting behind the head - the crowd doesn’t like it. A Calzaghe flurry in the corner brings the crowd to their feet.

Round 2 The crowd roars every time Calzaghe gets near Hopkins. Hopkins is moving, showing Calzaghe angles. Calzaghe is cut on the bridge of his nose. A Calzaghe low blow earns Hopkins a time out. A Calzaghe left lands flush, his best punch of the fight. The fighters hold and hit from the 10 second warning to the bell.

Round 1 Hopkins circling left; a brief exchange in the center of the ring. Calzaghe goes down from a 1-2 by Hopkins. He’s up quickly and after a lull is greeted by another Hopkins left. Referee Cortez breaks the fighters apart in the center of the ring and the action resumes. Hopkins has fought with his back against the ropes for most of the round, but wins it with the knockdown.
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TSS Faithful, are you Ready to Refresh? The celebrities have been announced and the national anthems have been sung. The pro Calzaghe crowd is singing, “Super, Super Joe, Super Joe Calzaghe”.

There’s a deafening roar in the arena. The Pride of Wales has just entered the ring. Wearing black trunks with white trim, Calzaghe looks calm and confident.

Hopkins entered the ring to a chorus of “Who are ya?” Wearing a silver robe trimmed with red, B-Hop appears ready to go.

Michael Buffer has now uttered the most famous phrase in boxing and the action is set to begin.
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Quick update: Audley Harrison defeated Jason Barnett by TKO at 1:48 of round 5.

We’ll get started with Round by Round coverage of the Bernard Hopkins v. Joe Calzaghe Light Heavyweight bout at approximately 9:45 ET/ 6:45 PT.
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Living legend Bernard Hopkins will square off against undefeated super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe in a light heavyweight clash on Saturday April 19, 2008 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV. TSS will be ringside to bring you blow-by-blow coverage as the action unfolds. Following the bout we’ll open the site for your comments and analysis of the fight.

The Executioner. Bernard Hopkins, the long reigning middleweight and current Ring Light Heavyweight Champion of the world is bad for business. Just ask past world champions Felix Tito Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Ronald Winky Wright, Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, John David Jackson, and on the list goes. The greatest middleweight champion of his era, Hopkins fought 26 times over 12 years without tasting defeat. The Executioner defended the middleweight title 19 straight times before losing the belts in a split decision loss to Jermain Taylor. In 2006 Hopkins moved up in weight to challenge Antonio Tarver for the IBO Light Heavyweight Championship. Coming off back-to-back wins against Glen Johnson and Roy Jones Jr., Tarver was the man to beat. Hopkins rolled Tarver in a 12 round masterpiece that cemented his place in boxing history.

On March 4, 2006, IBF Super Middleweight Champion Jeff Lacy, his devastating left hook, and the hearts of American boxing fans traveled to Manchester, England intent on dethroning a protected paper champion who refused to fight in the United States. Surely a Lacy victory was a forgone conclusion. He had blown out the last three fighters brave enough to face him and in Joe Calzaghe he found a slaphappy southpaw with no real punch. When the bell sounded the best super middleweight on the planet dominated every minute of every round. Joe Calzaghe, the Pride of Wales was flawless. With clinical precision Calzaghe picked Lacy apart, knocking him down in the 12th and rendering Lacy defenseless as the fight came to a close. With that one performance Joe Calzaghe silenced the scoffers and won the respect of boxing fans around the world.
The undisputed super middleweight champion of the world, Calzaghe has successfully defended the belt 21 times during an undefeated career boasting 44 wins, 32 via knockout.

TSS faithful join us here fight night, April 19th for round by round coverage of the Bernard Hopkins – Joe Calzaghe light heavyweight fight beginning at approximately 9:45pm ET / 6:45pm PT.