{ { Infobox Boxingmatch
|fight date=April 19, 2008
|Fight Name=Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe
| location = Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |image= |fighter1=Bernard Hopkins |nickname1=The Executioner |record1=48–4–1–1 (32 KO) |hometown1=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |recognition1= The Ring light heavyweight champion[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]] No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter2-division world champion |height1=6 ft 1 in |weight1 = 173 lbs |style1 = Orthodox |fighter2=Joe Calzaghe |nickname2=Pride of Wales / Italian Dragon |record2=44–0 (32 KO) |height2=6 ft |weight2=173 lbs |style2=Southpaw |hometown2=Newbridge, Caerphilly, Wales |recognition2= WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and The Ring super middleweight championThe Ring No. 5 ranked pound-for-pound fighter |titles= The Ring light heavyweight title |result = Calzaghe wins via 12-round split decision (113-114, 115-112, 116-111) }} Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe, was a boxing match that took place on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada, between The Ring light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and unified super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. The fight was dubbed the "Battle of the Planet", and the fight was for Hopkins' The Ring light heavyweight title.
General information
Hopkins made 20 consecutive title defenses as a middleweight before two losses to Jermain Taylor. At about the same time, Calzaghe made 21 consecutive title defenses in the super middleweight division from Europe during a decade-long reign. Hopkins claimed Calzaghe declined to fight him after Don King's "middleweight tournament" in 2001, in which Hopkins won three title belts, although Calzaghe denies this.
On July 21, 2007, Hopkins defeated Winky Wright by unanimous decision to retain The Ring light heavyweight championship. After the fight, Hopkins called out Calzaghe and said that he wanted to fight him at Yankee Stadium on the fourth of July. On November 3, 2007, Calzaghe defeated Mikkel Kessler by unanimous decision to retain his WBO super middleweight title and win the WBC and WBA super middleweight titles.
On December 7, 2007, Hopkins and Calzaghe met face to face in the media room set up for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton fight. Hopkins and Calzaghe began shouting insults and taunting each other, with Hopkins shouting, "You're not even in my league! I would never let a white boy beat me. I would never lose to a white boy. I couldn't go back to the projects if I let a white boy beat me." Hopkins would later explain his comments, saying that it was not meant to be taken as a racial slur or a reflection of his feelings on white fighters, but simply said to create some hype for his fight with Calzaghe. On January 23, 2008, the fight was officially announced to take place on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. For his training, Hopkins worked with Freddie Roach, Nazim Richardson, John David Jackson (who fought Hopkins in 1997), and Mackie Shilstone. Calzaghe was trained by his father, Enzo. The fight was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Frank Warren's Sports Network. The bout was televised on HBO World Championship Boxing'' in the United States and on Setanta Sports 1 in the United Kingdom and the referee was Joe Cortez. Both fighters weighed in at 173 lb (78 kg). 14,213 were in attendance for the fight, with at least half of them making the trip overseas from the United Kingdom to support Calzaghe. After winning the fight, Calzaghe made reference to Hopkins' pre-fight outburst. A grinning Calzaghe told Hopkins he had 'just got his arse kicked by a white boy', leading to laughter from the crowd and media.
Bout summary
In the first round, Calzaghe, who was seven years younger than Hopkins, was knocked down with Hopkins landing a short right hand which led to Calzaghe suffering a small cut on the bridge of his nose.
Calzaghe was warned by referee Joe Cortez in the second round for throwing a low blow. Cortez later warned both fighters for hitting behind the head. The fight was definitely slipping into the pattern that favored Hopkins - slow, down and dirty.
Cortez called a timeout and brought both fighters to the center of the ring for a lecture in the fourth round. He did that after both of them had committed fouls - Calzaghe for holding and hitting and Hopkins for hitting on the break. Calzaghe still managed to land a couple of blows to the back of Hopkins' head at the end of the fifth round.