BY MARCUS HENRY
Round 1 - Hopkins' grind-it-out style controlled round one and he surprised everyone with a quick knockdown of Calzaghe. Calzaghe will need to adjust at some point and find his groove. Hopkins 10-8.
Round 2 - This one goes to Calzaghe. He's beginning to find his stroke against Hopkins. Bernard needs to start throwing combinations. Calzaghe 10-9
Round 3 - Tough round to judge, but Calzaghe landed a few more combinations. Calzaghe is beginning to find his way now. Hopkins needs to adjust. Calzaghe 10-9.
Round 4 - I thought Calzaghe was finding his way. Hopkins' counter punches are being landed with perfection. The ref had to call timeout to warn both fighters about illegal tactics. Hopkins, 10-9.
Round 5 - Calzaghe, who started to find his groove, landed several clean shots. But Hopkins fought off the ropes well the second half of the round. But Calzaghe ended the round with a short flury. Calzaghe 10-9.
Round 6 - Hopkins isn't throwing a lot of punches, but the ones he did throw hit their intended target. Calzaghe is landing combinations, but they aren't hurting Hopkins. Hopkins 10-9.
After six rounds its Hopkins 57, Calzaghe 56.
Round 7 - It was a relatively boring round for both fighters. But Calzaghe may have stolen the round with a late flurry. Calzaghe gets the round for being more active. Calzaghe 10-9.
Round 8 - This was one of those rounds where Calzaghe's combinations weren't fooling anyone. He landed some, but they have no spark behind them. Hopkins landed several straight lefts and counters. Hopkins 10-9.
Round 9 - Back and forth they go. Hopkins landed a few stiff lefts, but Calzaghe clearly had the upper hand in this round. His combinations are beginning to have an effect on Hopkins. Calzaghe 10-9.
After nine rounds it is all tied up at 85.
Round 10 - Hopkins went to his knees after taking a low blow from Calzaghe. Hopkins was clearly acting, trying to get another wind and stop Calzaghe's flow. Joe Cortez gave Hopkins time to recover. The stategy worked as Hopkins landed a straight right and hit on a combination shortly after the action resumed. Hopkins 10-9.
Round 11 - Hopkins again keeled over from a low blow, of course he was acting. Calzaghe landed a combo after the action resumed. But Hopkins, who was infuriated by the low blow, came back strong with a combo and a straight right. Calzaghe landed more shots, though. Calzaghe 10-9.
Round 12 - Calzaghe chased Hopkins, thinking he was behind. Hopkins again countered. Hopkins prevails, 10-9. My final tally: Hopkins 114-113.
Calzaghe landed 232 punches compared to 127 for Hopkins and 187 power punches to 116 for Hopkins. This was a difficult fight to score, so it's not a shock that Calzaghe won on the judges scorecards (113-114, 115-112, 116-111).
Although Calzaghe landed more shots (a lot more), I still didn't feel Hopkins was hurt at any point. But judges often give favorable scores to aggressive fighters. Calzaghe was aggressive, Hopkins wasn't. Hopkins chose to stay with his counter-punch strategy and let the action come to him.
As for the future of both fighters, Calzaghe will likely end up facing Roy Jones Jr. or Kelly Pavlik. As for Hopkins, no one knows. He could retire or try and get a rematch. Nothing is ever certain for the Executioner.