HBO Sports presents a light heavyweight fight six years in the making when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: BERNARD HOPKINS VS. JOE CALZAGHE is seen live SATURDAY, APRIL 19 (9:45 p.m. ET/6:45 p.m. PT) from The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, exclusively on HBO. The WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Emanuel Steward will be ringside for the event, which will be presented in HDTV and in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Over the course of his 20-year career, Philadelphia’s Bernard Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KOs) has established himself as one of the premier fighters of his era and one of the greatest middleweight champions of all time. After building a reputation on stellar performances against premium competition like Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya, Hopkins cemented his legacy with a stunning victory over reigning champion Antonio Tarver in June 2006 in his first fight at light heavyweight. Following a short retirement, Hopkins returned to the ring last July, scoring a convincing victory over former 154-pound champion Ronald “Winky” Wright in his second light heavyweight bout. This bout marks the 43-year-old Hopkins’ 16th appearance on HBO.
Six years after unsuccessfully seeking a matchup with Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KOs), from Newbridge, Wales, finally gets his wish. Known as “The Pride of Wales,” the 36-year-old will be fighting at light heavyweight for the first time following a record-tying 21 consecutive world title defenses at super middleweight. In his most recent bout on Nov. 4, Calzaghe unified a host of world titles by taking the belts from Mikkel Kessler in front of a raucous home crowd at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The Hopkins fight will be Calzaghe’s first in the United States and only his third outside the United Kingdom, as well as his third HBO appearance.