Calzaghe saves best for last

LAS VEGAS -- One of the first punches Joe Calzaghe faced from Bernard Hopkins knocked the Welshman down, but the questions that the moment raised about Calzaghe’s ability to fight a decorated champion outside of his native continent were answered in the following 11 rounds.

Calzaghe, throwing and landing a more consistent barrage of punches to defuse a sharp defensive effort by the 43-year-old former longtime middleweight champion Hopkins, claimed a split-decision triumph at Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night.

Judges Ted Gimza and Chuck Giampa, by scores of 116-111 and 115-112, respectively, gave super-middleweight champion Calzaghe (45-0) the Ring Magazine’s light-heavyweight title as judge Adalaide Byrd awarded Hopkins a 114-113 advantage.

“It was the toughest fight of my career, [Hopkins] is very clever . . . he gave me some great shots,” Calzaghe said in the ring afterward. “A world title in a second division and victory in America is just icing on my career.”

Hopkins (48-5-1) was at his tactical best early, ducking down and sneaking in a straight short right that left Calzaghe on the canvas barely a minute into the fight.

Hopkins was well aware of Calzaghe’s reputation for throwing punches en masse, and said his game plan was based on countering that action.

“I wanted him to run into my shots, I think I did that,” Hopkins said. “He wasn’t really landing his shots. Maybe if he threw five or six and landed one or two, but I really felt I took the guy to school and made him fight my fight.”

Age appeared to be Hopkins’ biggest problem, however, as his energy waned after the fourth round. Gimza awarded Calzaghe rounds five through 10, and Giampa gave the Wales fighter rounds three through 10. Hopkins explained that he was instructed to “pace himself,” with an eye to winning late rounds.

“I was a bit rusty at the start,” Calzaghe said. “In training, I practiced not to rush it. . . . I had to let the punches go as the fight went on.”

Referee Joe Cortez had to insert himself into the battle often, breaking up several clenches and finally calling a fourth-round timeout to talk to the fighters.

When Hopkins pushed Calzaghe at the end of the sixth round, Calzaghe shot his opponent a look that riled the crowd.

Calzaghe certainly fought with more caution than he has in the past, but he delivered several crisp lefts that added to Hopkins’ fatigue. The punch statistic company CompuBox reported that the 232 punches that Calzaghe landed were the most against Hopkins in 21 fights the company has tracked Hopkins’ bouts.

The 10th round featured an extended delay, when Hopkins complained of severe pain from a punch below the belt that television replays showed landed above the typically sensitive area. Calzaghe held out his gloves in frustration, urging Cortez to resume what he thought was a stall tactic.

“He totally faked an injury,” Calzaghe said. “What he did was cheat. He needed a rest.”

After Calzaghe landed some more lefts in the 12th, he leaped to his corner post, blowing kisses to his countrymen who helped boost attendance to 14,213.

“It wasn’t my best fight, but I won,” Calzaghe said.

On the undercard, England’s 2000 Olympic super-heavyweight gold medalist Audley Harrison beat Florida’s Jason Barnett by fifth-round technical knockout. Harrison (22-3) decked Barnett with a hard right hook to the rib cage, and referee Russell Mora stopped Barnett (10-7) from continuing.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com