Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe, billed as Battle of the Planet,[1] was a professional boxing match contested on April 19, 2008, for The Ring light heavyweight championship.

Hopkins had made 20 consecutive title defenses as a middleweight before his 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.

[1] On July 21, 2007, Hopkins defeated Winky Wright by unanimous decision to retain The Ring light heavyweight championship.

"[3] 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.

[4] On January 23, 2008, the fight was officially announced to take place on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

[7] 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.

A grinning Calzaghe told Hopkins he had 'just got his arse kicked by a white boy', leading to laughter from the crowd and media.

Calzaghe was warned by referee Joe Cortez in the second round for throwing a low blow.

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.

Calzaghe still managed to land a couple of blows to the back of Hopkins' head at the end of the fifth round.

HBO's unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman scored the bout 116-111 for Calzaghe.

Hopkins was upset with the official decision and believed that he was robbed of a clear points win.