Britain's Joe Calzaghe recovered from a first-round knockdown to defeat Bernard Hopkins by a split decision in a light heavyweight bout in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Calzaghe was awarded the bout on two of the three judge's scorecards 115-112, 116-111, 113-114.

In a closely-fought battle, the 36-year-old Calzaghe showed little of his famed prodigious punch output in the first two rounds, as Hopkins gained the early initiative behind a tight defense and counter-punching with his right hand.

The 43-year-old Hopkins, nicknamed "The Executioner", also managed to knock down Calzaghe when one of his counter punches landed flush on the Welshman's jaw as he came forward in the first round.

"I was a bit rusty at the start," said Calzaghe, 45-0 (32 KOs). "In training, I practiced not to rush it."

By the third round, however, Calzaghe had become more active, looking to trap Hopkins in the corner or against the ropes and then unleash flurries of punches.

The rest of the fight saw a contrast between Calzaghe's greater output and Hopkins' more precise counter-punching as the two men frequently fell into clinches, as one sought to land a lead punch and the other looked to counter.

Official punch stats credited Calzaghe with landing 232 punches of 707 thrown, against 127 of 468 for Hopkins.

However, Hopkins, 48-5-1 (32 KOs) felt that Calzaghe was being credited for landing punches he was blocking.

(Agencies April 21, 2008)