CALZAGHE, JONES CLASH TODAY
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 09 Nov 2008
NEW YORK -- Joe Calzaghe of the United Kingdom and Roy Jones, Jr. of the United States will ignite fireworks to the cold New York weather tonight (Sunday morning in Manila) when the two clash at the fabled Madison Square Garden in downtown Manhattan here.
Calzaghe (45-0 32KOs), 'The Pride of Wales' who ruled the super middleweight division during the last 10 years and is considered by some as today's real pound for pound king above the Filipino firebrand Manny Pacquiao, will try to reinforce his big win against Bernard Hopkins last April and cement a lasting legacy as perhaps the greatest boxer to come out from the British Isles.
Comebacking Roy Jones, Jr. (52-4 38KOs) was everyone's pound for pound king before his two loses against the 'Magic Man' Antonio Tarver and a disastrous KO loss to Glen Johnson. With his legacy quite established, a win over the undefeated Calzaghe will be more like a statement that the 39-year-old Jones still has the speed and cleverness that caused trouble at his every opponent during his peak years.
Calzaghe and Jones, who will clash at light heavyweight, both came in at 174.5 lbs during yesterday's weighin at the Madison Square Garden.
When asked by Michael Buffer for a brief statement after the weighin, Joe Calzaghe promised an exciting fight. "I'm excited. It's going to be a great fight, Madison Square Garden is a great place and you're going to see one awesome show," said the 36-year-old Calzage, "and I will still be undefeated at 46 and 0."
Roy Jones, who was mobbed by the crowd when entered and exited the arena, for his part said "this is going to be the best fight this year, cheer your man on, Roy Jones is back."
Calzaghe, who is in the twilight of his hall-of-fame career, talked about retiring after this fight and losing is not an option. "The road has been long and we're getting to the final hurdle," Calzaghe's father and trainer, Enzo, told the media earlier. "He (Joe Calzaghe) will not, under any circumstances, fail on the last hurdle."
A loss to Jones however, will more likely result in a mega-rematch with Cardiff, the capital of Wales, as the most likely venue.
Top photo: Joe Calzaghe of UK (L) and Roy Jones, Jr. of the US pose for the photographers after yesterday's weighin at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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