Joe Calzaghe comprehensively outpoints Roy Jones Jr.
Published November 9, 2008 by Martin Bean
The Pride of Wales, Joe Calzaghe, took his record to 46-0 (32 KO’s), with a Unanimous 12 round decision over ring legend, Roy Jones Jr. (now 52-5, 38 KO’s).
All three judges scored the contest 118-109, which I felt was a little harsh on Jones and didn’t reflect the contribution Jones made to the contest, especially during the first six rounds.
What made the contest was round one—Jones landed a solid jab and followed it with a right uppercut thrown low; Calzaghe was bending down as the uppercut was thrown and moved straight on to the punch. Calzaghe slumped to the canvas, in an eerie déjà vu moment to his last contest against Bernard Hopkins, and was visibly a little shaken.
But, as with the Hopkins fight, this only spurred Calzaghe on. Joe suddenly went on the offensive, unleashing bunches of punches and finished the round strongly—game on.
The next three rounds saw the pattern of the fight emerge. Calzaghe, the workman like aggressor, worked in fast combinations and backed Jones to the ropes as often as possible. Jones on the other hand was happy for Calzaghe to take the centre of the ring, he would stay on the outside, gloves held high when Calzaghe launched his fast flurries and was always looking to land his fast and powerful right hand lead.
Round five saw Calzaghe’s work rate drop. Jones started to move forward a little more himself and was still landing what looked the stronger punches. Solid jabs and right hands caught Calzaghe yet he didn’t look hurt at any point. Despite landing some decent punches towards the end of the round, it was Jones’ quality punches that took the round on my card. At this point I had the fight level at 57-57.
Calzaghe rebounded fast in round six, spurred on by father Enzo’s harsh words in the corner, reverting to his high volume punch output and keeping Jones pinned on the ropes. Towards the end of the round, Calzaghe landed a superb straight left and a cut opened over Jones’ right eye—the cut would change the landscape of the whole fight.
Blood poured out of Jones’ cut between rounds and indeed for the rest of the fight. The corner worked on it feverously between each round but without success; the blood simply would not stop. Calzaghe, carried on in his workmanlike manner, but Jones could no longer pose a real threat. His sight was impaired to a shocking extent, particularly during rounds eight and nine when he could probably not see anything coming.
For me, Jones carrying on (and surprising passing two inspections by the ringside physician) showed real bravery. It’s not something the Pensacola man is famed for, but at 39 he simply refused to wilt, standing virtually sightless in front of Calzaghe right to the final bell. It reminded me a lot of a faded Chris Eubank soldiering on against Carl Thompson as the end of his career—people suddenly found a new respect when Eubank showed he had a tough, gritty and brave side too. I hope people now see Jones in that fashion.
Back to the fight and it really was over as a spectacle. Calzaghe swept the remaining rounds, showboating as he enjoyed making Jones miss and just being too quick all round for the 39 year old, one eyed Jones. It’s a superb victory Calzaghe and brings down the curtain on his perfect career… or does it?
In post fight interviews, Joe’s previous comments of “I’m definitely retiring after this—this is my last fight” had suddenly changed to “it’s possibly my last fight—I need time to think” showed we may not have seen the last of this ring warrior in action.
A rematch against Hopkins or a match against Chad Dawson will surely entice Calzaghe to carry on, but only if enough dollars are on offer. Calzaghe has been champion for 11 years yet only received the acclaim he deserved for the last two years. I feel he’ll want to enjoy his spot in the limelight some time longer and therefore, expect to see Calzaghe back in the ring next year.
In a decent, if unspectacular undercard, here are the other results:
Zab Judah W UD10 Ernest Johnson
Francisco Figueroa W SD8 Emmanuel Augustus
Dmitriy Salita W UD12 Derrick Campos
Dominic Guinn W UD8 Gabe Brown
Daniel Edouard W UD8 Alphonso Williams
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