November 8th - Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr.
Published November 4, 2008 by Martin Bean
‘Battle of the Superpowers’ takes place at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York City this weekend as Welshman ‘Super’ Joe Calzaghe takes on the man formerly known as ‘Superman’ Roy Jones Junior.
5 years ago, this fight would have been a genuine Super fight between two fighters at the peak of their powers. In 2008 the story is somewhat different. 5 Years ago Roy Jones would’ve started a hot favourite. Now, the favourite is Joe Calzaghe. Super fight? More like Super Event.
Having been knocked out twice and aged 39, Jones best days are behind him, despite three successive victories. Remember that this is a man who dominated the Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Division for years and dominated them with consumate ease.
Calzaghe however, still represents a superb force even at the age of 36. In the past twelve months he has notched two superb victories - ending the unbeaten run of Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler last November and then beating wily old Bernard Hopkins over points in Las Vegas in April. The Hopkins win looks even better given the way Hopkins outclassed Kelly Pavlik two weeks ago.
Despite the fact that this fight isn‘t going to be as exciting as it might have been five years ago, I am still very much looking forward to it. Calzaghe has talked about this being his final fight and this would seem a fitting way to end his career- with Kelly Pavlik no longer considered a creditable opponent, only Chad Dawson now stands as a legitimate threat to Calzaghe. However, Dawson simply hasn’t generated the excitement required for the public to demand a Calzaghe-Dawson match up.
So how will this fight pan out? Hopkins gave Calzaghe a lot of problems in April by sitting on the back foot and looking to counter punch, hold and generally mess Joe around. Jones certainly won’t look to tie Joe up in the same fashion Hopkins did but I think Jones will be happy to let Calzaghe take the centre of the ring, as he will look to land powerful counter punches, such as his excellent lead right hand, which could work very well against a Southpaw like Calzaghe.
Many are writing Jones off but I expect him to show he has more left in the tank than many are giving him credit for. I think Calzaghe, wanting to put on a show in his finale, will start fast.
However, Jones has enough left to cause Joe some problems and could hurt and perhaps even floor Joe. But I expect Joe to get up and rally in the closing rounds with his superior work rate. Can Joe knock Roy out? I don’t think he can. Calzaghe overwhelms opponents with his punch output rather than raw power. On that basis, I think Calzaghe respects Jones too much to expect to unleash huge numbers of unanswered punches on Jones.
Expect Calzaghe, ‘The Pride of Wales’, to take a Unanimous 12 round points decision and retire undefeated after 46 contests.
Will Joe be tempted back in the ring at any point in the future, as so mant retired champions have been? I hope not. But, with boxing you just never know. If Chad Dawson was to start dominating the Light Heavyweight Division and run out of opposition, promoters could start knocking on Calzaghe’s door with a lot of Dollars.
BOXING CAPITAL TIP - Joe Calzaghe to win on POINTS @ 8/11 (BETFRED)
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