Joe Calzaghe vs.

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...

, billed as ''Battle of the Superpowers'', was a boxing

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserw ...

superfight. The fight was held on November 8, 2008,Dirs B
Joe Calzaghe v Roy Jones Jr
' BBC Sport, 9 November 2008 at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. The fight was for Calzaghe's ''Ring'' light-heavyweight championship. It ultimately proved to be Calzaghe's final professional bout, as he announced his retirement on February 5, 2009.

Build-up

After Calzaghe's split-decision points victory over Bernard Hopkins (see

Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe, was a boxing match that took place on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada, between '' The Ring'' light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and unified super middleweight champion Joe ...

), and Jones's victory over

Félix Trinidad Félix Juan Trinidad García (born January 10, 1973), popularly known as "Tito" Trinidad, is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes and is said to b ...

, the two signed to fight each other for the ''Ring'' magazine light-heavyweight championship of the world. After having been originally scheduled for September 20, 2008, the fight was rescheduled when Calzaghe injured his wrist in training. The bout was then rescheduled for November 8, 2008. The fight received considerable media coverage, including the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

pre-publicity series, ''24/7'', in three episodes.

The fight

The fight did not start well for Calzaghe, who was knocked down in the first round.Hassan N
Joe Calzaghe v Roy Jones Jr
' BBC Sport, 8 November 2008 Replays showed the knockdown was caused by an accidental forearm by Jones ( a two punch combination.). However, he composed himself and went out strong in the third round. In round 6 Jones landed a thunderous uppercut that had the crowd on their feet. But in round seven Calzaghe opened a cut above Jones's left eye. Jones was clearly having difficulty as the blood completely impaired his vision. Essentially Calzaghe remained dominant & in control, something that was reflected in the judges scorecards as he outclassed Jones. The fight continued all the way to the end of the twelfth round, when the judges awarded Calzaghe the UD win by a wide margin, each scoring the fight 118-109.

Aftermath

After the fight there were calls for Calzaghe to retire at the top. Former heavyweight champion

Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold ...

felt that Calzaghe had nothing left to prove in the world of boxing. Ricky Hatton and David Haye echoed this view by saying there was nothing more Joe could achieve, though double light-heavyweight champion Chad Dawson challenged the champion to one last fight before he retired.
Dawson targeting Calzaghe fight
' BBC Sport, 11 November 2008 In the end, Calzaghe chose to retire, telling the BBC, Joe was also challenged by the then undefeated British boxer Carl Froch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calzaghe, Jones Calzaghe 2008 in boxing 2008 in sports in New York City 2000s in Manhattan Golden Boy Promotions Boxing matches at Madison Square Garden November 2008 sports events in the United States