Jones Jr. vs. Calzaghe
Battle for Legacy at Historic Madison Square Garden
Nov 3, 2008 Joshua Ryan Crawford
The historic former boxing capital of the world, Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York will for one night regain its position as the place to be for a legendary night of championship boxing. This Saturday, November 8, the best fighter of the 90’s, Roy Jones Jr. will look to make an unlikely return to boxing prominence against the man many consider the best fighter in the world, Wales native, Joe Calzaghe on HBO PPV.
Joe Calzaghe has been a world champion for over a decade, but did not gain pound-for-pound recognition until March of 2006 with his utter destruction of startup, hard-hitting American contender, Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy. Prior to this fight, many boxing enthusiasts outside of the UK believed Calzaghe was somewhat of a paper champion, due to his selective opponents and habit for fighting close to home. He has since obviously proved the doubters dead wrong, with impressive victories, most recently a dominating performance against distinguished, certain hall-of-famer Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins disposing of Kelly Pavlik so soundly last month further made the case for Calzaghe as the best in the business.
For Roy Jones Jr. the road back to the big stage has not come easy, but he has managed three straight victories, following his seemingly career-ending second-consecutive lop-sided defeat at the hands of Antonio Tarver. But strangely, while Tarver’s reign as Light-Heavyweight King was short-lived, Jones Jr. has approached the top of the mountain again with an impressive victory over Felix Trinidad, a fight in which Jr. appeared to have his confident, dominating, fearless, swagger back.
But Saturday night we will learn if Roy Jones still has the "eye of the tiger". Since his shocking 2nd round knockout defeat to Tarver, and equally unexpected brutal loss to Glen Johnson, some have criticized Jones for fighting safe, and even scared, particularly his 3rd contest with Tarver. Jones' training habits and dedication have also been questioned, but if Jones Jr. really has any concern with his legacy and place in history, he would not have taken this fight without dedicating himself, and training to win, not just cash another large and maybe undeserved paycheck.
We will find out a lot about Jones’ intestinal fortitude and heart in this fight, because Calzaghe is coming and he won’t easily stop. Will Jr. fight to win, or cover up and lean against the ropes, afraid of getting knocked out? Jr. appears focused on shocking the world, and says he is happy people are doubting him, but we have heard this before. Show us in the ring.
My head says Calzaghe dominates Jr. and wins an easy decision, but my heart hopes it’s a competitive fight with Jr. possibly pulling out a late round KO. We will find out what Roy Jones Jr. is made of on November 8th, while Calzaghe in his apparent final fight,can prove he’s the best of his time, and cement his legacy with a KO victory.
Keys to Victory: Roy Jones Jr. - Fight to win, use speed, stay off the ropes.
Joe Calzaghe - Force the action, stay close, keep guard up.
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