Joe Calzaghe dominates Roy Jones, Jr.

In what could possibly be the swansong of both great fighters, Welshman Joe Calzaghe dominated Roy Jones, Jr. over twelve rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory in a fight held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  Calzaghe quickly recovered from a flash knockdown in the first round to “run the table” the rest of the way, earning scores of 118-109 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Jones started the fight well, pressuring Calzaghe in the first round and scoring a knockdown on a short left hook.  Jones’ success out of the gate provided the Garden fans with a brief flash of his greatness as he stood in the center of the ring briefly after the bell to end the round before heading to the corner as the raucous crowd started up the inevitable U-S-A chant.

That was the last thing that Jones’ backers had to cheer about as Calzaghe started to outwork his opponent in the 2nd, pummeling the former “pound for pound” champ with superior handspeed and punishing bodyshots.  The CompuBox numbers for the fight underscore Calzaghe’s superior workrate:  he threw 985 punches, landing 344 of them.  Jones threw only 475.  Calzaghe’s prolific output was the most by a Roy Jones opponent in 31 career fights tracked by CompuBox.

With a 46-0 record and off of victories over Hall of Famers Jones and Bernard Hopkins, there’s much speculation that Calzaghe doesn’t have anything left to prove in the sport and is leaning toward retirement.  In the postfight press conference he highlighted his two most recent victories and demurred on retirement talk for the time being:

"This year I just beat two legends, with Hopkins and Jones, and I came to the United States to do it. I took the risk. They didn't come to me. I took the risk.  I knew I had to make Roy Jones respect my punches. I think I did. I think I stunned him on a few exchanges."

Should he wish to continue his career, Calzaghe has a few options on the table.  The first would be a rematch with the ageless Hopkins, who looked good in his recent win over Kelly Pavlik.  Mikkel Kessler, who gave Calzaghe a tough challenge in a November 2007 bout, is also interested in a rematch.   IBF lightweight champion Chad Dawson must have been waiting by a fax machine for the fight to end as he issued a press release challenging Calzaghe before the echoes of the final round bell had subsided.  The Welsh fighter quickly shot down any speculation on his future plans with his characteristic good humor:

"I just stepped out of the ring 15 minutes ago. Let me enjoy the fight now before I think about another fight. What do you think I am, man, a sadist?"

Roy Jones, Jr. sounded more like a fighter on the verge of retirement as his record fell to 52-5 with the defeat.  The typically loquacious Jones was tight lipped when asked about his plans for the future:

"I don't know what's next. I don't know."