It may have taken all twelve rounds but Joe Calzaghe left Madison Square Garden this past Saturday with exactly what he wanted - a dominant victory over a true boxing legend.
Joe Calzaghe dominated Roy Jones Jnr from beginning to end, except from a flash knockdown in the first, winning a unanimous decision 118 to 109. Many analysts are trumping this performance as the finest in his unbeaten 46 fight career and should it be his last it is the fitting note to end on.
The two biggest criticism of Calzaghe in America is that he doesn’t fight in America, some even dubbed the Newbridge native “Stay at home Joe” however his recent victories over Bernard Hopkins and now Roy Jones have taken place in Las Vegas and New York respectively, removing the first stumbling block. The second however is not quite as easy to remove. Some claim Joe cannot claim to be the number one pound for pound fighter because he hasn’t faced top competition, but let us consider Joe’s last three opponents.
Mikkel Kessler was the WBA and WBC super-middleweight champion when he faced Joe at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in November of 2007 and that defeat remains the only blot on the Dane’s 42 fight record. Kessler once again holds the WBA super-middleweight title which he regained in June.
In Joe’s first bout on the other side of the Atlantic he took on boxing legend Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins. This bout remains a contentious issue among boxing fans - the judges scored it for Calzaghe however Hopkins, and some fight fans, believe he won. Hopkins may be 43 years old now but surely his destruction of Kelly Pavlik earlier this month shows Hopkins can still go with the best.
And now we reach Jones Jnr, a true boxing legend who was completely dismantled by a younger, faster and at this point superior fighter. It can not and should not be forgotten that Jones is a former four weight world champion and was one of the most dominant forces in boxing in the 90’s however he was completely out classed by Calzaghe.
Here in lies the problem, Calzaghe has beat everybody that is left. Calzaghe has now got an opportunity to do what many before him have not - retire at the top of the fight game. And who would grudge him that opportunity? Calzaghe has beat every boxer placed in front of him, including 22 super-middleweight title fights. He has defeated American legends such as Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jnr. He has beat the top British boxers at his weight such as Chris Eubank and Richie Woodhall. Calzaghe has all beaten top European and African prospects such as Mikkel Kessler and Sakio Bika. Not bad for somebody who has allegedly not faced top opposition.
The last boxer to get out of the game on top was arguably Lennox Lewis, someone who many believe to be the top heavyweight boxer in the past 10 years, who has joined the calls for Calzaghe to retire. He is not the only one, numbers two and three, Ricky Hatton and David Haye respectively, on the British pound for pound boxing lists have also said they think it is time for Calzaghe to call it a day. Hatton’s comments will surely be taken into consideration because of the competitive rivalry between the pair who have traded the title of Britain’s best boxer for the last few years. Calzaghe even pipped Hatton to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year last year.
In essence Joe Calzaghe has been presented with an opportunity that is rare for the modern boxer. That is the chance to leave the sport with your finest victory at the worlds top venue for boxers. Oh and the accolade of Britain’s best post-war boxer.
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