By: Jim Amato
Although it is not etched in stone, it is beginning to look like the proposed Joe Calzaghe – Roy Jones Jr. bout will be made. The projected date is in November. The ramifications of this fight could have an immense impact on the current state of the sport. Will Roy win and reclaim his mantle of greatness? Will a Calzalghe win seal a much desired match between Joe and Kelly Pavlik in 2009? Will Calzaghe, upon a win over Jones retire as he has hinted?
The fight itself can be viewed in several ways. Calzaghe is looking to cash in on his relatively new universal fame. Jones appears to be the perfect opponent. Roy may be living off his past greatness but he is still a high profile boxing celebrity. As they say, he puts asses in the seats and he rings up large pay per view audiences. To Joe this is a win, win situation. For Jones this is one last shot at the brass ring. One last attempt to retrieve former glory. This title shot is not a gift to a once great but now washed up former champion. This is not Kostya Tszyu and Julio Cesar Chavez. Roy may not be what he once was but he has earned this shot with three straight wins over decent competition. This fight is no joke !
Who will win ? To me a prime Roy Jones would have taken the measure of the best Joe Calzaghe. Today it may be a different story. What I feel will be Roy’s downfall is his tendency to spend way to much time languishing on the ropes. This would be tactical suicide against Calzaghe. The problem is Roy may not be able to do anything about it. He can no longer move around the ring as he did in the days of old. I’ve noticed Calzaghe has two speeds. When he lets his hands go in flashing flurries, he keeps his opponent on the defensive. The trouble is he generates little power on those punches. In fact he has less power then Aunt Jemima flipping flapjacks. When Joe does try to set down on his punches, his hand speed diminishes quite noticeably. His power increases but not to a great extent. He is surely no Bob Foster. Jones is no Jake LaMotta when it comes to whiskers but I feel he can take Calzaghe’s best.
In the end I look for Calzaghe to just outwork Roy. He does need to be wary of Roy’s counter left hook off the ropes. Jones can give Joe a lot of problems with that punch. I think Joe wins a decision with a few points to spare. Maybe a late round stoppage. I just hope as a fan it is a better fight to watch then the Calzaghe – Hopkins slap and grab contest.