Joe Calzaghe Joseph William Calzaghe ( ; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including unified and lineal titles at super-middleweight, and ...

vs.

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. As an amateur he r ...

, billed as ''Battle of the Superpowers'', was a professional boxing match contested on November 8, 2008, for ''The Ring'' Light heavyweight championship.Dirs B
Joe Calzaghe v Roy Jones Jr
' BBC Sport, 9 November 2008 It ultimately proved to be Calzaghe's final professional bout, as he announced his retirement on February 5, 2009.

Background

After Calzaghe's split-decision points victory over

Bernard Hopkins Bernard Hopkins Jr. (born January 15, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight class ...

(see Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe), 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 considere ...

, 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 pay television service, 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 based a ...

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 and 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 all three judges awarded Calzaghe the UD win by a wide margin, each scoring the fight 118-109. Unofficial scorecards from media ringsiders ranged from 118-109 to 117-110 in Calzaghe's favour.

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 British-Canadian boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division from 1989 to 2003. He was a three-time world champion, a two-time lineal champion, ...

felt that Calzaghe had nothing left to prove in the world of boxing.

Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and boxing trainer, trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world champi ...

and

David Haye David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amat ...

echoed this view by saying there was nothing more Joe could achieve, though double light-heavyweight champion

Chad Dawson Chad Dawson (born July 13, 1982) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2019. He held multiple world championships at light heavyweight, and was one of the most highly regarded boxers in that weight class between 2006 ...

challenged the champion to one last fight before he retired. In the end, Calzaghe chose to retire, telling the BBC, Joe was also challenged by the then undefeated

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

boxer

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Undercard

Confirmed bouts:

Broadcasting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calzaghe, Jones 2008 in boxing 2008 in sports in New York City 2000s in Manhattan November 2008 sports events in the United States Boxing matches at Madison Square Garden Jones Jr. Calzaghe Boxing on HBO Light heavyweight championship matches Golden Boy Promotions Pay-per-view boxing matches