Calzaghe injury delays Jones fight

Eurosport - Wed, 23 Jul 07:01:00 2008

Joe Calzaghe's planned light-heavyweight fight against Roy Jones Jr of the United States in New York in September was postponed after the Welshman injured his right hand in training.

BOXING 2008 Calzaghe - 0

"Hopefully, there's a suggestion the fight could well go ahead in November," Calzaghe's father and trainer Enzo told the BBC. "It's only been rescheduled, they will fight each other. They want it, TV wants it - the whole planet wants it."

Calzaghe, unbeaten in 45 bouts, vacated his WBC super-middleweight title to free him up for the duel with the veteran four-weight American boxer at Madison Square Garden on September 20.

The fight, for The Ring magazine's light-heavyweight crown, is likely to bring down the curtain on both men's careers.

Calzaghe, 36, injured his hand hitting a heavy punch bag in training but it is not thought to be career threatening.

"He sprained his wrists on the pads," Enzo Calzaghe told Setanta Sports News. "It's one of those things you never want to happen, but it's happened.

"When he woke up in the morning with a swollen wrist, I looked at it and it looked awful. It is a sad thing, it happened yesterday (Monday) and he needs two or three weeks off before he starts punching again.

"Everybody's gutted about it. Joe's absolutely distraught. What can you do about it? You've got to have common sense in this game. At the end of the day, at this level you need to be safe."

"It's there, the rescheduled date, probably, I'd say. The end of November," he added.

John Wirt, chief executive of Jones Jr's promotional company Square Ring, agreed the fight should take place in November.

"That works for them, so the injury must be something they feel will heal sufficiently by then," he was quoted as saying by the BBC. "Roy is disappointed but he's looking forward to the fight being rescheduled.

"But this may be a blessing in disguise because it gives us more time to promote the fight. We were under the gun putting everything together quickly."

The two boxers were promoting the fight themselves and it was Calzaghe's first self-promoted bout since he split from his long-time manager Frank Warren.

Reuters

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  1. SEAN H. You forget to mention A MINTER in your feedback, allthough you DO know the stats? How can we get in touch? this PC is new to me, and i would like to chat about the fight game??? JOE leave it as it is, you,ve done the biss. BIG TIME. ALL THE TIME. AND EVERY TIME. Dont take it any further JOE CALZAGHE The stats are there fof the WORLD to see? Best Wish,es to all

    From a.mcdonough6, on Wed 23 Jul 1:11AM

  2. i know roy jones jnrs uncle. roy jones from merthertidvyl is a miner from down the valleys who grows leeks at the weekend and practices with the merther all male voice choir once a month. When the gypsies come to town every year, roy jones from merthertidvyl has bare knuckle fights in the ring for their gold coins and the entertainment of the boyos in the crowd. This, roy jones from merthertidvyl tells me, is how roy jones jnr got his talents as a boxer, because he seen his uncle, roy jones from merthertidvyl, box when he came to stay for the weekend once when he was young. roy jones from merthertidvyl tried to persuade his nephew, roy jones jnr, to become a miner, or a leek grower, or become a member of an amateur all male choir but alas, roy jones jnr became a top draw boxer to the amazement of the whole jones family in wales, of which there are many....boyo!

    history awaits soopa joe calzaghe!!!!

    From papillon soo soo, on Tue 22 Jul 10:45PM

  3. joe is by far the best boxer britain has ever produced,he may not hit as hard as some fighters but his hand speed is amazing,he confusese opponents and outboxes them,he shows real skill not just power.unbeaten in 45 fights and beat the 2 biggest punchers in his division in lacy and kessler.taught that bum hopkins a lesson in his own backyard too,hopkins tried dirty tactics holding,butting etc hoping to gaina scrappy points win,luckily the jues didnt fall for it.this jones match should be great both aggressive offensive fighters looking to put on a boxing show.oh and yes i agree bout khan hes way overatr#ed,hes bin put down by nobodys and when he faces a world class opponent hel get stopped inside 6 rounds.

    From gazrichards69, on Tue 22 Jul 6:59PM

  4. If we are going to pick @#$% boxers who make money for old rope,Audley harrison springs to mind!! Calzaghe is a class act...he may not brag,drive a Bentley convertible,wear a £50,000 watch,and tell people he is the best...he doesnt need to,he just IS. He trains bloody hard,has stuck to his roots,and owes alot to his dad who makes him what he is. Joe calzaghe is arguably one of the best champions the UK has ever had...How many people said Lacy would kick his arse? He beat the @#$% out of him for 3 minutes of every round,and loved it...worth every penny he gets,unlike many!!

    From russy1870, on Tue 22 Jul 6:34PM

  5. joe has never hid from anyone in his life it is not his fault that any yank that was in his class was to greedy we in briton could not afford to accept their demands they needed to make sure they earned enough money out of joe so they could retire after losing. dont ever forget joe won his title as a youngster, he his no spring chicken himself now but he still puts himself up there to be knocked by small minded parisites to have a go at him

    From blainelewis75, on Tue 22 Jul 5:50PM

  6. i personally think joe is a good fighter and agree with what u said about jones being put up against dubious opponents like amir khan as well i cant wait to see his attempt at the world title when he eventually gets in i hope someone knocks 10 blocks out of him hes overrated

    From darkfury18, on Tue 22 Jul 5:44PM

  7. Calzaghe is the best fighter the welsh have ever produced he will knock the @#$% out of jones

    From paul.tippin, on Tue 22 Jul 5:38PM

  8. calzaghe is by far the best fighter to ever come out of britain he is a true master of the sport and its about time people stoped critassing him.. he has broke records he has never been defeaeted and he has stopped the best in the sport. he will win against jones jnr and i can garuntee it will be a great fight.. as for people saying joe slaps ask any fighter who has been in with him and they will tell you different. true champion true legend

    From bowster12000, on Tue 22 Jul 5:24PM

  9. People who still doubt Calzaghe are total and utter morons. Get in the ring with him, hopefully he will knock you out and also knock some sense into you.

    From zeeram_v, on Tue 22 Jul 5:06PM

  10. I've never rated Calzaghe, and yes I agree his punches are not clean but he gets a lot off and in a way that's what brings him the win.
    Roy Jones has been made to look good as he too has fought some dubious opponents but since this no longer a golden age and lets be fair we were spoiled with the likes of Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran, this fight could be entertaining......and I stress the word could.

    From sean h, on Tue 22 Jul 4:52PM

  11. kifotomcharo,your talking s++t.....calzaghe will beat him,the same as lacy...pure skill and will out punch by 2-1....he's under rated as he doesn't 'hype' himself like the others do. His talking is done in the ring,and has done for many years. You dont stay champion for that long being a mug.I have great respect for him inside and out of the ring.

    From russy1870, on Tue 22 Jul 4:48PM

  12. i think joe will knock his block off, hes nearly as good as billy hardy

    From Christopher F, on Tue 22 Jul 4:46PM

  13. Calzaghe the slapping expert has always avoided Roy Jones jr,may he wants to fight him next Year when Roy is abit older!!

    From kifotomcharo, on Tue 22 Jul 4:37PM
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