Joe Calzaghe May Have Injured His Hand – Jones Fight To Be Moved To Another Date?

by James Slater: It is in no way definite yet, but rumours are in circulation saying that Joe Calzaghe has once again injured his hand and as a result his September super-fight with Roy Jones Jnr will have to be postponed. According to a breaking news story (no pun intended!) on Sky Sports.com, a November date has been put forward as a replacement date should the hand injury scupper September 20th..

According to the bit on Sky Sports; rumours were circulating that the event at Madison Square Garden was going to be called off due to legal action by Calzaghe’s former promoter Frank Warren, but that has been quashed because of the injury. A November date has been mooted although the New York venue may not be available.

So it does seem the hand injury has indeed occurred and is not simply a false rumour. Let’s be honest, Joe does have an unfortunate reputation as a somewhat fragile fighter when it comes to hand injuries. How many times has one of his bouts been postponed due to a busted hand? I must admit, I’ve lost count. Of course, Calzaghe is not to be blamed for his injuries – things like this simply happen to certain fighters and it cannot be helped. It is a shame in the case of this fight, though.

Okay, a two month postponement is not so bad, but the fight not taking place at such a great venue as Madison Square Garden is a blow. If Calzaghe-Jones is now to take place somewhere else, where will it take place? Maybe the bout will wind up happening in Wales, after all – as the unbeaten Welshman had hoped at the start of negotiations. We will have to await further details, and surely both fighters, Joe especially, will be making public statements later today – hopefully, anyway.

It is not yet known which hand Calzaghe has injured, or how badly. But in the past it has been Joe’s left hand that has been hurt. The older Joe gets (he is 36 now) the more susceptible to injuries – of not only the hand, but cuts etc – he will become. It remains to be seen if this latest damage will affect his reported plans to want to drop back down in weight after the Jones bout, so as to box again at 168-pounds. This latest break may persuade Calzaghe to call it quits after one more fight only.