by James Slater: Unbeaten Welshman Joe Calzaghe has certainly been doing a lot of talking ahead of his upcoming big fight with Roy Jones Junior. The latest statement from “The Pride of Wales” is one that is certain to cause huge debate. Calzaghe, 45-0(32) has said he will not only beat Jones on November 8th, but that he will do so via knockout.
Talking to Setanta Sports News recently, the southpaw was bristling with supreme confidence.
“When my hands feel good, I feel good. And that means I’ll be going into the ring punching at full power,” Calzaghe began. “People seem to forget that I can punch. Unfortunately, in some of my fights, I’ve not been able to show that because of hand injuries; I’ve had to basically rely on my speed. But against Roy Jones, whose a very fast fighter himself, I can’t afford to just rely on my speed. I have to go out there and make him respect my power, so in the gym I’ve been making a conscious effort to sit down on my punches a bit more and put some more power in my punches. Jones has been knocked out before and he’s going to get knocked out again.”
So, is Calzaghe planning a sensational and emphatic inside the distance win in what may or may not be his final fight? It seems so. However, though Joe is correct when he says Jones has been KO’d before – twice, in fact – Jones argues that this only happened because he was severely weakened at having come back down in poundage from his heavyweight triumph over then champion John Ruiz. Jones tells anyone who will listen that his KO losses at the hands of Antonio Tarver and then Glen Johnson were a price he paid for having gone up to the big guys’ weight class.
As such, and if Jones is right in what he says, Calzaghe would be foolish in going out all guns blazing in an attempt to become the third man to send Jones to sleep. Still, it’s hard to fault Joe’s confident attitude. Admitting he underestimated his last opponent, in Bernard Hopkins, Calzaghe says he will not make the same mistake against Jones.
“I made a mistake against Hopkins,” Calzaghe confessed. “I was complacent. I was too relaxed going into the fight and possibly underestimated him slightly. But I’m not going to make that mistake with Jones. I’m going to be pressing the fight. I’m going to be alert, using lots of feints and you’re going to see my boxing skills.”
Will we be seeing his boxing skills for the last time though? Joe spoke about whether or not he will indeed retire after November 8th.
“I’m not planning any retirement parties at the moment,” Joe said. “I’m just looking forward to training hard and getting in that ring and making sure I do the business. We’ll see after the fight [ if I retire or not]. But at the moment I don’t feel like I want to fight again. I don’t feel like I’ve anything to prove to myself or anybody else.”