New York, NY, September 16, 2008 – In a battle between two of boxing’s superpowers, world’s will collide when “Super” Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) clashes with “Superman” Roy Jones, Jr. (52-4, 38 KOs) in “Battle of the Superpowers,” a scheduled 12-rounder for the Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Championship belt. The bout is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 8th at the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden and broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Tickets for this battle between two of the sport’s icons – three years apart, but more different than the ocean that separates them – are priced at $1500, $1000, $750, $500, $250 and $150 and are on sale and available at the Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets or online at ticketmaster.com. Calzaghe vs. Jones is presented by Square Ring, Inc. and Calzaghe Promotions in association with Madison Square Garden. The bout will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View..
“I am looking forward to fighting one of the great legends of the sport at the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden,” said Calzaghe, who will be fighting for the first time in New York. “I will feel my super power when the many thousands of fans who will travel to New York are there to support me. It will make a truly memorable evening and I will not let them down.”
“Every boxer looks for that one big, epic fight in his career,” says Jones. “The difference here is that he’s the one looking for the epic fight which is a great assumption on his part, because after Trinidad, Roy is rejuvenated.”
“We are looking forward to a great night of boxing and are particularly excited to have Calzaghe Promotions co-promoting this event,” said Gareth Williams, Legal Counsel, Calzaghe Promotions. “It will be quite a celebration for Joe, and the company when he beats Roy Jones in honor of all his fans that will be at Madison Square Garden that night or watching this super bout on television back in the UK.”
“Roy and Joe are already destined for the Boxing Hall of Fame,” said John Wirt, CEO of Square Ring, Inc. “This fight, however, is about more than that, its about Roy securing his induction into the pantheon of the most elite fighters in the history of the sport, fighters like Ali, Lewis and Robinson. Unfortunately for Joe, that means his “0” has gotta go.”
“Madison Square Garden will once again become the center of the boxing world on November 8th when two of the best collide in our ring,” said Joel Fisher, executive Vice President MSG Sports Properties. “Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones will certainly excite our loyal fans and enrich The Garden’s deep boxing history.”
“Joe Calzaghe is the gold standard – an undefeated superstar and longest-reigning champion in the sport. Roy Jones’ superb credentials are unquestioned – he’s a boxing superstar whose comeback has stirred the imagination of boxing fans everywhere,” said HBO PPV’s Mark Taffet. “When their worlds collide on November 8th, it will be with great interest and anticipation.”
Out of the hard-scrabble steel and coal Welsh landscape emerges Calzaghe, the gritty, unblemished warrior who burst out of relative obscurity in Europe onto the American scene for the first time in April 2007. HBO aired his relentless pounding of Peter Manfredo before 35,000 delirious partisans at Millennium Stadium in Cardif, Wales. The third-round stoppage was Super Joe’s 20th title defense since toppling Chris Eubank for the World Boxing Organization title in 1997.
Five months later, in a highly-touted bout between two undefeated champions, Calzaghe scored a merciless, workmanlike victory over World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) Mikkel Kessler to unify the division. More than 50,000 fans packed Millennium Stadium this time to witness Calzaghe’s most complete and dominant victory.
For his first bout in the United States, Calzaghe took on his most notable and difficult opponent in Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins on April 19th in Las Vegas. The savvy and dangerous Hopkins ran his vast array of misdirection plays and tactics that had served him so well in defeating a prestigious list of younger, presumably more talented fighters. But as the fight wore on, Calzaghe began to grind through Hopkins, who seemed astonished by the Welshman’s determination and tenacity. In the late rounds Hopkins’ vast experience was not enough and he simply wilted under the steady attack and precision blows. It was all Calzaghe in the end who rolled to a unanimous decision and wrested claim to boxing’s most coveted “pound-for-pound” title, in addition to coming within one victory of Joe Louis’ all-time record of wins in a single weight class.
It wasn’t that long ago that Roy Jones was the consensus “pound-for-pound” champion. Like the Blue Angels and the long stretches of sugary white beaches, Jones stood out as a startlingly, brilliant anomaly in the sleepy gulf coast city of Pensacola, Fla. It was nearly 20 years ago to the day when the exuberant, talent-brimming Jones was victimized by perhaps the most egregious injustice in Olympic Games history. Despite easily outclassing every opponent in the field, including his Korean foe in the finals, he was denied an Olympic Gold Medal by corrupt judges. Despite having to settle for the Silver Medal, Jones was named the Most Valuable Boxer at the Seoul Olympics.
Carrying that Olympic chip on his shoulder, Jones went out to prove to the world that he couldn’t be beat; that he was not only the best amateur in the world but the best boxer…period. He went on to become an eight-time world champion, claiming belts at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. He blew through the 90s in unstoppable fashion, stunning his opponents with blinding quickness and brutal power. He made history on March 1, 2003 when he stymied then-heavyweight champion John Ruiz to become the first former middleweight champion to win the heavyweight title in more than 100 years.
Jones began an impressive string of dominating performances in 1993, when he throttled flashy Bernard Hopkins in a unanimous nod to earn his first world title. In a monumental fight with a signature moment on November 18, 1994, Jones baited super middleweight James “Lights Out” Toney with a move he learned from watching his prized roosters. When Toney tried to imitate it, Jones lashed out and caught him flush with a stinging left, sending Toney reeling off-balance into the ropes. Toney never recovered and lost badly by decision.
Following five successful defenses at super middleweight, Jones moved up in class to take on legendary Mike McCallum in 1996 and once again, came away with another unanimous decision and title belt. He bedeviled a formidable Lou Del Valle at the Garden Theater later that same year and then captured every round on all three judges’ scorecard in dismantling Reggie Johnson to finally unify the 175-pound division in 1999.
Jones always enjoyed befuddling the experts and defying the critics which is why he set his sights on John Ruiz’ heavyweight crown. Making history was just part of the challenge, for the animated Jones, who tipped the scales at 193 pounds at the weigh-in, an amazing seven pounds under the limit. He adroitly peppered and dodged the plodding Ruiz and had truly reached boxing’s pinnacle platform with a resounding victory.
Following the Ruiz triumph, Jones dropped back one weight class in order to take on Florida rival and nemesis Antonio Tarver on November 8, 2003. It was Jones’ hardest fight to date. He captured a split decision, but for the first time, showed visible signs of being hit. It was an omen of things to come for the proud, but suddenly vulnerable Jones, who suffered consecutive defeats to Tarver and a surprising loss to Glen Johnson.
Down, but not out, Jones came back to score wins in his next two fights, setting up a highly-anticipated dual with Puerto Rican legend Felix “Tito” Trinidad at Madison Square Garden on January 19, 2008. A renewed Jones looked sharp and focused, flooring an overmatched Trinidad twice, in breezing to a unanimous win.
Now, boxing’s former “pound-for-pound” champion takes on the current stakeholder. Calzaghe vs. Jones, two determined Hall of Fame world champions, dominant in their own places and time, risking it all and setting a course for their “Battle of the Superpowers.”
MSG Sports Properties is part of Madison Square Garden, L.P. owned by Cablevision Systems Corporation and includes the New York Knicks (NBA); the New York Rangers (NHL); the New York Liberty (WNBA); the Hartford Wolf Pack (American Hockey League); MSG Entertainment, which includes concerts and events at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theatre, as well as the legendary Chicago Theatre; and which manages wholly-owned live entertainment properties including the Radio City Rockettes and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular; MSG Media, which is comprised of television networks MSG and MSG Plus, and MSG Interactive which oversees all company wireless and online initiatives; Fuse, the music television network; and the Madison Square Garden arena complex, located in the heart of the New York metropolitan area.
The Calzaghe vs. Jones pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Calzaghe vs. Jones fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.