Calzaghe still wary of aging Jones

By Simon Lewis PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker)—Joe Calzaghe insists Roy Jones Jr. is still a force to be reckoned with, despite his age and recent record.

Calzaghe, 36, puts his Ring Magazine Light-Heavyweight Championship belt and a perfect record on the line Saturday night against the 39-year-old Jones, who 39 is still trying to rebuild a career that saw him proclaimed the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world from 1993-2003.

Jones, who became the first former middleweight titleholder to win a heavyweight belt in more than a century when he beat John Ruiz five years ago, since has slumped to three straight defeats - two to Antonio Tarver - and has fought only three times since.

Jones’ most recent bout came in January, when he easily out-pointed Felix Trinidad.

But Calzaghe, the former super-middleweight champion whose most recent win came in April at light-heavyweight over Bernard Hopkins, believes Jones is primed and ready for a return to his former greatness.

“Roy says he’s in the best condition he’s been in for years, and I believe that and I’m in the best condition I’ve been in for years so it’s going to be one hell of a fight,” Calzaghe said Wednesday. “I was one of those guys that wrote him off, but he’s come back and had three good wins.

“He’s Roy Jones Jr., and when I sit back and look at other opponents, the guy’s a legend, an even bigger legend than Hopkins.”

Calzaghe said Monday that he was much more focused on facing Jones than he had been before the Hopkins fight, which saw him knocked down in the opening round before pulling out a split-decision win in Las Vegas.