JOE Calzaghe is the greatest pound for pound fighter on the planet, according to four weight world champion Roy Jones Jr.
Jones and Calzaghe went nose to nose at a press conference yesterday at the world famous BB King Blues Club, where Jones revealed that Joe is the only fighter he was interested in facing at the age of 39, because Calzaghe stands head and shoulders above the other top names in the sport.
“Whoever wins this fight is the best boxer in the world right now, without a doubt. No-one else can come close,” he said.
“For me, Joe is the best pound for pound fighter in the world now. But you know I love to change things.
“He is a great fighter and right now he is the best around. Who else has got a record of 45 fights undefeated?
“I won’t take that away from him, I can’t. No-one else has got a record like that.
“Joe is the man now, that’s why it was all about where he wanted to fight. I had to seek him out for this fight, it was the only one I wanted.”
Calzaghe was delighted to hear Jones giving him such praise and revealed he is keen to prove that his assessment is correct.
“It’s pretty great to hear people like Roy saying that, I had long since given up on getting any credit in America,” Joe told the Argus.
“Listen, I don’t go shouting about being the best in the world, I’m not that type of person or fighter.
“I like to think that my record speaks for itself, but I think most people would rank me in the top two or three best in the world.
“But to hear Roy Jones say I am the number one, that is brilliant.
“And on Saturday I will prove he’s right, because I am going to knock him out.”
Mark Taffett, the senior vice president of HBO sport, endorsed the notion that Calzaghe is on top of the world at the age of 36.
“On Saturday night we will see the two most heralded fighters in the world today collide,” he said.
“Joe Calzaghe is the gold standard in boxing, a future Hall of Fame boxer and the best of the best right now.
“Roy Jones has earned his nickname of Superman and the stage is now set for a truly memorable and special night.”
This was a press conference that largely covered old ground and being that it was in America, dragged on for far too long, so much so that Calzaghe told the Argus that he won’t do any more interviews before the fight.
“I have reached my limit now, I’ve got nothing new to say to the American writers and I want to focus, I am getting in the zone, I feel like what I am going to do on Saturday is going to be really special,” he said.
Jones was more reserved than he’d been earlier in the week, though he did reveal exactly how this fight was put together. “When we met, we got it done in ten minutes, you know that,” he said.
“But before that, we were discussing everything over text messages, back and forth, back and forth,” he said.
“Joe was 100% a man of his word. He promised we’d do the fight, said he wanted to come to New York and that is how it has turned out. I guess that’s pretty rare, two of the best fighters ever texting to get the fight made.”
