THE fight between Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr has been set for September 20 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Jones, the veteran American, has confirmed the bout and in what will be a climactic superfight for both men, unbeaten Welshman Calzaghe, 36, has indicated he will hang up his gloves after his joust with Jones, who claims the purse will be split 50-5
0 between the two men.
"We are fighting at Madison Square Gardens because it's an easier fight from over there to here," Jones, 39, said.
"Vegas was on the radar, but it's easier to get a flight to New York. When Joe fought in Vegas (against Bernard Hopkins], I ran into a lot of people who weren't happy with the arrangements and the way they had to go through all the stops to get there.
"So I wanted to make it easier for the people to come from the United Kingdom to support the fight because I know how many will be coming.
"Madison Square Gardens holds 18,000, about the same as if we were back at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas."
Jones added: "I was a fighter of the 90s, but I'm also a modern era fighter. I'm going to show people what I am.
"Everything is being split 50-50. It's straight down the middle. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Calzaghe, who split with long-time promoter Frank Warren last month, gave up his WBC super-middleweight belt to fight Jones in a light-heavyweight contest. Calzaghe earlier expressed his desire to fight in New York.
"I went to New York as part of the build-up of both the Mikkel Kessler and Bernard Hopkins fights and I love the place," he wrote in his weekly column in the South Wales Argus.
"I also think New York is a town where I would be very well received. There is a very large Italian-American population in Manhattan and that attracts me also.
"The biggest names in the sport – Ali, Leonard, Foreman, and Marciano – have all boxed at the Garden. It would also represent the best venue in America in order to accommodate my supporters from all over the UK."
Calzaghe took on Hopkins in April as the king of the super-middleweights but stepped up to light-heavyweight to take the American's Ring Magazine belt.
This will be on the line when he faces four-weight world champion Jones, who is also expected to retire after the fight.
Meanwhile, Audley Harrison's fight against Belfast heavyweight Martin Rogan has been postponed due to "television scheduling". The Sydney Olympic gold medallist was to have boxed Rogan at the Aston Event Centre in Birmingham on July 19.
Promoters Sports Network released a statement, saying: "Sports Network's show on Saturday 19th July at the Aston Events Centre in Birmingham has been postponed due to television scheduling. A re-scheduled date for the show will be announced shortly."
The man beaten by Harrison almost two years ago, Danny Williams, will fight John McDermott in the first defence of his current reign as British heavyweight champion next Friday in Dagenham, with the fight being show live on Sky Sports.
McDermott is the English heavyweight champion but lost his previous attempt to win the title when Matt Skelton stopped him in the first round in 2005.
Unbeaten since then, McDermott, at 28, will have seven years advantage in youth over Williams, who turns 35 today, and is not the same force as he was when he knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004.
The full article contains 613 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
