By Mark Vester
It appears the light heavyweight bout between Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr., officially postponed for November, will still take place at New York's Madison Square Garden. The fight was originally scheduled to take place on September 20. Last Sunday, Calzaghe injured his right wrist during training and was forced to withdraw from the bout on Monday.
Gareth Williams, Calzaghe's lawyer, told The Daily Telegraph that New York's Madison Square Garden was still going to be the venue to stage the event. Prior to accepting the September date, HBO was also offering a date of November 15, but the promoters, who are Calzaghe and Jones, turned the date down citing concerns over a "UK fan conflict" with the Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi bout, scheduled for November 22 in Las Vegas.
Calzaghe and Jones knew if the fight was going to be held in November, there would be a big number of UK fight fans who would only travel out to one of the two events. Hatton is regarded as the most popular fighter in the UK and his bout will probably receive the majority of the UK fans flying in. Many insiders have said the bout would do a lot better if it was held in the UK, or moved to a later date.
"We put a great deal of effort into putting the September deal together but it was not perfect. It was just presented to us as a possible date as it had been the one HBO was holding for the [Oscar] De La Hoya versus [Floyd] Mayweather rematch which was shelved because Mayweather retired," Williams said.
"HBO were all geared up to make 24/7 documentaries on Joe and Roy, and when Joe rang me on Monday he said he had damaged his hand in training, had spoken to his father Enzo, and was going straight to the doctor. We are trying to reschedule it for a date later in the year, still in New York, and still at Madison Square Garden."
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