by Mark Vester
About two-weeks back, I hinted to the fact that Joe Calzaghe's wrist injury may have been a diversion to give the Welsh champion more time to deal with lawsuit brought forth by his former promoter Frank Warren. In a recent piece that was penned by author Thomas Hauser, it was revealed that Warren, who sued for breach of contract, had also sent threatening legal letters to HBO, Madison Square Garden (the fight venue) and other necessary parties.
Hauser notes that HBO then went to Calzaghe and asked him for a promise of indemnification if Warren brought any legal action against the network. Calzaghe refused their request. On July 22 it was announced to the involved parties, by attorney Gareth Williams, that Calzaghe has suffered a wrist injury and was not able to move forward with the September 20th bout with Roy Jones Jr. The fight was later rescheduled to November 8.
It should also be mentioned that Hauser discussed the involvement of Golden Boy Promotions with the show. As one report published several weeks back on BoxingScene.com had already stated, Gareth Williams (who represents Ricky Hatton and has close ties to Golden Boy) was the key figure pushing for Golden Boy to be involved as a co-promoter on the Calzaghe-Jones HBO pay-per-view.
Square Ring, Jones' promotional company, would not agree to Golden Boy coming on a co-promoter, but allowed Calzaghe's company, Joe Calzaghe Enterprises, to use them as an advisor. Of course the situation adds more fuel to the industry rumor that Calzaghe is aligned with Golden Boy.
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