BY: Ricky Ray Taylor

Every once in a great while a match-up catapults to the surface that gets us salivating at the mere thought of it.  Although this weekends contest is about 5 years past what it could have been, in most boxing circles the JONES-CALZAGHE duel is no exception. 

In August of 2003, Jones was proudly sitting on top of boxing’s pound-for-pound list.  He actually was there for so long that his bones were beginning to creak. Jones had absolutely destroyed everyone in his path for 6 1/2 years in fights that were sometimes so lopsided that it left the casual Boxing “fan” questioning the abilities of his opposition.  Nobody had a clue or seemed to pay attention to the fact that the combined record of Jones opponents within this 6 1/2 year run was 417-22; and 14 of those fights were for World Championships against mandatory qualified contenders.  In fact the only issue people seemed to sink their teeth into regarding Roy Jones career was that he “just didn’t have anyone decent to fight”. 

After winning a relatively controversial majority decision to Antonio Tarver in November of ‘03, for the first time we began to see some kinks in Jones armor.  There just always seemed to be something about the loudmouth Tarver that Roy couldn’t seem to completely conquer.  Perhaps it was the fact that Tarver showed absolutely no fear of Roy? 

 Regardless, the fight was finally close - so close that an immediate rematch was declared by the screaming-Tarver as well as all of boxing’s sanctioning bodies.

The second time around shocked us all as we witnessed yet another great champ be humbled by the brutality of our sport. 

Two more losses followed by 2 wins verses B- fighters and a grand finale victory over an aging Trinidad have done little to recapture the legacy we once knew.

Funny, but by the time Jones was decapitated by Tarver - Joe Calzaghe was 35-0 and creating quite a legacy of his own across the pond. He has been calling out Roy for years.  Understandably so, Jones handlers weren’t hearing him.  They saw what happened to Kostya & Chris Byrd and wanted nothing to do with reliving the nightmare of what happened in the Olympics.  Besides, Roy had troubles of his own in America battling the naysayers ~ and fighting an undefeated Welshman Calzaghe who nobody even heard of would only supply more rocks to the throwers if he were to beat him up.  It was basically a lose-lose for Jones to fight Calzaghe.

Enter Jeff Lacy, at 21-0, Lacy traveled across the seas to take on Calzaghe in front of an International television audience.  The fight was a beat down of cosmic proportions however, in Calzaghe’s favor!  Calzaghe busted up 3 more victims before sizing up Bernard Hopkins in front of an American viewing audience. 

 Now however, the shoe is on the other foot with Calzaghe sitting atop of boxing’s pound 4 pound 4 list, it’s Jones calling out Calzaghe.  Fortunately for Jones, Calzaghe obliged.

Now, finally there’s reason for Calzaghe and Jones to get it on.  The big question however is “how much does Jones have left in the tank”?

BY: Diamond Boxing www.diamondboxing.com 

Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik is set to face Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins in a light heavyweight battle at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Saturday October 18. The bout will be shown on HBO PPV starting at 9PM EST. Pavlik is listed as a heavy favorite at 4 to 1 odds and looks to be the first one to knock out the future Hall of Famer Hopkins.

Pavlik who is coming off a 3^rd round knockout victory over Gary Lockett in a bout also held at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, will be stepping up to fight Hopkins at a catch weight of 170 pounds in this non title bout. Pavlik will also be putting his perfect record of 34 -0 on the line against the 43 year old Hopkins. The Ghost as many refer to him as will also carry the boxing torch with him into the ring. If he could defeat Hopkins in a decisive manner the pound for pound champion status could be his. With the likes of De La Hoya, Mosley, Roy Jones Jr. and European greats Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe winding down their careers, Pavlik can become the one boxing looks towards to carry the sport to the next level. This may include a major bout on national television to rival the MMA Events shown on CBS. Pavlik is likable he has that All American image, he is from the working class town of Youngstown, Ohio  and likes the family lifestyle. He trains in his home town at the local gym under the watchful  eye of his trainer Jack Loew  and after his first victory over Jermain Taylor back in September of 1997 Pavlik gained a great deal of fan respect. In that bout Pavlik survived a second round knockdown and came back to over power Taylor, knocking him out in the 7^th round. Pavlik in that second round demonstrated the heart of a champion, not many would have been able to comeback from the Taylor barrage like Pavlik did. The second round recovery sealed the Pavlik name in boxings all heart club. America likes heart, America likes Champions and in Pavlik they have both.

So now the next hurdle for Pavlik is the 43 year old six packer from Philly Bernard Hopkins. The crafty veteran Hopkins will not go lightly into the night. He will use his defensive style to his advantage, looking for the right moments to attack Pavlik and don’t forget the first round of Hopkins last bout with Joe Calzaghe. Hopkins caught Calzaghe in that first round and recorded a flash knockdown, even though Hopkins did not win the Calzaghe bout, he hung in there for all 12 rounds and actually was ahead on one of the judges score cards. So this will not be an easy task for Pavlik, who may just need to settle for a scorecard victory. Pavlik may not get the big knockdown over Hopkins but a workman like victory still will earn Pavlik a big victory over a well known and respected boxer. This will elevate Pavlik to another level and one step closer to the elite boxing status of pound for pound king.

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Mission Accomplished Ballagou Captures Belt at “KnockOut Poverty’ Event

Ringside Reporting: Diane Bennett – Diamond Boxing

A few missions were accomplished last night in New York City at the “KnockOut Poverty” landmark event which was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom. With many great performers inside and outside of the ring the night was a great hit. Lots of money was raised for the charitable organization, All for Africa which, helps fight poverty in Africa. With star performers on hand the boxing got started with the Continental Africa Cruiserweight Championship belt on the line. The bout pitted Jaffa “The African Assassin” Ballagou from Toga against tough veteran Manu Ntoh from Cameroon. The bout was original scheduled for eight rounds however, due to the cancellation of other fights previously scheduled this bout was changed to twelve rounds. Ballagou who has been absent from the ring for two years due to promotional and managerial issues got off to a very slow start, showing some ring rust do to the long layoff. Ballagou also had to deal with the powerful Ntoh who is a multiple World Muay Thai champion and has only been knocked out 3 times in 33 professional boxing matches. Ballagou felt Ntoh power in the very first round when Ntoh connected with viscous shots that landed Ballagou to the canvas. Ballagou was able to survive the first round knockdown, he still was very lackluster throughout the early rounds, between a few of the early rounds referee Eddie Claudio even had to tell Ballagou that he had to show more action. Ballagou was able to gain some momentum and appeared to be getting some of his old swagger back towards the latter part of round 3.

In round 4 Ballagou was able to even the knockout score recording a knockout of his own. Ballagou kept things going in rounds 5 and 6 then appeared tire out after the 6th. Ntoh who was game throughout, picking his spots to load up and often connecting with hard body shots, was ahead on the scoring cards going into the 11th round. In the 11th knowing he most likely needed a knockout to win the belt Ballagou staggered the fatigued warrior Ntoh with a left he was then able to finish Ntoh off with set of combinations, the referee stopped the bout at the 2:47 mark of the roind. The delighted Ballagou afterwards spoke about his early rust and plans to get right back into training at Church Street Gym. Ballagou is hopeful that his new management team can act quickly and start planning his next bout. He says he will continue to work on building up his endurance and that he will take on anyone in the light heavyweight division, mentioning the names of Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson. Oddly enough Glen Johnson was in attendance watching this bout.

The shortened boxing card which was narrowed down to only two bouts due to visa problems and illness of participants. However, the second bout on the card did not short change the fans. Former Olympian Eromosele “Bad Boy” Albert faced Ossie Duran in a twelve rounder for the IBF Continental Africa light middleweight title. This one was a slugfest right from the opening bell, both fighters gave it there all, landing barrages of punches throughout all 12 rounds. Both fighters left their jabs at home and were just throwing heat at each other. They battered each other, not discriminating against either the head or the body, landing to all places. As the match ended it appeared that Duran was a little more active landing the cleaner shots, but the judges scored this one a draw. The cards showed a big disparity in the scoring one judge had it 116 - 112 Duran another had it 117-111 Albert and the third judge scored the bout even at 114 -114.Diamond Boxing had this one 7 rounds to 5 for Duran (115 – 113).

The completive bouts were presented by Bob Duffy’s Ring promotions and the night also featured outstanding musical performances. Headlining the musical festivities was Grammy Winner and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Youssou N’Dour who impressed the crowd with his entertaining performance. The night was kicked off with an amazing African dance routine highlighted by bongo and acrobatic performances. Diamond Boxing has proudly contributed to the All for Africa cause to view the on-line charity auction http://www.allforafrica.org/.

Photos By: Robert Epstein