BOXING

• Jones promises change atop pound-for-pound list

  
  

  By Lyle Fitzsimmons, Contributing Boxing Editor Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Revved-up by Tuesday poll results that promoted Barack Obama from senator to president, Roy Jones Jr. plans to ride those same emotional coattails back to 175-pound kingpin status when he faces Joe Calzaghe this weekend at Madison Square Garden.

  "That made me feel so good to be an American again, and I'm so proud to be an American," said Jones, at the final pre-fight media gathering Wednesday at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill in Times Square.

  "It's 20 years since I represented this country (at the 1988 Olympics) and I poured my heart out for it then, and I'll pour my heart out for it again." A decision winner in three comeback bouts since the end of a status-sapping three-fight skid, the 39-year-old Jones will meet the unbeaten Welshman in a scheduled 12-rounder for the light heavyweight championship as recognized by Ring Magazine.

  A former belt-holder at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight, Jones was 49-1 overall before dropping consecutive fights to Antonio Tarver (KO 2), Glen Johnson (KO 9) and Tarver again (L 12) in a 17- month stretch between May 2004 and October 2005.

  He traveled to Idaho and Mississippi to top Prince Badi Ajamu and Anthony Hanshaw and kick-start his return to the pound-for-pound lists, then took a giant step back to relevance in January with a one-sided scorecard defeat of Felix Trinidad at the Garden.

  Jones began calling Calzaghe's name during the news conference after his unanimous decision win, claiming he'd fly to Wales the next morning to get the deal done.

  "I've got another guy here who is the best pound-for-pound fighter right now but I love change," Jones said. "This country's about change and I'm about change.

  "He's been throwing punches since yesterday and I've been ducking and dodging them in my sleep because that's what he does. Come Saturday night, though, we're going to see how he's going to deal with me." Calzaghe scored his own biggest career win in April, earning a split decision over ex-Jones victim Bernard Hopkins to improve to 45-0 in his first United States appearance.

  He held the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF belts at 168 pounds between 1997 and 2007 and won 22 straight title fights before climbing up a class to face Hopkins, who scored the bout's lone knockdown but nonetheless saw Calzaghe earn scores of 116-111 and 115-112 to offset a dissenting 114-113 nod.

  And though he's not recognized as champion at 175 by any major sanctioning body, the 36-year-old is widely considered among the world's pound-for-pound best and is a heavy Saturday favorite according to the World Sports Exchange (wsex.com) - which listed him a 10-to-11 choice to win by decision and a 3- to-1 choice to triumph by KO, TKO or disqualification as of Thursday evening.

  Jones is a 15-to-4 selection to win on points and a 7-to-1 pick to score a stoppage or DQ.

  The current betting line on a draw is 22-to-1.

  "I am a person who does actions more than words. I am not going to talk this up more than it has to be. To finish my career fighting at Madison Square Garden is all the motivation I need," Calzaghe said.

  "I am one guy who wrote Roy off, but he came back and won three big fights. He is a legend bigger than Hopkins. He's hungry and you can't write him off. He is in great shape and I can't come in as sloppy as I was with Hopkins." * * * * * * * * * * Predictably, Jones is supremely confident.

  But if there's a demographic in full agreement that he'll topple Calzaghe from the ranks of the unbeaten, he hasn't found it yet.

  "I am still the man and I will bring it Saturday night," Jones said.

  Results from a sampling of 35 fighters, journalists and others involved with the sport this week showed an overall 23-12 verdict in Calzaghe's favor, though the fighter portion of the survey favored the Welshman by just a 10-7 margin as opposed to a 13-5 lean for the others.

  "I'm not really sure on Roy right now. I have to lean towards Joe on this one," said Shane Mosley, a former champion at 135, 147 and 154 pounds who's reportedly on the verge of a deal to meet welterweight kingpin Antonio Margarito next year.

  "You can't count Roy out, but I think Joe will get Roy with a lot of combinations and outpoint him. Roy back in the day would have destroyed Joe, but now Joe will outpoint him with a lot of activity and win the fight." Echoing Mosley's view is incumbent light heavyweight title claimant Chad Dawson, who improved to 27-0 and won the IBF and IBO belts with an impressively one-sided decision over Tarver last month in Las Vegas.

  "I may have to give the edge to Calzaghe," Dawson said. "He's a little bit younger and little fresher. If I was putting $1 million on this fight, I'd go with Joe Calzaghe by (unanimous decision)." Among the dissenters is Hopkins, who lost a razor-thin split verdict to Calzaghe in April and dropped a wider nod to Jones when the two met at middleweight way back in 1993.

  "Jones (wins) by unanimous decision based on his speed and power," he said.

  The fight contract includes a clause for a rematch to be fought in Wales.

  "There is a rematch clause," Calzaghe said. "It was for one fight over here and one at home. But, if I do the job I want to do, I don't think Roy will want a rematch. Mind you, Antonio Tarver knocked him out and he had a rematch, so who knows?" Saturday's fight will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

  All three half-hour episodes of "Calzaghe/Jones 24/7" -- the cable network's behind-the-scenes preview documentary -- will be presented back-to-back-to- back Friday from 8:30-10 p.m. ET and Saturday from 8:30-10 a.m. ET on HBO.

  * * * * * * * * * * This week's big-fight capsules: Saturday Non-title fight (175 pounds) - New York, N.Y.

  Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr.

  Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KO): Former four-belt champion at 168 - 22-0 in title fights Jones (52-4, 38 KO): Former four-division champion - 3-0 since three-fight losing streak FitzHitz says: Jones in 10 IBF middleweight title - Bamberg, Germany Arthur Abraham (champion) vs. Raul Marquez (No. 2 challenger) Abraham (27-0, 22 KO): Eighth title defense, four wins by stoppage Marquez (41-3-1, 29 KO): Former IBF 154-pound champion - 3-2 in title fights FitzHitz says: Abraham in 10 Thursday Vacant IBO super middleweight title - Providence, R.I.

  Sakio Bika (No. 9 IBO) vs. Peter Manfredo Jr. (No. 15 IBO) Bika (26-3-2, 16 KO): Winless in two title fights - 0-1-1 Manfredo (31-5, 16 KO): Lost five of 15 after 21-0 career start FitzHitz says: Bika by decision Last week's record: 4-2 Overall picks record: 38-13 Lyle Fitzsimmons is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He provides "In The Ring" commentary for Cold Hard Sports on MVN (coldhardsports.com), is a periodic contributor to "The Drive with Dave Smith" on KLAA radio (am830klaa.com) and can be contacted via e-mail at fitzbitz@msn.com.

  11/06 20:39:05 ET