End Of An Era...Or Two -- CLASSICAL BOXING AT THE GARDEN ..Sat. Night

Saturday Night November 8th the Mecca Of Boxing, Madison Square Garden will host yet another classical and potentially legendary boxing encounter. Former four weight class champion and future hall of fame member Roy Jones Jr. will face the current light heavy weight champion of the world, the undefeated Italian Welshman Joe Calzaghe.

Jones was once considered the best fighter in the world as he cruised his way to titles from middleweight to heavyweight. Then he hit his mid thirties and slowed a little just as he was also dropping back from heavyweight to light heavyweight. This resulted in Jone's infamous back to back knock out loses to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, after which the boxing public pretty much considered Jones to be a done deal. Jones surprised everyone by bouncing back with a win against young contender Anthony Henshaw and in his last encounter Jones defeated fellow living legend, former welterweight and middleweight champion Felex "Tito" Trinidad.

Many sports writers and boxing fans consider Joe Calzaghe to be the best fighter in the world ... Now! Calzaghe is undefeated at 45 - 0 with 32 knock outs and won a record 21 title defenses at 168 LBS before taking the light heavy weight title from yet another living legend, the venerable and unstoppable Bernard Hopkins. After losing to Calzaghe, the 43 year old Hopkins promptly took the 26 year old middleweight champion Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik to school, beating the young, previously undefeated fighter and making Joe Calzaghe look even better in the process.

Most of the boxing world expects Joe Calzaghe to use his masterful knowledge of angles, tireless stamina, quick hands and volume punching to out work the older Jones and record yet another win. Meanwhile the 52 and 4 Jones has 38 Ko's on his resume, is back in superb condition and has been showing flashes of his previous ring brilliance as of late. Jones seemed to be a washed up sitting duck against Tarver and Johnson, but demonstrated a resurgence of his defensive skills against Hanshaw and Trinidad and might even hit a little harder than he did in his youth. Unlikely as the scenario is, Roy Jones is capable of pulling off the miraculous upset ..... and then and again, Joe Calzaghe might simply outclass Jones all night long. These possibilities make this a match worth watching, but for hard core boxing fans this one is a must. as the 36 year old Joe Calzaghe has announced that this will definitely be the last fight of his career .... and at 39, every fight could be the last one for Roy Jones. Therefore, Saturday night, Madison Square Garden will probably be showcasing the end of an era ... or two.

Also on the card that evening a couple of Brooklyn boys are going in easy. Former Jr. welterweight and welterweight champion Zab Judah will take on one Ernest Johnson. At one time Judah was the Golden Boy of Brooklyn Boxing, but a string of losses and a bunch of bad attitude displays have greatly tarnished Judah's reputation. He has gone 2 - 4 in his last six fights and really needs a win. Enter Ernest Johnson, a fighter who has been a lightweight for most of his career and with only 7 KO's on his record should present no threat to Judah.

Also coming to The City from Brooklyn Saturday evening will be one of the latest borough pugilistic stars, the Orthodox Jewish phenom, Dimitry "Star Of David" Salita. Salita is a Ukrainian born fighter who grew up and fights out of Brooklyn. He is noted for keeping all the rules of his religious beliefs like not even training on the Sabbath, praying four times a day and keeping a strict kosher diet ... and still managing to be 28 - 0 with 16 KO's. Salita's trainer Jimmy O'Pharrow says, "The boy looks Russian, prays Jewish and fights Black." Salita has brought hoards of Jewish fans back to the fight game and they of course see the undefeated fighter as the second coming of Benny Leonard, but the Brooklyn lad has yet to be tested by being in tough ........... and Saturday evening will not change this as Salita is matched with Scottish journeyman Willie Limond, who is 29 - 2, but with only 8 KO's on his record is unlikely to be able to actually hurt Salita.

Luckily Emanuel "The Drunken Master" Augustus will also be fighting Saturday at the Garden. Augustus actually loses almost as many fights as he wins, but on any given night he is capable of beating anyone in his weight class and he Never puts on a boring fight. Augustus is always ready on a minutes notice and he has done it again this time stepping in as a late substitute opponent for WBC #4 ranked, IBF #5 & WBA ranked #15 Jr. welterweight Frankie Figueroa. Win or lose Emanuel Augustus' blazing spirit, high volume punching and freaky deaky movement never fails to win over the crowd and make the evening entertaining.

Tomorrow Night --------- There will Be Fights!

Good Night - Good Fight
Frank"The Snake"