© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

This Saturday night Emanuel Augustus will step into the ring at Madison Square Garden for the first time in his career to fight on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones, Jr. He will face local New York favorite Francisco Figueroa 19-2 (13) as a late replacement for Figueroa’s original opponent Gavin Rees who pulled out of the fight last week due to a broken nose.

Augustus 38-29-6 (23) has one of the most deceiving records in the sport of boxing and has made a career out of taking fights on short notice. He has had his share of being on the wrong side of bad decisions and losing close battles, but win, lose or draw he is always entertaining. Floyd Mayweather was quoted as saying, “Augustus was the toughest opponent that he has faced in his career.”

In 2001 Augustus received the honor of Ring magazine’s “Fight of the Year” for his battle with Micky Ward in which over 2000 punches were thrown during the fight in back and forth action. Although the fight was very close Ward received a unanimous decision.

The most heinous decision he received in his career was his 2004 split decision loss to Courtney Burton. In the fourth round Augustus landed two solid body shots that put Burton on his knees which the referee ruled a low blow and provided Burton with five minutes to recover. More...

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

On Saturday, November 8, 2008, two of boxing’s best will step into the ring at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the “Mecca of Boxing”, in an HBO PPV event dubbed “Battle of the Superpowers”.

Undefeated Light Heavyweight Champion Joe “Super” Calzaghe, 45-0 (32), will face eight-time world champion “Superman” Roy Jones Jr., 52-4 (38), in the twelve round main event for the Ring Light Heavyweight Championship.

In addition to the 24/7 coverage that has been running on HBO, the fighters had a busy week with a media workout on Monday and a final press conference at BB King’s Blues Club in New York City yesterday, where many of the attendees were still buzzing over the victory of President-elect Barack Obama.

Jones’ trainer Alton Merkerson said, “I would like to say that I think everyone is pleased that the campaign for the Commander in Chief is over. It was a long campaign. It is time to try to bring this nation back to where it is supposed to be. More...

Click for larger image © Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

**With Slideshow**

Undefeated Light Heavyweight Champion Joe Calzaghe and eight-time world champion, Roy Jones, Jr., held a media workout at Kingsway Boxing Gym in New York City in preparation for their “ Battle of the Superpowers” boxing card which will take place at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Calzaghe, 45-0 (32), was upbeat and in a bit of a jovial mood as he arrived to the gym. After answering some brief questions as he wrapped his hands, he joked with the media about wanting to be sure his hair was in place.

After loosening up in a ring surrounded by photographers, Calzaghe put on an impressive display of speed, accuracy and power as he worked the hand mitts with his father Enzo. After two rounds of working the mitts, he did some shadowboxing, slipping and moving well as he spent time peering into media cameras smiling and posing. More...

NABF light welterweight champion Frankie “El Gato” Figueroa, recently signed to a promotional contract by Roy Jones, Jr.’s Square Ring Promotions, will now take on the unofficial gatekeeper of the light welterweight division, veteran Emanuel “Drunken Master” Augustus, in the opening bout on the November 8 Jones-Calzaghe HBO PPV card at Madison Square Garden in New York City. More...

The Emmy-Award winning reality series 24/7 returns to HBO with two new characters. Training camps open for two future Hall of Famers as they prepare for their long-awaited light heavyweight showdown on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden: Roy Jones Jr. trains in the rural confines of California, Pa., while Joe Calzaghe trains in his hometown of Newbridge, Wales.

NABF light welterweight champion Frankie "El Gato" Figueroa has signed a promotional contract with Roy Jones, Jr.'s Square Ring Promotions and the Bronx fighter has been added to the November 8 Jones-Calzaghe HBO PPV card at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Figueroa, 19-2 (13), has been in Las Vegas training for his November 8, 10 round fight against former WBA light welterweight Gavin "The Rock" Rees, 27-1 (13). More...

Philadelphia's ageless warrior Bernard Hopkins gets one more chance to show the world of boxing that in his case age is just a number when he meets undefeated middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik at a catchweight in a non-title bout in Atlantic City on October 18.

The 43 year old former longtime middleweight champion has proven time and time again that he can't be written off after a career of bucking conventional wisdom, but will "The Executioner" be able to impose his will on the much younger Pavlik as he has done with so many other opponents?

Hopkins needs to be able to control the pace of the bout and was able to do so against the likes of Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright over the last two years, winning those fights in convincing fashion as a result.

But Hopkins could not do the same against Joe Calzaghe in April and as a result could not keep up with the younger former super middleweight kingpin as the bout wore on.

Pavlik, while not as naturally big as Calzaghe or Tarver, is much younger and a great offensive threat to the defensive mastery of Hopkins and that could prove the undoing of the modern day great Philadelphian.

If Hopkins cannot outmuscle and outmaneuver Pavlik, it's likely that he'll be made to finally look old as the younger middleweight champion produces a pace that the old master cannot hope to keep up with.

World super middleweight title challenger “The Pride of Providence” Peter Manfredo, Jr., star of The Contender Season One, is finally at peace with himself in boxing as he prepares to fight Donny “The Savage” McCrary, 24-7-2 (13), star of The Contender Season Three, on Friday night, August 22 in the 12-round main event for the NABF Interim super middleweight title, headlining “August Annihilator” at Twin River Events Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island. More...

With the postponement of their scheduled September 20 clash announced earlier this week, due to a training injury to Joe Calzaghe's hand, the contest between the Welsh Wizard and Roy Jones Jr will now take place in November at the original location of Madison Square Garden.

Five years ago, this was a prospective fight that would have had fans and media alike crawling over broken glass to get into. Calzaghe had just won a tremendous slugfest with heavy-handed recent ex-champion Byron Mitchell while Jones was at the absolute height of his career having just outclassed John Ruiz for a heavyweight title.

Since that time, the pair's careers have gone in wildy different directions. Calzaghe, staying at super middle, won four fights over tough but less than top class competition before enjoying his coming out party again Jeff Lacy in 2006 but then going in against lower tier opposition again for two bouts before emerging to outfight Mikkel Kessler.

"The Pride of Wales" then made his long awaited jump to light heavyweight to outwork the ageless Bernard Hopkins, who was finally, at age 43, in with an opponent who "The Executioner" could not control. More...

Carl Froch has now got his hard-earned shot at the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title against Jermain Taylor later this year but hopes his co-challenger doesn't bottle out of it.

Undefeated British Champion Froch has been elected to fight the American, Taylor, a former undisputed middleweight champion, for the prestigious WBC title after Joe Calzaghe vacated the belt rather than fight mandatory challenger Froch. More...

British boxing legend Joe Calzaghe has been awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list announced yesterday.

The 36-year-old from Newbridge in Wales, who was appointed an MBE in 2003, was recognised for his services to sport and voluntary services to Wales. More...

Trainer of the Year Enzo Calzaghe has once again rapped the knuckles of Jack Loew, the trainer of undefeated world middleweight champion Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik.

Calzaghe is incensed that Loew is dismissing Gary "The Rocket" Lockett, Pavlik's No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger, by looking ahead at a showdown against his son Joe, the undefeated division world champion. More...

Furious Enzo Calzaghe, the reigning "Trainer of the Year," has launched a stinging attack on world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik's trainer Jack Loew after Loew bad mouthed his son Joe - and top-rated middleweight title contender Gary Lockett.

Loew has been quoted in the press as saying: "Maybe Enzo can teach Lockett to slap like a girl - just like Joe." More...

Carl Froch says he will produce a better performance than Joe Calzaghe did at the weekend in his WBC Super Middleweight Title Final Eliminator against Denis Inkin of Russia at the Trent FM Nottingham Arena on May 10.

British champion Froch, 22-0 (18), was not overly impressed by Calzaghe's points win over Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas on Saturday. More...

It was ‘spot the celebrity’ on Saturday night as the stars came out for Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins as they battled for the Light Heavyweight Championship at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas.

Both men fly out of their corners for the first round but after only one minute - Hopkins lands a left followed by a right punch straight through the middle, landing hard on the nose of Calzaghe and the Welsh man goes down to the canvas - for only the third time in his career.

“Super, Super Joe…..Super Joe Calzaghe…” the British fans sing. There’s a cut on the bridge of Calzaghe’s nose as he returns to his corner at the end of the first frame.

Mid-way through round two and a swinging left from Calzaghe, its impact can be heard clearly, lands on the face of Hopkins but the veteran doesn’t flinch from it! Seconds later and another solid right hand from Hopkins lands on the face of Calzaghe. More...

“Everyone was mentioned as Calzaghe’s potential next opponent but me – the true light heavy weight champion," said IBF/IBO Light Heavyweight Champion Tarver following Joe Calzaghe's defeat of Bernard Hopkins, who comprehensively beat Tarver in 2006, in Las Vegas on Saturday night. More...

© Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions

Like all fights of latter period Bernard Hopkins, last night's greatly anticipated showdown with Joe Calzaghe at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas was an ugly, untoward bout that proved difficult to score and generated a great deal of controversy as to who actually won.

Hopkins jumped out to an early lead on the strength of his patented leaping right hand lead, which he throws with perfect timing particularly against southpaws, which had Calzaghe on the seat of his pants in round one.

Calzaghe wasn't hurt and carried on but was clearly troubled by the type of spoiler tactics that have greatly lengthened the career of wily veteran Hopkins, who continued to slug and hold the visiting Welshman to build a commanding edge in the first half of the bout. More...

© Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions

Despite the fact that Bernard Hopkins fights in an unorthodox style, known to lead with head followed by a punch, Joe Calzaghe has full confidence that referee Joe Cortez will keep things Kosher when they meet tomorrow night in The Planet Hollywood Ring at Thomas and Mack Center in a battle of Ring Magazine champions for Hopkins' light heavyweight title. More...

© Tom Hogan/Golden Boy Promotions

Finally, it's upon us.

A fight that has been years, not months, in the making finally takes places this Saturday at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Its a fight at light heavyweight between two men with a combined 41 successful defences of their world titles.

Welshman Joe Calzaghe will be attempting to stop a disappointing run of results in Camp Calzaghe. After world title defeats for stablemates Gavin Rees and Enzo Maccarinelli, the undefeated World Super Middleweight Champion will be desperate not to make it third time unlucky.

Bernard Hopkins stands between Joe and a place in boxing history. A pro now for 20 years, Hopkins won the middleweight title at the third attempt, stopping Segundo Mercardo in seven back in 1995, having lost and drawn previous title attempts. More...