Classy Calzaghe does it again

Calzaghe scored a resounding 118-109 victory on all three of the judges' scorecards to extend his unbeaten record to 46-0 in what he said before the fight was to be his final ring appearance.

It also saw him retain the Ring Magazine Light-Heavyweight Championship belt, the de facto world title he had won by scoring a split decision victory over Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas last April.

Like that fight, Calzaghe was floored in the opening round, this time by a jolting straight left from 39-year-old Jones that momentarily stunned his travelling fans from Wales who formed roughly half of the 14,152 fans inside the legendary New York venue.

Calzaghe, 36, came back to wear down the American, causing a damaging cut above the former four-division champion's left eye in the seventh round that Jones' corner could not staunch.

The Welshman was fighting in boxing's most revered venue for the first time in his long and unblemished career against one of the true modern legends of the sport, who was looking to make his mark once again following three devastating losses in 2004-05, twice against Antonio Tarver, either side of defeat to Glen Johnson.

Both Tarver and Johnson delivered crushing knockout blows to the four-weight, eight-time champion in consecutive fights in 2004 that left many critics believing Jones' career was all but over.

Jones (52-4, 38 KOs) thought otherwise but Calzaghe was too strong to let the American's comeback continue.