Graphic: tale of the tape - Joe Calzaghe v Roy Jones Jr

Joe Calzaghe was a small boy who was bullied at school as a teenager, but he could become the greatest boxer Britain has produced if he can finish his career with a resounding victory against Roy Jones Jr at Madison Square Garden in the early hours of tomorrow.

The kind of acceptance that Calzaghe craved has come to him late in his career. A record-breaking amateur, he was only the second boxer in history to win ABA titles at three different weights, he was the third-longest reigning world champion in history and will be aiming to join a select band by bowing out on top with his unbeaten record intact.

“It’s surreal,” Calzaghe, 36, said. “When I think of my career three or four years ago, boxing in small halls, struggling with injuries, not getting any respect because I wasn’t given the opportunity of a unification fight. For years and years I was fighting guys I’d never heard of – some guys I fought I couldn’t even spell.

“Everything has changed since beating Jeff Lacy [his first world super-middleweight unification win in 2006]. After the Lacy win, I fought two guys I didn’t want to fight [Sakio Bika and Peter Manfredo Jr] and felt I lost all the momentum I had built up.

“Then I took charge of my career. I said I wasn’t going to fight anyone but [Mikkel] Kessler [his rival super-middleweight champion]. I pushed for the Hopkins fight and the same with Jones. Hopefully, I’ve shown the world that for all those years I wasn’t hiding behind my belt.”

But Calzaghe has always been forced to defend himself. At 13, he spent a year as the victim of playground bullies. Friendless at school, he was mercilessly picked on and things came to a head when a gang of 30 teenagers came to his house intent on beating him up, the first time his parents realised their quiet son had problems.

“It started with little things – name-calling,” he said. “You might not think it was big when you are older, but when you are growing up it’s a big deal. I wouldn’t say anything. I just kept it to myself and in the yard I would stay away from people.

“It really f***ed up my schooling, I was doing OK, but then I’d be worried about going to certain lessons, because there would be people throwing things at me.”

It was in the toughest sport of all that Calzaghe found his forte, starting at home under the guidance of his father, Enzo, using a piece of rolled-up carpet as a punchbag. Enzo has remained his trainer throughout his career, although Calzaghe Sr is not so sure that this will be the end.

“I could see him in a month or so turning up at the gym again, saying he wants to train,” Enzo said. “I think he will always be involved in boxing. He’s got a promoter’s licence now, maybe we’ll be a team.” Indeed, Calzaghe revealed this week that a prime reason for retiring was a promise to his mother, Jackie, who has never watched any of his bouts live, amateur or professional. “It’s my mum, she’s doing my head in,” he said.

Motivation is the real key. After Jones, a four-weight world champion, who will be challenging for Calzaghe’s Ringmagazine light-heavyweight title, there are no big names to aim for. The obvious next contender, Kelly Pavlik, the WBC and WBO middleweight champion, was beaten last month by Bernard Hopkins, whom Calzaghe beat in April. He is crying out for a rematch, but Calzaghe is not interested.

The Welshman insists retirement is not clouding his mind. “I’m a fighter first and foremost,” he said. “I’m not planning any retirement parties, I’m not thinking about what I’m going to do after boxing. I’m here to do a job, I’m as hungry as I’ve ever been, I’m really excited. I was one of the guys that wrote Jones off, but he’s come back with three good wins and he’s still Roy Jones Jr. He’s a legend, an even bigger legend than Hopkins. I can’t go in sloppy as I did against Hopkins. I respect the guy, but he’s in my way.”

Jones, 39, who won world titles from middleweight to heavyweight and, at his peak, was considered one of the best boxers of all time, thinks he will have the class to defeat Calzaghe.

“You are going to see a new Roy Jones,” he said. “When you get older, you might not be as quick and you might not be able to do some of the things you used to, so you have to do something different.

“He’s going to change his game, too. He can’t expect to pitty-patter with me because he has to prove that he can fight with the best, he can’t expect to do with me what he did with everyone else.

“I’m not coming here expecting to beat an ordinary Joe. Show me another fighter who is 45-0.”