Joe Calzaghe rebounded from a dramatic first-round knockdown to secure an emphatic victory on points against Roy Jones Jr in the early hours this morning at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 46th straight victory of the 36-year-old Welshman’s remarkable career was predictable, given Jones’s decline over recent years, but the dominance displayed by Calzaghe, who retained The Ring light heavyweight title, and the fact that he remains unbeaten after 15 years as a professional boxer stand as testament to his exceptional talent.

Jones was perhaps the supreme exponent of his sport through much of the 1990s and into the early part of this century. But successive knockout defeats at the hands of Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson in 2004 had removed the final traces of his invincibility. Although rehabilitated by three victories, most recently on points over Puerto Rican Felix Trinidad in January at the Garden, the 39-year-old American was past his best and the blistering speed and damaging punching which Calzaghe demonstrated throughout the vast majority of the bout overwhelmed the veteran.

The exchanges were interesting up until the seventh round when Calzaghe landed a straight left through Jones’s guard which landed on the bruised flesh around his left eye and opened a deep cut immediately. The blood flowed and obscured the American’s vision and he was badly handicapped for the remainder of the fight. Calzaghe might have inflicted even more serious injury in the subsequent rounds but he appeared to carry his challenger through the closing stages, building up the points to secure a unanimous decision by identical scores of 118-109 on the judges’ scorecards.

Calzaghe was enigmatic afterwards about his future, having stated before the fight that he may be set to retire. “This was a fairytale fight and a fairytale ending,” he said. “I’m going to go back and talk to my family and think about it before I make a final decision. I just beat two legends in Hopkins and Jones and I came to the US to do it. I took the risk They didn’t come to me. I’ve worked so hard and it’s all paid off. This could be my last fight. I haven’t made a final decision yet, I’ll have to sit down and evaluate the situation.”

With celebrities such as Bob Hoskins, Brooke Shields, Ricky Gervais, Michael Douglas, Michael J Fox, Hopkins, Mikkel Kessler, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis in attendance, Calzaghe was intent on putting on a show. But for the second fight in succession, Calzaghe suffered a first-round knockdown when Jones caught him with a straight left and a right forearm to the jaw. His legs were taken from beneath him and he was hurt more seriously than he had been by Hopkins in similar circumstances seven months ago in Las Vegas.

“He stunned me with a good shot but that’s what champions are all about and I got straight back up,” Calzaghe said. “Whenever I go down I always come back stronger. I composed myself, got back up and started to box. I knew I was hurt but I took my time and didn’t panic. After that I felt fine. I didn’t see the punch but I’ve been down before, so I knew what to do.”

He fought back strongly in round two and, by the third and fourth rounds, he had found his rhythm. By the sixth round, Jones’s workrate had dropped discernibly and, although he caught Calzaghe towards the end of the round with a right uppercut to the jaw when the Welshman dropped his hands again, he was never in the fight beyond the halfway point.

As the rounds wore on Calzaghe became more confident - dropping his hands, sticking out his chin and daring his opponent to hit him – Jones’s focus became merely to survive. Calzaghe had too much respect and empathy to punish his opponent any more than he needed to, so his punch output dropped and he did not subject Jones to the power shots which had subdued him in the middle rounds. When the final bell rang the issue was not even in doubt.

“I felt really relaxed tonight, boxing with my hands at my side and this is just my style,” Calzaghe said. “After the first round I felt weary but I knew if I fought my style that I would be okay and I found my rhythm. I always loved the way Roy fights and I knew it would be a good fight. I’m just so happy to have experienced this night at Madison Square Garden.”