Not many casual sports fans will have been awake during the early hours of Sunday morning. Football fans will have been fast asleep following a satisfying day of Premier League action, with Manchester United falling at the hands of a confident Arsenal team and Chelsea braving the elements in Blackburn to earn another three points.

Tennis fans will have been dwelling upon the fortunes of Andy Murray in the Masters Cup and rugby fans will have been dreaming about the England team under new coach, Martin Johnson.

However, for fans of boxing, the early hours of Sunday morning adopted a slightly different feel. Millions of fans all over the world ignored the calls from their bodies for sleep, in order to watch Joe Calzaghe take on Roy Jones Jr in an exciting fight in Madison Square Garden, New York.

For British fans of the Welsh fighter who decided to stay awake (and, of course, for the 7000 fans who made the trip to the USA to provide support), the boxing legend did not disappoint. Indeed, he managed to put on one of the best performances of his career to thrash Jones in real style.

The three judges present at Madison Square Garden scored the fight 118-109 and this result extended the unbeaten run of the Welshman to an impressive total of forty-six matches. Impressively, Calzaghe threw a total of 985 punches, whilst Jones only managed 475. Furthermore, the Welshman landed thirty-five per cent of his strikes, with Jones only managing a percentage of thirty-three per cent.

The match was significant as it was widely considered to be Calzaghe’s last. Since the fight, though, there has been renewed speculation about whether or not the boxer will decide to quit the sport after all. However, Jones may now decide to retire, after fifty-two wins and five defeats.

The second round brought a particularly impressive performance from the Welshman but Jones tried to combat the quick, strong punches by using his gloves to good effect. The following round saw Calzaghe penetrating Jones’ guard and the crowd really started to get behind the fighter. The following rounds saw the same pattern emerge and Jones started to fade away dramatically.

Unfortunately for the boxer from Florida, an injury to his left eye saw any confidence drain away rapidly. The final four rounds of the fight saw Calzaghe dominate and truly humble the American fighter. Television pictures showed American fans leaving Madison Square Garden long before the inevitable conclusion of the match. Jones was so badly injured by the punches thrown by Calzaghe that he was taken to hospital to be stitched up after the fight’s conclusion.

Since the impressive victory in New York, Calzaghe has revealed that he will 'probably' retire. However, he is not going to rush into making any kind of public announcement just yet. The Welshman spoke of his satisfaction that he has “beaten all the top fighters” and revealed his pride at his ability to step up to light heavyweight level and “beat two American legends in America”.