OBVIOUSLY we at the Argus are in a somewhat privileged position when it comes to gaining access to Joe Calzaghe.

He, of course, writes a column in the Argus – don’t miss tomorrow’s New York special – but more than that, has a genuine interest in staying touch with his community, it’s part of what makes him a special champion.

I have found it laughable when readers have posted on the Argus website that Joe is obliged to give us all of his big news exclusively, as if a regional paper could exercise such control over someone who is truly a global sporting star.

I would go as far as to argue that the only British sportsmen with a bigger profile than Joe in America are David Beckham and NBA basketball star Steve Nash, any of you who were in Vegas or are en route to New York will know exactly where I am coming from.

Yet, as I’ve pointed out in this column before, a huge amount of myopic media men – on both sides of the pond – see fit to diminish Joe’s achievements at every opportunity.

It’s happening here as well, so much so that Joe’s only written media engagement today – at his own behest - is to pen his Argus column, as he’s weary of being barracked by the same lines of enquiry time and time again.

Specifically, why hasn’t he fought in America before this year? And is he really going to retire after Saturday?

The first question is a complete nonsense. Two factors are as clear as day.

Joe didn’t make his own fights until this year and he simply hadn’t convinced the American public that he was the real deal.

Now he has. As I’ve stated, he’s a big deal in the US now, he has people queueing for blocks just to catch a glimpse of him. The US boxing writers are by and large happy to admit that they were wrong about Joe in light of his destructive wins over Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler, yet he still endures scepticism from certain members of the media that no other active sporting legend seems to have to contend with.

Despite winning his last three fights, I think it is a fair assessment to make that Roy Jones is not at his peak, at the age of 39.

He might have four years on Bernard Hopkins, but he somehow seems more grizzled, his skin is more worn, his face more marked. He also seems noticeably heavier than Joe with a little more the 48 hours to go before Friday’s weigh-in.

This fight has also suffered in being billed as the Battle of the Superpowers, cruelly dubbed a ‘pension fight’ by others.

The superpower stuff is typical American hype with Jones, in my opinion, no longer in that bracket, but the reality of this fight still makes it a ‘must see’ sporting event.

This is not about money, not about titles, but about glory and the need for Joe to further cement his legacy.

Madison Square Garden may not be the thriving epicentre of American sport that it was in the glorious era of the 60s and 70s when the likes of Ali and Sugar Ray were dominant, but it has always attracted Calzaghe.

He is a student of the sport he adores. He is fully aware that until very recently, New York was a boxing town. It was THE boxing town.

Perhaps that trend is changing. As someone eloquently pointed out recently, Jimmy’s Corner, the most famous boxing bar in the world and setting for the final scenes in Raging Bull, is now almost more a museum than a nightspot.

In the centre of Times Square where Calzaghe and Jones have conducted most of their media engagements this week, there is a massive promotional poster, for an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight next weekend, featuring a former WWE wrestler. The Jones/Calzaghe fight doesn’t get a look in. UFC is corroding the viewing figures for boxing PPVs, while American boxing has never so lacked star power, particularly as Kelly Pavlik is now living up to his nickname after being annihilated by Bernard Hopkins.

Which is why I find it so utterly astonishing – and to be honest appalling – that so many people are unwilling to accept that Calzaghe deserves this swansong.

He wanted to fight a huge name and he wanted to do it at what he still considers to be the Mecca of the sport.

And thankfully for Joe, events this week have breathed real life into this fight.

The Argus has learned that ticket sales have steadily improved throughout the week, especially now the fight is being marketed as the big sporting event to partner the jubilant scenes following the election.

Of course, the Americans are viewing it as a fight for change, with Roy Jones ready to end Calzaghe’s undefeated streak.

For me that simply isn’t going to happen, but it’s fantastic that this fight has been given a hook by the election.

Joe Calzaghe’s 11-years as a world champion, his unblemished and remarkable 45-0 record, mean that he thoroughly deserves the opportunity to bow out on the big stage.

It’s an opportunity I believe he will grasp with both hands. And because of the election, it’s a fight people will remember for years to come.