IT is almost 10 years since Joe Calzaghe lit up Madison Square Garden in New York when he met Roy Jones Jnr in a fight billed as ‘The Battle of the Superpowers’, writes Jason Batty.

Another product of the South Wales Valleys will follow in Calzaghe’s footsteps on Saturday night by appearing at the world-famous venue, but on this occasion it is going to be in the UFC octagon rather than the boxing ring.

Jack Marshman, who enters the cage for the 30th time in his professional career this weekend, was given a dream bout on one of the biggest fight cards of the year when matched with American Karl Robertson (6-1) at UFC 230.

Boxing legends such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano all graced the historic arena in years gone by – and won by knockout.

Marshman, who possesses firepower in his hands too, will be looking to follow suit by knocking out former kickboxer Robertson in his own backyard.

“I’m fighting a New Yorker so obviously I’ll be the bad guy looking to beat the hometown favourite, but I am confident I can get in there and do that,” said Marshman.

“Fighting at Madison Square Garden is massive.

“It’s the place everybody wants to fight.

“I’m buzzing for it and it’s a great fight for me at the same time, it couldn’t be any better.”

No stranger to fighting on enemy territory, former paratrooper Marshman looks to get back to winning ways following his defeat at the hands of Antonio Carlos Junior in Brazil last October.

The disappointment after the loss in Sao Paulo against a visibly larger middleweight was evident and Marshman decided to drop to welterweight (12st 1lb) for an anticipated match against Bradley Scott at UFC London.

The fight was scratched form the card due to medical reasons, with the brutal weight cut too much.

Since that, Marshman has battled injuries, had a daughter and admittedly lost a bit of motivation but feels at home in the middleweight division.

“Middleweight is an easy weight for me, I can make weight tomorrow,” he added.

“Welterweight is just a little bit too far away for me unfortunately, but if the UFC do bring in that 175lb division (12st 5lb) I could do that.”

For now, the focus is solely on the task in hand on Saturday night.

Under the guidance of head coach Richard Shore at Tillery Combat, ‘The Hammer’ feels that he is back to his best and is confident of a knockout victory following gruelling sparring sessions watched by boxing coach Gavin Rees.

“I feel I’m back to how I was for my debut, I’m back to my sharpest and I think I’ll show that on the night,” he said.

“This is the biggest card I’ve fought on and I’m on the main card as well which is amazing.

“They obviously rate me and Robertson. I’m going to get there and beat him.”

“My two losses in the UFC are to guys in the top 10.

“I’m fighting good level guys and if I beat this one I don’t see why it won’t take me into the top 15 at least.”

The main event features former light-heavyweight champion, now heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier as he defends his crown against Derrick Lewis.