Sharkie’s Machine
March 4, 2006
“Calzaghe Destroys Lacy”
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
March 4, 2006 - Saturday night at the MEN Arena in Manchester England,
adventuring American IBF Super Middleweight Champion, Jeff Lacy (20-1-1NC-17
KO’s) had crossed the pond to face the best opposition of his career in
unbeaten, WBO Champion, Joe Calzaghe (41-0, 31 KO’s).
Careful management, relatively soft opposition, friendly referees and the
gushing adoration of the folks at Showtime have propelled Jeff Lacy to stardom.
In his climb over the fairly weak Super Middleweight division here in the
States, Lacy has demonstrated good power, but power alone does not win fights.
It has been obvious for some time that Lacy lacks the technical boxing skills to
go with his power, tenacity and promotional influence.
To date, Lacy has been the beneficiary of safe match making. In his real ‘coming
out’ party as a top rated fighter, Lacy was systematically taken apart, round
after round by Joe Calzaghe, who had the faster hands and the overall superior
boxing skills. Though Lacy didn’t win a single round, (or even have a
competitive round) he showed big heart and a hell of a chin. The reality is,
none of the opponents on Lacy’s resume ever prepared him for the likes of Joe
Calzaghe, who may be under appreciated in some parts but has very adaptable
boxing prowess that was on display to all boxing fans Saturday night.
The Fight:
Calzaghe started fast, popping his jab and following with upper cuts that were
finding the mark. Lacy threw big bombs but missed; only landing a few grazing
shots. Calzaghe’s mobility and accurate punching immediately established the
tone. As Lacy walked to his corner after the bell, it was clear that he didn’t
possess the boxing skills to deal with the unbeaten Welshman.
By the second round, Calzaghe was firmly in control. Lacy’s nose was bleeding,
compliments of Calzaghe’s combination attacks. Early in the fourth, Lacy’s left
eye was cut from a combination of right, left punches on target. By the end of
that round, Lacy was bleeding from both eyes. Whenever Lacy rallied, Joe
clinched and forced a reset or turned matador, slipped aside, then peppered Lacy
with counter shots from all angles, always mindful to land something to the
body. Lacy was perplexed and taking a shellacking.
This went on, round after round, with Calzaghe always discovering new ways to
attack Lacy’s body, head and chest and mind. Calzaghe’s ability to defend
against the power of Lacy looked like child’s play. Joe toyed with Lacy late in
the fight, dropping his guard, inviting Jeff in to get walloped some more. Joe’s
superior ring generalship had to be sapping Lacy’s confidence. Fact is,
this fight a total mismatch.
As the fight went into the Championship rounds, the American referee, Raul Caiz
Jr. (who kept tapping Lacy in solidarity after rounds ended), was looking for
ways to help Lacy and without any noticeable prior warnings; he took a point
from Calzaghe. The crowd booed that biased action. I didn’t know what the
deduction was even for until later, finding out it was for holding, even though
Lacy did more holding in that round and even landed a few low blows. Calzaghe
didn’t even blink. No friendly ref could help Lacy out of the hole he was in.
Calzaghe popped Jeff some more as the bell ended that round.
In the 12th round, Lacy took a pummeling and was downed by a combination of a
Calzaghe punches, fatigue and being off balance. The ref reluctantly counted.
Lacy got up and showed the ability to take a beating like a man. Though Calzaghe
tried, he couldn’t knock Lacy out. The Judges scores were Scores were 119-105,
119-107, 119-107, all for Calzaghe. Sharkie’s Machine had it 119-107.
Afterwards, with his face swollen up like a Halloween pumpkin, Lacy was humble
during the post fight interview, with a slur in his speech, he credited Calzaghe
for having a great night and said he hoped to do it again someday. Lacy said,
this loss would make him a better fighter. I agree, since there’s no teacher
like experience.
Calzaghe was also gracious. He complimented Lacy for being a powerful fighter
and was mindful not to brag about how thoroughly he dominated the American in a
12 round shutout.
I salute both guys for not engaging in unnecessary trash talking so commonplace
in the run-up to big fights. Though Lacy lost badly, I actually have more
respect for him now than I did previously. He truly was over-rated and made his
bones against aging and lesser fighters but now that he has this experience
behind him, it should make him a better fighter. Fighting too many easy fights
can give a false sense of ability. Lacy has finally faced the best and now he
can review the tapes and see the areas he needs to improve, like better use of
the jab, timing, improving his footwork and keeping his punches straighter.
If Lacy improves his technical skills, he is still young enough and strong
enough to mature into a great fighter some day. After a good rest, some
reflection and refinements, Lacy might consider trying to get a fight with one
of the other two remaining Champions at 168, Mikkel Kessler or Marcus Beyer,
whichever is available. If he were to win, he would have something to bring to
the table for a potential rematch with Calzaghe. But he better not wait too long
as Calzaghe won’t be around forever waiting for Lacy to get his redemption.
Congratulations to Joe Calzaghe, who looked unblemished and fresh enough to go
another five rounds after putting on a clinic that demonstrated how skillful
boxers artfully nullify the assets of a big, power punchers to renders them
inept. Calzaghe would do well to quickly arrange fights against WBA Champ,
Mikkel Kessler and WBC Champ, Marcus Beyer to consolidate the titles at 168 and
take his rightful place in boxing history before moving up to Light Heavyweight
or riding off into the sunset.
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Comments can be emailed to dshark87@hotmail.com