Sunday, March 05, 2006

Lacey Loses !!!

I must admit, I'd NEVER seen Jeff Lacey lose a fight until last night.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Joe Calzaghe cut Jeff Lacy around both eyes and knocked him down in the final round, earning a lopsided, unanimous decision on Sunday to capture the American's IBF super-middleweight title and hold on to his own WBO crown for the 18th time.
An underdog even with the British bookmakers to win the unification fight, the left-handed Welshman found Lacy's face and chin an easy target for 12 rounds, and even the American fighter nodded when Calzaghe lifted his arms aloft at the final bell.
It was Lacy's first loss in 22 fights, while Calzaghe, the longest reigning world champion for 8 1/2 years, goes on with another belt to show off. His record now stands at 41-0.
Judges Roy Francis and Adelaide Byrd called it 119-107, while Nelson Vasques scored the fight 119-105. If Calzaghe hadn't been deducted a point for pulling Lacy around in the 11th, he would have won all 12 rounds.
Lacy, five years younger than Calzaghe at 28, had defended his title four times and had hoped to dominate the fight with the power of his own left hook. He also hoped that Calzaghe's own left, which was broken in his last defense, might not last the fight. He was wrong on both counts.
Calzaghe came out throwing left uppercuts and hooks, and also threw his arms up to claim he won the opening round.
Although Lacy landed a solid right hand in round two, Calzaghe came back with a left-right combination to the chin and, by the fourth round there was blood coming from the American's nose and trickling down his face from cuts above both eyes.
With the home fans in the 12,000 crowd chanting "Easy! Easy!'', Calzaghe stayed on top and his right jab kept snapping into Lacy's face. The Welshman's punching speed seemed to take the strength away from the American, who rarely answered back with any hard shots.
Lacy's cornermen had to work hard on his eyes between rounds, and Calzaghe had him trapped in a corner and kept pummeling his face with fast combinations with the American fighting back to try and stay in the fight.
His right eye closing, Lacy got through with some right hands, but Calzaghe's accuracy was still keeping the Welshman well ahead on the judge's cards.
Lacy, nicknamed "Left Hook'', finally landed it in the ninth but it did little to stem the flow of shots coming his way.
A left and right put Lacy down for a count of four in the final round and the American continued with blood streaming down his face, but Calzaghe was unable to finish the fight with a knockout.

3 Comments:

Blogger Paul said...

I saw Calzaghe's last fight (rebroadcast on Showtime), and I've seen Lacy fight three or four times.

Based on what I'd seen, I had expected Lacy to win easily, and was VERY surprised at how Calzaghe thrashed him. I never expected to see Lacy lose like that.

Calzaghe wowed me and earned my respect. I respect Lacy no less, but if I have to chose whose fight I'll pay to see, it'll be the Welshman's.

I'm curious to see who Calzaghe will fight next, as I'm sure he'll be going for the "big bucks".

4:26 PM  
Blogger Heff said...

There's no telling. Right now I'm just looking forward to Zab Judah's destined thrashing.

12:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Calzaghe is the best pound for pound fighter on the planet. forget floyd. Joe is awesome.

1:29 AM  

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