Jeff Lacy
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| Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Jeffrey Scott Lacy |
| Nickname | Left Hook |
| Weight | Super middleweight |
| Nationality |  American |
| Birth date | May 12, 1977 |
| Birth place | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 24 |
| Wins | 22 |
| Wins by KO | 17 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 1 |
Jeffrey Scott Lacy (born May 12, 1977 in St. Petersburg, Florida) is an American boxer. Currently fighting in the super middleweight boxing division at 5'9" and 168 lb, his record stands at 21 wins (17 by knockout) and one loss. His good punching power, most notably the left hook, and aggressive style created huge expectation, but he failed to realise his potential when defeated by Joe Calzaghe. His style has been compared to that of Mike Tyson, though more critical boxing analysts have noted some differences. Lacy is said to lack the handspeed, "rapid-fire" combinations, and the head movement of, not only Tyson in his prime, but even of Tyson's later career.
Lacy is very muscular, whether naturally, or through weightlifting, or through bodyweight exercise/calisthenics (which also helps muscle growth and itself is a hugely important part of boxing training). Such muscularity is conventionally considered a disadvantage to a boxer owing to its negative impact on speed. However, Lacy shows great promise as to his future career.
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[edit] Amateur career
Lacy as an amateur had 210 fights, winning the 1999 National PAL amateur champion at 165 pounds, the 1998 U.S. National amateur champion at 165 pounds, and the 1998 National PAL amateur champion at 165 pounds. Lacy fought at the 1996 Eastern Olympic Trials, stopping Kenneth Head in the first round. In the quarter-finals, Lacy defeated Rubin Williams. In the semi-finals, Lacy lost to Darnell Wilson and finished in third. In the 1997 National Golden Gloves, Lacy beat Rubin Williams, but lost against Randy Griffin in the semi-finals and finished in third place. In the quarter-finals of the 2000 Olympic Team trials, Lacy won a decision over Brad Austin. In the semi-finals, Lacy won a decision over Jerson Ravelo. During the finals, Lacy won a 26-10 decision over Randy Griffin of Philadelphia, Pa. During the 2000 Olympic Team Box-offs, Lacy lost to Arthur Palac. In his second fight, Lacy defeated him on the scorecards. He was a member of the 2000 United States Olympic boxing team along with current Undisputed Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. During his first bout in Sydney, Australia, Lacy knocked out Cleiton Conceição of Brazil at 0:58 of the third round. During his second bout, Lacy defeated Pawel Kakietek of Poland, en route to a 21-7 decision. During the third bout, Lacy was stopped at 1:49 of the third round by Gaidarbek Gaidarbekov of Russia.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Rise to stardom
Lacy made his professional debut against Jerald Lowe on February 2, 2001, knocking him out in the first round. He won his next seven fights by way of knockout and won the WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Title against Anwar Oshana, by way of technical knockout in round two. On December 13, 2003 he won the USBA and NABA Super Middleweight Titles after stopping Donnell Wiggins in round eight. He won the IBF Super Middleweight Title on October 2, 2004 against southpaw Syd Vanderpool. He defended it against Omar Sheika and Rubin Williams. Lacy fought Robin Reid for the IBO version of the title in his hometown of St. Petersburg on August 6, 2005. His fight with Robin Reid went till the eighth round ending in a technical knockout after Lacy knocked him down four times. Before the fight, Reid had never been knocked down. Lacy fought Scott Pemberton on November 5, 2005. Lacy knocked Pemberton, a former contender who was now nearing the age of 40, down twice in the second round and ended the fight when he blasted Pemberton with an overhand right to the side of the head.
[edit] Loss to Joe Calzaghe
In late 2005, after a hand injury caused Joe Calzaghe to pull out of a previously scheduled bout between the two, Lacy sought out Calzaghe again where he revealed that he was willing to fight in front of Calzaghe's fanatical Welsh fans that made the short trip to Manchester, England. Lacy trained extremely hard and even had to slow down to ensure that he would not overtrain. Dan Birmingham said that Lacy was sparring with top middleweight southpaw Winky Wright. Coming into the fight, boxing experts said that Lacy would overwhelm Calzaghe with his constant pressure and hard punches. Even Lacy predicted that there would be no 12th round bell. Instead, Lacy suffered the first loss of his career on March 5, 2006 at the MEN Arena in Manchester, where he was absolutely dominated over 12 rounds and knocked down, although it is unsure whether he was pushed, in the 12th by Joe Calzaghe, losing on a very wide unanimous points decision, (119-105; 119-107; 119-107). A point deducted from Calzaghe in the 11th round was all that prevented Lacy from losing every round on every card. Lacy admitted after the fight that he came in expecting to knock out Calzaghe within three rounds and that he definitely needs to work on his overall boxing skills. The Manchester crowd chanted ‘easy, easy, easy’ on numerous occasions, to show how much Calzaghe had dominated his opponent. On the night it was clear he was not up to the task of taking on high calibre opponents. Had Lacy won the fight, he may have decided move up to Light Heavyweight and challenege Antonio Tarver or Roy Jones, Jr.
[edit] Lacy's Future
While once tipped to become one of the brightest stars in boxing, Lacy's comprehensive defeat at the hands of Joe Calzaghe has thrown his future career into doubt. It is too soon to tell as to whether the defeat in Manchester was a single "bad night" or an indication of Lacy's ability to perform against world class opponents. It is generally agreed though that the Calzaghe fight has had a detrimental impact on the young fighter's confidence and prospects.
Lacy faced Vitali Tsypko on December 2, 2006 in Tampa, Florida on the same card as Winky Wright's fight against Ike Quartey. Lacy looked far from convincing in recording a win 96-94, 96-94 95-95. The result did little to reassure Lacy fans with commentators openly remarking on the "generous" scores awarded by the hometown judges.[1] [2]
[edit] Shoulder injury
It was announced after the fight that Jeff, in the 2nd round of the Tsypko fight, suffered a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder, which left him without his famous left hook, and he became a right handed fighter.
According to Dr. Goldberger, this type of tear would cause significant pain. " I am surprised that Jeff was able to continue the fight. The pain had to be severe. His courage is amazing."
Jim Wilkes, Lacy's adviser said "It's a bad injury, it could be career threatening, but we certainly hope it isn't. No one can believe Jeff was even able to finish the fight. It's amazing that he did. Lacy is seeing a shoulder specialist on Tuesday and that surgery would take place this week. They want to schedule it as quickly as possible while it is still a fresh tear. They think it's a full thickness tear of the tendon and they also think part of the muscle is torn, which makes it an even worse injury. They'll look to do the arthroscopic surgery, but they'll probably have to open the shoulder up in full. The doctor said he doesn't know how he fought with such a bad injury."
Lacy is expected to be out of action for at least a year.
[edit] Statistics
- Forearm: 12.5
- Weight: 168.0
- Thigh: 21.5
- Height: 5 ft 9 in
- Fist: 11.5
- Neck: 16.5
- Chest Expanded: 42.0
- Chest Normal: 41.5
- Wrist: 7.5
- Reach: 74.0
- Calf: 15.0
- Handed: Right
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Vacated by Sven Ottke |
IBF Super Middleweight Champion October 10, 2004–March 5, 2006 |
Succeeded by: Joe Calzaghe |
