About Me
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 his record stands at 22 wins (17 by knockout) and 1 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. 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 out 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.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 challenge Antonio Tarver or Roy Jones, Jr.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.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.Jeff Lacy is expected to be out of action for at least a year. Jeff Lacy is back he recently signed with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and his next bout is on December 8th 2007 at Las Vegas on the Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather undercard Jeff Lacy vs. Peter Manfredo Super Middleweights.
