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Taylor, Lacy put everything on line
BY CHRIS GIVENS, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy wanted to talk about how much they respect each other and how they have been longtime friends and former Olympic teammates.
Lou DiBella, Taylor’s promoter, was more blunt, and realistic, when speaking from Nashville, Tenn., just before the start of the official news conference to announce their Nov. 15 super middleweight fight.
DiBella had no problem saying what the fighters weren’t ready to admit — that the loser of this fight likely will struggle to keep his career relevant.
“No one gives a flying rat’s ass that they are buddies fighting. Put that aside,” DiBella said. “Put the buddy issue aside, period, because one of these guys is probably going to get knocked out, and the one who gets knocked out is probably going to have a really difficult time coming back to do anything significant.
“ This fight really is all or nothing. Hey, that’s what we should call it.” And that is how the Taylor-Lacy fight, now dubbed “All or Nothing,” got its name.
Taylor (27-2-1, 17 KOs ) and Lacy (24-1, 17 KOs ) met Thursday afternoon in Nashville in the McGugin Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University to announce their 12-round fight, which will be broadcast on HBO. Tickets — priced $ 275, $ 200, $ 100, $ 75, $ 50 and $ 25 — will be available Oct. 10 at all Ticketmaster locations. The fight will take place at Memorial Gymnasium, home of the Vanderbilt basketball team.
The fight has been certified as a WBC super middleweight eliminator fight, which means the winner will be guaranteed a title shot against the winner of the Carl Froch-Jean Pascal bout for the WBC belt.
But DiBella said he thinks even bigger and more lucrative fights await Little Rock’s Taylor if he wins.
“This is a fight that could re-establish Jermain right at the top and could get him a major matchup,” DiBella said. “If the winner of Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones was available, I think you’d see that.
“ Jermain knows how big this is. He’s very aware. This is the kind of fight that will escalate him back to the top. He has to win the fight.” Despite DiBella’s desire to de-emphasize the “buddy angle,” the fighters talked about the mutual respect they have for each other.
They were Olympic teammates in 2000 and regular sparring partners, which has become a point of contention.
In June 2006, when Lacy came to Memphis to support his friend Winky Wright in a fight against Taylor, Lacy was asked who got the better of whom in Olympic training sessions. Lacy said he did.
“What ?” Taylor replied. “I whupped his butt.” The two continued to engage in their verbal jousting until Lacy insisted, even with Taylor continuing to claim he handily won the sparring sessions, that such talk cease until they got in the ring when it counted.
“The sparring was very controlled,” Lacy said of his early battles with Taylor. “The rules in Olympic training camp was very controlled. They didn’t want us to go in there and knock each other’s head off. Look, [on Nov. 15 ] we have to duke it out for 12 rounds and the best man may win. Then we’ll know.” The Nov. 15 fight will be Taylor’s first in the super middleweight (168 pounds ) division. He said the move up from 160 pounds has made training camp in Miami a more relaxed affair, but Taylor said he is still getting in his work. Taylor said he is under 180 pounds and feeling good.
“Training camp is going great,” Taylor said. “I’ve got my weight down, and the weather in Miami’s good. It’s been a great camp. I’m already within 10 pounds of my weight, so I feel real good. I have a lot more breathing room, a lot more comfort where I don’t have to worry about my weight as much. I can just relax a little more.” Taylor hasn’t been in the ring since Feb. 16, when he lost his rematch with Kelly Pavlik in what has been the longest layoff of his professional career.
“It took me a while to get back into it, but everything is all right now,” Taylor said. “I’ve been shadow boxing, sparring, it’s just like riding a bike. I’ve been doing this so long, no chance I was going to forget.” Those close to him said he hasn’t forgotten what it is like to be a champion. It’s a title he’s ready to claim again, but first Taylor must get past Lacy.
“I do think he’s hungry again,” DiBella said. “He wants this fight. This is a big fight for him. No matter what we call it, it really is all or nothing. It gives a great opportunity for the person that steps up and wins the fight.”
Taylor, Lacy put everything on line
BY CHRIS GIVENS, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy wanted to talk about how much they respect each other and how they have been longtime friends and former Olympic teammates.
Lou DiBella, Taylor’s promoter, was more blunt, and realistic, when speaking from Nashville, Tenn., just before the start of the official news conference to announce their Nov. 15 super middleweight fight.
DiBella had no problem saying what the fighters weren’t ready to admit — that the loser of this fight likely will struggle to keep his career relevant.
“No one gives a flying rat’s ass that they are buddies fighting. Put that aside,” DiBella said. “Put the buddy issue aside, period, because one of these guys is probably going to get knocked out, and the one who gets knocked out is probably going to have a really difficult time coming back to do anything significant.
“ This fight really is all or nothing. Hey, that’s what we should call it.” And that is how the Taylor-Lacy fight, now dubbed “All or Nothing,” got its name.
Taylor (27-2-1, 17 KOs ) and Lacy (24-1, 17 KOs ) met Thursday afternoon in Nashville in the McGugin Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University to announce their 12-round fight, which will be broadcast on HBO. Tickets — priced $ 275, $ 200, $ 100, $ 75, $ 50 and $ 25 — will be available Oct. 10 at all Ticketmaster locations. The fight will take place at Memorial Gymnasium, home of the Vanderbilt basketball team.
The fight has been certified as a WBC super middleweight eliminator fight, which means the winner will be guaranteed a title shot against the winner of the Carl Froch-Jean Pascal bout for the WBC belt.
But DiBella said he thinks even bigger and more lucrative fights await Little Rock’s Taylor if he wins.
“This is a fight that could re-establish Jermain right at the top and could get him a major matchup,” DiBella said. “If the winner of Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones was available, I think you’d see that.
“ Jermain knows how big this is. He’s very aware. This is the kind of fight that will escalate him back to the top. He has to win the fight.” Despite DiBella’s desire to de-emphasize the “buddy angle,” the fighters talked about the mutual respect they have for each other.
They were Olympic teammates in 2000 and regular sparring partners, which has become a point of contention.
In June 2006, when Lacy came to Memphis to support his friend Winky Wright in a fight against Taylor, Lacy was asked who got the better of whom in Olympic training sessions. Lacy said he did.
“What ?” Taylor replied. “I whupped his butt.” The two continued to engage in their verbal jousting until Lacy insisted, even with Taylor continuing to claim he handily won the sparring sessions, that such talk cease until they got in the ring when it counted.
“The sparring was very controlled,” Lacy said of his early battles with Taylor. “The rules in Olympic training camp was very controlled. They didn’t want us to go in there and knock each other’s head off. Look, [on Nov. 15 ] we have to duke it out for 12 rounds and the best man may win. Then we’ll know.” The Nov. 15 fight will be Taylor’s first in the super middleweight (168 pounds ) division. He said the move up from 160 pounds has made training camp in Miami a more relaxed affair, but Taylor said he is still getting in his work. Taylor said he is under 180 pounds and feeling good.
“Training camp is going great,” Taylor said. “I’ve got my weight down, and the weather in Miami’s good. It’s been a great camp. I’m already within 10 pounds of my weight, so I feel real good. I have a lot more breathing room, a lot more comfort where I don’t have to worry about my weight as much. I can just relax a little more.” Taylor hasn’t been in the ring since Feb. 16, when he lost his rematch with Kelly Pavlik in what has been the longest layoff of his professional career.
“It took me a while to get back into it, but everything is all right now,” Taylor said. “I’ve been shadow boxing, sparring, it’s just like riding a bike. I’ve been doing this so long, no chance I was going to forget.” Those close to him said he hasn’t forgotten what it is like to be a champion. It’s a title he’s ready to claim again, but first Taylor must get past Lacy.
“I do think he’s hungry again,” DiBella said. “He wants this fight. This is a big fight for him. No matter what we call it, it really is all or nothing. It gives a great opportunity for the person that steps up and wins the fight.”
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