By CompuBox
When Jermain Taylor was an up-and-coming middleweight, he built his reputation on the strength of a hard, accurate jab.
When Jeff Lacy was thought to be the future of the super middleweight division, his best punch so defined him that it was made his nickname – "Left Hook."
And when the two 2000 Olympic teammates met Saturday night in the very definition of a "crossroads fight," one emerged victorious because he used his while the other lost because he no longer had his. Employing his advantages in height, reach, sharpness and fluidity, Taylor boxed his way to a commanding unanimous decision (118-110, 119-109 twice) to become the WBC’s mandatory contender at 168 and position himself for more lucrative paydays.
Although both fighters threw almost the same number of punches (443 for Lacy, 442 for Taylor), the Arkansan was by far the more effective and efficient athlete. His 213 total connects (48 percent) nearly tripled Lacy’s 75 (17 percent) and the disparity held true in jabs and power shots. Taylor was 107 of 257 (42 percent) in jabs to Lacy’s 29 of 214 (14 percent) and was 106 of 185 (57 percent) to Lacy’s 46 of 229 (20 percent) in power punches. Their 37 punches per round was far below the divisional norm of 54.7, perhaps because Taylor engaged in strategic clinching to keep his shorter, stockier opponent from gaining a foothold on the inside.
The round-by-round statistics reveal that Taylor out-landed Lacy in every round, with the closest margin being 9-8 in the fifth when a Lacy right that brushed Taylor’s shoulder appeared to score a knockdown (referee Laurence Cole correctly ruled it a slip). Of the 36 possible statistical categories compiled during a 12 round fight, Taylor out-performed Lacy in 35 of them. The only bright spot for Lacy statistically was in the jabs in round five in which each man landed three.
Taylor reached double digits in connected jabs five times with the ninth being his best as he landed 17 of 25 for an eye-popping 68 percent connect rate. Taylor topped 40 percent accuracy in seven of the 12 rounds. Conversely, Lacy didn’t land his 10th jab of the fight until the fourth round and was mired in the single digits in five of the 12 rounds. His best jabbing round was in the seventh when he landed 7 of 22. His 32 percent connect rate was the only time he exceeded 20 percent.
Even in his two losing efforts against Kelly Pavlik, Taylor was a superbly accurate power puncher and it held true against Lacy. Taylor exceeded 50 percent accuracy in 10 rounds, 60 percent five times and 70 percent three times and his best marksmanship occurred in the seventh when he landed 9 of 11 (82 percent). On the other hand Lacy never topped the 30 percent mark and his best percentage performance took place in the ninth when he landed 7 of 24 (29 percent).
Taylor set the tone in the first four rounds, where he out-landed Lacy 68-22 overall, 34-9 in jabs and 34-13 in power shots. Taylor also finished strong as in the final four rounds he amassed advantages of 80-25 in overall connects, 38-8 in jabs and 42-17 in power shots. While Taylor experienced a renaissance with all aspects of his game, Lacy’s performance triggered memories of James "Buddy" McGirt, who was never the same fighter after undergoing shoulder surgery that took away his devastating left hook. While Taylor’s future has brightened, Lacy’s – at least as a top-flight fighter – is far murkier.
