By Lyle Fitzsimmons

TAMPA, Fla. – Jeff Lacy got the win, but its payoff is still unclear.

The St. Petersburg native satisfied his hometown fans with a razor-thin majority decision defeat of Otis Griffin in a light heavyweight bout at the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome, but it remains to be seen if the most important fan – Pensacola’s Roy Jones Jr. – will agree to be next on the agenda.

A former super middleweight world champion, Lacy improved to 25-2 by getting nods of 96-94 and 97-93 on the scorecards of judges Alex Levin and Jed O’Connor, respectively.

Judge Mike Ross had it even at 95.

“I think it’s gonna happen,” Lacy said of a match with Jones, whom he cordially called out in the ring after the decision was announced. “Roy’s a stand-up guy and I think the Tampa Bay area is ready for a fight like this. He’s doing his own thing (promotionally) and I’m doing my own thing, so this is an easy fight to make.”

Jones was at ringside for the duration of the 10-rounder, sitting behind Griffin’s corner alongside another member of Florida’s boxing royalty – ex-lightweight champion Nate Campbell. Jones gave a thumbs-up gesture as Lacy addressed him after the fight, saying “it has to happen in Tampa.”

Using the same aggressive style that helped him win a 168-pound title, Lacy continually took the fight to the 6-foot-1 Griffin, who’d made his name by winning the “Next Great Champ” reality television show produced by Oscar De La Hoya. Lacy scored well early with thudding shots to the body and head, but never seriously hurt his bigger foe.

Griffin seemed to gain confidence and establish himself as the fight wore on, causing significant swelling over Lacy’s left eye and often landing straighter and sharper shots inside his opponent’s wider punches.

And needless to say, he disagree with the result.

“There’s not a person in this arena that believes he won the fight,” said Griffin, who fell to 19-5-2. “It was hands down. I give because he’s a great world champion, but I walk out of here with my confidence high because I took the fight to him and I know that I won it.” 

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Mammoth heavyweight Lenroy Thomas won his 12th straight since a career-opening loss in 2006, stopping trialhorse Wes Taylor at 1:16 of the second round of a back-and-forth slugfest.

Born in Jamaica and based in St. Petersburg, Thomas was sent to the floor with a low blow and wobbled brief with a clubbing right hand in the opening round before rallying to stagger Taylor at the end of the session.

The 244½-pounder continued his momentum into the second, dropping Taylor with a well-placed left hook to the body before completing the job with a subsequent flurry along the ropes that prompted the stoppage.

Taylor, from Milledgeville, Ga., is 7-13-1.

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Second-generation pro Adam Jaco had his unbeaten streak snapped at four when he lost a split four-round nod to Panamanian import Roberto Failey in a grinding super middleweight contest.

Two judges saw it 38-37 for Failey, while the third judge scored it 38-37 for Jaco.

A 32-year-old whose father, David, fought Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Tommy Morrison in his own pro career, Jaco had a point taken away in the fourth round for low blows. Had the foul not been called, the bout would have ended in a majority draw.

Jaco had been 3-0-1 since his last loss, in 2003.

Failey, who resides in Savannah, Ga., is 2-0 with a no-contest in three fights.

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Unbeaten Florida-based super featherweights Derrick Wilson and Kermit Gonzalez matched together well, splitting the cards down the middle in a unanimous four-round draw.

All three judges scored the bout, 38-38.

Gonzalez, a 5-foot-3 slugger from St. Petersburg, controlled the early going and landed several thudding right hands over the lazy left of Wilson, from Fort Myers.

Wilson began getting the better of things in the latter half, however, using superior speed and sharper punches to win the final two rounds.

Gonzalez, just 20 years old, is now 6-0-2.

Wilson, two years older at 22, is 4-0-1.

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Youngster Said El Harrak made his first business trip east of the Mississippi a successful one, clearly winning every exchange on the way to a unanimous four-round verdict over Florida-based welterweight Darrell Jones.

El Harrak, who’ll turn 22 in August, made his pro debut last May in California and had fought once more on the West Coast and once in Nevada before traveling to meet the 29-year-old Jones, himself a veteran of just two bouts.

A London-born Moroccan who fights out of Henderson, Nev., El Harrak landed clean shots in each of the four rounds against Jones, but never seriously wobbled him in going the distance for the third time in four wins.

Jones, who got loud first-row support from fellow Jacksonville resident Nate Campbell, nonetheless came out on the short end of 40-36 scores from all three ringside judges.

He is 2-1.

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A pair of early knockdowns were the difference for South African-born welterweight Danie van Staden in the evening’s first bout, propelling him to a unanimous four-round decision over Henry Mitchell.

A 32-year-old now residing in Key West, Fla., van Staden dropped his 24-year-old foe in both the first and second rounds, initially with a thudding left to the jaw and subsequently with a left hook to the body.

Mitchell rallied gamely in the bout’s closing half, outworking van Staden and wobbling him briefly in the fourth, but failing to gain decisive ground on the scorecards.

All three judges saw it 38-36 in favor of van Staden, who improved to 8-4 in a pro career that started in 2004.

Mitchell, who also debuted in 2004, is 8-10-1.