By Mark Vester
On the undercard to Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas;
Jeff Lacy (23-1, 17KOs) won a ten-round unanimous decision over Peter Manfredo Jr. (28-5, 13KOs) in the chief-support.
Manfredo used his quicker hands and feet to outhustle Lacy in the first three rounds. Lacy came alive in the fourth, landing a right hand to send Manfredo down. Manfredo beat the count and rather than survive, he decided to use to his quick hands to trade punches with Lacy, surviving the round. The right hand must have bewildered Manfredo, who went into a shell for the rest of the fight.
A clash of heads opened up a cut above the right eye of Lacy in the ninth round. It mattered not, Lacy fought ugly, but enough to pull out a decision. The scores were 95-94, 96-93 and 97-92. This was Lacy's first bout in over a year, due to a injured shoulder that required surgery.
Lacy has a fight in the wings with light heavyweight Antonio Tarver, tentative for April 12 in Florida.
