By Jake Donovan
Former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor punched his way back into title contention with a lopsided points win over old Olympic teammate Jeff Lacy in their 12-round super middleweight main event at the Vanderbilt University Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tennessee.
The bout was just the seventh time former US Olympic teammates met one another in the pro ranks, with the first such encounter since Virgil Hill’s 1994 light heavyweight title defense against Frank Tate.
The final scores were eerily similar in both fights, with the aftermath perhaps serving as a precursor of things to come for both Taylor and Lacy; Hill went on to bigger and better things at light heavyweight, and later at cruiserweight, while Tate’s days as a legitimate title contender functionally ended.
Both fighters began at a safe distance, measuring the other up in determining their course of attack. Taylor landed the first significant punch of the fight, a right hand that came behind a double jab. The infamous Arkansas Razorback “Pig Soowee” chant began to fill the arena, serving as a reminder that Taylor was in fact the crowd favorite, even if five hours away from his hometown of Little Rock, Ark.
Lacy started to find his groove in the second, landing with the jab and occasional right hand then creating enough space to avoid the incoming. Taylor managed to close the gap, landing a flurry on the inside, and then effectively tying up Lacy. Alternating chants of “J.T.” and “La-cy” spontaneously broke out from opposite sides of the arena, though their enthusiasm was quelled by a clinch. Taylor picked up the pace toward rounds end, connecting with a right hand and an ensuing flurry upstairs.
The jab was key early in the third round for Taylor, leading the way to opportunities galore as the round progressed. A right uppercut rocked Lacy midway through the round, prompting Taylor to go on the attack. A follow up left hook forced Lacy to hold in efforts to clear his head, though Taylor would inflict more pain as the round went on, including several straight right hands upstairs.
Another right hand early in the fourth drew a rise out of the sparse but spirited crowd of about 4,800, as did a left hook that had Lacy clinging on as he was running out of answers on the offensive front. Taylor remained on the attack, landing several long right hands behind his potent jab. The stick was visibly absent in the fifth, a round in which Lacy punched himself back into the fight big time.
His nickname may suggest left hook as the weapon of choice, but it was all about the right hand for Lacy, including a corker of a shot that had Taylor reaching for the ropes before stumbling to the canvas. Replays showed that their feet tangled, justifying referee Laurence Cole’s non-call.
Taylor rediscovered the jab early in the sixth, but hesitated with the right, leaving himself open for a counter left hook. Both fighters had their moment in a sometimes awkward round, before Taylor closed strong with a flush right hand to Lacy’s chin.
Clinching threatened to become the story in the sixth and resurfaced in the seventh, prompting brief intervention from referee Laurence Cole. It took a while for the action to pick up, before Taylor landed a bomb in drawing a collective “ooh” from the crowd. Lacy tried his damnest to work his way back in the fight, but was also forced to overcome fatigue which began to set in, late in the round.
Action slowed in the eighth, with the standout moment being an accidental headbutt that produced a nick outside of Lacy’s right eye. Taylor landed a right hand late in the round and several more in the ninth, but failed to implement a sustained attack, save for a round-ending flurry along the ropes.
The tenth began with Taylor doubling up on his jab as he grew more confident in his offense with each punch in the round. Lacy never stopped coming forward, but was constantly beaten to the punch as Taylor continued to enjoy success with the jab and right hands.
As the championship rounds began, the demeanor of both fighters told the entire story. Taylor was in his corner, bouncing on his toes anxiously awaiting the bell to sound to start the round, while Lacy took in a deep breath in desperate search of a second wind that never came. Complacency threatened to settle in before Taylor uncorked a right hand late in the eleventh, paving the way for consecutive flurries while Lacy was pressed against the ropes, with no other means of escape than to clinch.
Taylor could’ve easily put it in cruise control in the final round, but instead felt the need to send his fans home with a little something more than just a points win. Several right hands found their way home for Little Rock’s finest, with Lacy, desperately in need a knockout, unable to respond or even get out of the way. All he could do was pitch forward and hold on, leading to the friendly rivalry closing out with a whimper rather than a bang.
Scoring was academic, with Taylor winning by margins of 119-109 (2x) and 118-110. He improves to 28-2-1 (17KO), scoring his first win in eighteen months after having twice lost to Kelly Pavlik.
Despite the strong showing in this fight, it’s the past two he refuses to forget.
“The Pavlik fights will always be there,” claims Taylor, landed 48% of his overall punches in the fight, including 57% of his power punches. “I always get mad at myself because I let that kid beat me and take what’s mine.”
Taylor is now in position to take something new. The win puts him in position as the mandatory challenger to the winner of the December 6 vacant super middleweight title clash between Carl Froch and Jean Pascal. However, a bigger name was on the tip of everyone’s tongue – Joe Calzaghe, who reaffirmed his position as one of the world’s best fighters after last week’s landslide over Roy Jones.
Such a superfight is one that Taylor welcomes – but within reason.
“I’m not going to Wales; Joe’s gonna have to come here for that one.”
Where Jeff Lacy goes from here remains to be seen. Gone is a three fight winning streak as he dips to 24-2 (17KO). The lopsided loss was only slightly closer than his 2006 debacle at the hands of Joe Calzaghe, but perhaps far more damaging, as Lacy finds himself at the bottom of the queue and possibly out of the mix altogether.
In the end, the “All or Nothing” theme played out. The fight was all Jermain Taylor, with Jeff Lacy left with next to nothing.
The show was presented by DiBella Entertainment, in association with Prize Fight Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions.
Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
