Joe Calzaghe vs. Jeff Lacy, The Rings Verdict

By Don Stewart Part 1 (From The Ring Extra, April 2006: On sale February 7) With the first Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo classic still lingering in our collective rearview, we lust for the next blood-and-guts battle that will make us fall in love with boxing all over again. We’re probably setting ourselves up for disappointment, like when that hot blonde from the bar doesn’t call as she promised. But boxing fans, like would-be Casanovas, are obviously masochists who just can’t help themselves, so despite the odds against us, we eagerly await the next riveting rumble. So let’s go ahead and dream a little as we look ahead toward the Joe Calzaghe-Jeff Lacy super middleweight showdown on March 4. It’s a match between two unbeaten, strong-chinned pressure fighters who are typically fun to watch. And it’s easily the most important fight in either man’s career. Lacy, like Castillo, doesn’t seem to know how to move in any direction but forward. Calzaghe could play the role of Corrales in that he might be a little more skilled, a little more capable of switching up and boxing. But if he decides to stay in the pocket and trade, this one could turn into the 168-pound version of Corrales-Castillo. “It’s asking a lot of anybody,” Showtime analyst Steve Farhood conceded, “but it could be that type of fight.” Whether it’s a blast, a dud, or something in between, Calzaghe-Lacy is still of great consequence. The winner will claim The Ring vacant super middleweight title and perhaps earn a consensus top-10 pound-for-pound ranking. Moreover, a division that’s been dominated by Europeans for so many years could finally have a dominant American star atop and give the already packed neighborhood of 175 to 160 pounds at least one more major player. Both men seem to sense the enormity of this fight, and have so for a while. With all due to respect to Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler, who is ranked second at 168, these are the only super middles that matter at this point. Their match has been in the works since at least late-2004, when Lacy’s promoter, Gary Shaw, claims he made an offer to Calzaghe promoter Frank Warren that was turned down. The two sides agreed on a November 2005 date, then Calzaghe broke his hand in September during a needless defense of his alphabet title against Evans Ashira. But the bitter words that ensued between the two camps didn’t stop the fight from being rescheduled for March. It is clear that Lacy needs Calzaghe just as much as Calzaghe needs Lacy. For Lacy, The Ring’s number-three super middleweight, a win legitimizes his status among boxing’s elite while moving him a giant step closer to the stardom that seemed inevitable after the 2000 Sydney Games. He’s already grown into a big enough name for the veteran Calzaghe to say, “I have been waiting for this for eight years.” A Welshman of Italian decent, the blue-collar Calzaghe hasn’t been beaten since he was a schoolboy. He went on to win three straight British national amateur titles before turning pro in 1993. Four years later, he outboxed Chris Eubank for a super middleweight belt in what was a passing-of-the-torch fight in the U.K. While the top-ranked Calzaghe, 40-0 (31), has gone on to defend that belt 17 times, his career has been to a large extent frustrating to both himself and fight fans. He’s beaten respected fighters such as Charles Brewer and Robin Reid, but never landed a marquee opponent. Calzaghe unsuccessfully called out Roy Jones for years. He came close to meeting Bernard Hopkins in 2003, but that one never materialized either. The following year, he was forced to pull out of a scheduled light heavyweight title fight against Glen Johnson due to a back injury. But Calzaghe has been as much a victim of misfortune as he’s been of an overly cautious promoter in Warren, who hasn’t been too willing to yield home-court advantage. All but two of Calzaghe’s 17 defenses have been in the United Kingdom. His treks to Denmark to stop Will McIntrye in 2001 and to Berlin last spring for a second win against Mario Veit (whom he’d previously iced inside of one round in Wales) weren’t exactly formidable tests. “I remember very well, about three years ago, Frank Warren bringing Joe Calzaghe to the States for a press conference to introduce him to the New York media,” Farhood said. “The intention was to bring him here to fight. It never happened. For every step forward he’s taken in his career, he’s taken two steps back. He’s very fortunate Jeff Lacy materialized. At this point, he might need Jeff Lacy more for his legacy than Jeff Lacy needs him.” That didn’t stop Lacy, 21-0 (17), from agreeing to cross the Atlantic Ocean to face Calzaghe at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England. That’s the same venue that drew 22,000 fans for Ricky Hatton’s upset TKO of Kostya Tszyu in June 2005. A highly touted Olympian out of St. Petersburg, Florida, Lacy saw his career get off to a slow start due to injuries, fights falling through, and inconsistency. He began juggling trainers at the end of 2003 after taking too much punishment during an eighth-round stoppage of Donnell Wiggins (at MEN Arena, no less). Since going back to Dan Birmingham, his trainer from ages 9 to 17, in early-’04, Lacy has developed at a much quicker pace. His two most recent wins, electrifying knockouts of Reid and Scott Pemberton, have erased some of the doubt that lingered from his two wins before that—a close points win against Omar Sheika and a seventh-round stoppage of Rubin Williams that was surprisingly competitive while it lasted. “Look, Robin Reid hadn’t been down. Big, big puncher, and Lacy went through him,” said Shaw. “I think Lacy is a combination of Holyfield and Tyson. He fights with Tyson’s fury in the ring, and he’s on Holyfield’s skill level. He’s also a fan favorite. When Mike Tyson used to enter the ring, people’s hearts used to start pumping. It’s like the people who run outside when there’s a hurricane; they want to go down near the water and see the fury coming. I think that’s what Lacy brings to boxing. It’s that fury. You know you’re gonna see action.”