Lacy: "New trainer will be the difference"

Lacy Faces Mendoza Wednesday July 23 on ESPN After a long and extensive training camp in Florida, former super middleweight boxing world champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy expects to arrive in California this Saturday in excellent mental and physical shape and ready for his July 23 bout against Colombian Epifanio Mendoza on ESPN’s Wednesday Night Fights at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California, USA. Mendoza will arrive on Sunday after closing his dual city training camp in Miami and Las Vegas. A 2000 United States Olympian, Lacy 23-1 (17), the former IBF world champion from St. Petersburg, Florida will face 32-year-old Colombian Epifanio Mendoza 28-5-1 (24) in a ten round super middleweight bout. After his last fight on December 8, 2007 with Peter Manfredo Jr, Lacy changed trainers and is now working with Roger Bloodworth. Lacy commented on his opponent and what it’s like training with Bloodworth. “Mendoza is coming to fight and he’s a gutsy fighter so we’ll be ready,” he said. “I’m stronger, more determined, I have my punching power and my excitement on my side...if you didn’t get enough fireworks on the 4th of July, you’ll get them on the 23rd. I will guarantee you I will win on Wednesday night.” “I went back to the basics with Roger Bloodwoorth,” Lacy continued. “It meant a lot to me to work with Bloodworth again…To go back to the basics and re-learn what I had got away from recently. Now I’m correcting everything I’ve been doing wrong and will surprise everyone with my performance on the 23rd.” Bloodworth added, “This is a tough fight for Jeff. This is not just an opponent for him. You can not call a guy an opponent when he is 28-5-1 with 24 knockouts, so this is a tough match for him. We did not want a fight for Jeff where he can just knock out a guy and look good, we wanted a challenge and Epifanio will be a challenge for us.” Tickets, priced at $35, $75 and $125, are still available and can be purchased at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa Box Office at 1-951-755-5391 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Doors open at 6:00 pm local time and the first bell rings at 6:30pm. Lacy vs. Mendoza, a 10 round super middleweight bout presented by Golden Boy Promotions, will air live on ESPN2 beginning at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. This bout is the first ever ESPN Wednesday Night Fights card at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa.