joe calzaghe vs jeff lacy

[The Surgeon]

OWNAGE on the Highest level!

Cant beleive i picked Lacy

[Skunk]

The point about the Lacy fight is not the fact that Calzaghe won, but the manner in which he did so. Prior to the fight Calzaghe was literally regarded as some sort of Ottke equivalent, which while probably not justifiable given an objective look at his career, is understandable, because on every occassion Joe beat one of the better SMWs, that fighter would often have lost immediately before the fight, sometimes to Otkke himself! it was therefore easy to dismiss Joe's wins, even ones as impressive as his second round stoppage of Byron Mitchell as meaningless.

The Lacy fight was different. Instead of a just beaten former champion Calzaghe was facing an unbeaten reigning champion with true KO power. It was also perceived that Calzaghe was past his best, which was actually a reasonable assumption as he had turned in some relatively unimpressive performances at this stage in his career. Rightly or wrongly, this was expected to be the end of the road for Joe Calzaghe.

Instead, faced with an opponent America was interested in and exposed to the limelight he had often complained of being denied, Calzaghe turned in a career best performance, one that even those who had followed his career did not realise he was capable of. Barry McGuigan was moved to remark of Calzaghe's clinical and controlled counterpunching display "I did not know he could do that, I did not know".

For those who haven't seen it, Calzaghe's display in this fight should not be underestimated, it was excellent. Calzaghe landed at will on Lacy all night, and Lacy was barely able to land a clean punch. It probably ranks up there among the most one sided beatdowns ever in a fight that was supposed to be competitive. It was hailed at the time as the best performance by a British fighter in a British ring of the modern era. So if you ever wondered why Calzaghe gets so much praise for beating Jeff Lacy, now you know.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

The point about the Lacy fight is not the fact that Calzaghe won, but the manner in which he did so

Spot on. Calzaghe was considered a shot fighter who was getting paid to to pass the torch and get KOed by our brothers across the pond. He didnt just steal a decision, he put on one of the most one-sided displays ever in a Unification Fight.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Honestly I am so sick of fans of Super joe talking about this match up that he dominated a lacy....A very green lacy with no ring experience in fact he was up and coming and should have never been placed in the ring with Joe at that point in his career. It was bad match making on the part of his management team. Now if Joe would have destroyed Hopkins like that then you could claim all you wante4d but in fact the hopkins fight was close and joe tasted the canvas in the early rounds.....Lefty

Everyones an expert after the event.

No one has ever destroyed Hopkins or even looked good against him. Not even Jones who faced an even greener Hopkins (who unlike Lacy wasnt a champion) and won a very boring, much closer decision yet he gets endless praise for that.

[Zocalo]

Wow... someone found youtube...

[MANGLER]

I'd not seen enough of Joe C at the time to know he would win that fight so handily. I was one of the many that expected the Lacy KO, or if it went the distance for Joe to get a decision. No way I woulda guessed Joe would dish out one of the most thorough ass whoopins ever in a prize ring.

[Skunk]

Honestly I am so sick of fans of Super joe talking about this match up that he dominated a lacy....A very green lacy with no ring experience in fact he was up and coming and should have never been placed in the ring with Joe at that point in his career. It was bad match making on the part of his management team. Now if Joe would have destroyed Hopkins like that then you could claim all you wante4d but in fact the hopkins fight was close and joe tasted the canvas in the early rounds.....Lefty

As Dirk just pointed out, hindsight is 20/20. Lacy was a world champion and expected to beat an aging fighter who was never that good anyway. It was entirely appropriate for him to be in the ring with Calzaghe. Isn't that what boxing is supposed to be about? To see if each fighter is really what they believe them to be.

As for the Hopkins comment, thats just the demand of someone who doesn't actually want Joe to impress. Hopkins has never been dominated by anyone, including Roy Jones Jr, so demanding that Calzaghe dominate him to win your approval smacks of a hidden agenda.

[LEFTYGUNZZ]

As Dirk just pointed out, hindsight is 20/20. Lacy was a world champion and expected to beat an aging fighter who was never that good anyway. It was entirely appropriate for him to be in the ring with Calzaghe. Isn't that what boxing is supposed to be about? To see if each fighter is really what they believe them to be.

As for the Hopkins comment, thats just the demand of someone who doesn't actually want Joe to impress. Hopkins has never been dominated by anyone, including Roy Jones Jr, so demanding that Calzaghe dominate him to win your approval smacks of a hidden agenda.

I wasn't part of this site that far back as I am a new member here gentlemen. I try to be biased with all my posts. As for this I will say I thought Lacy would have made the fight closer and if he landed might hurt Joe to the point of a stoppage. At the same time i felt as I do now if Berto was too fight Mosely that mosely would out point and the ring experience would show tremendously in that fight as it did in the Lacy Super Jow fight. I am in no way saying that Joe did not deserve the credit he did but he fought a Young Up coming fighter in lacy that in my book had tremendous potential but like alot of other fighters in his position may have had his career ruined by his match amkers when he took that tremendous beating from Joe. Lacy was in Joe's hometown as many of his fights were at that time and still are. Lacy was way above his head young and not experienced enough to deal with Joe.......Lefty

[MWMerlino]

Calzaghe tore him a new ******* in this fight...my favorite part is when Joe sits down and tells his dad "this guy can't punch for ****e!". had me "lol".

this fight and his win over kessler both had me very excited about Calzaghe but hes gone on to do jack ****.

[Skunk]

I wasn't part of this site that far back as I am a new member here gentlemen. I try to be biased with all my posts. As for this I will say I thought Lacy would have made the fight closer and if he landed might hurt Joe to the point of a stoppage. At the same time i felt as I do now if Berto was too fight Mosely that mosely would out point and the ring experience would show tremendously in that fight as it did in the Lacy Super Jow fight. I am in no way saying that Joe did not deserve the credit he did but he fought a Young Up coming fighter in lacy that in my book had tremendous potential but like alot of other fighters in his position may have had his career ruined by his match amkers when he took that tremendous beating from Joe. Lacy was in Joe's hometown as many of his fights were at that time and still are. Lacy was way above his head young and not experienced enough to deal with Joe.......Lefty

Fair enough, but I would say Lacy was simply not good enough, never was, never would have been. They could have been fighting in Lacy's hometown and the result would have been the same.