How good was Jeff Lacy before Calzaghe?

[mathed]

I thought he only looked okay against Reid. Reid was shot by then.

I used to post under the username crumble on here, I said Joe would win pretty big but might be knocked down at some point, and that was on the belief that Joe was well past his sell-by-date, as was the popular opinion at the time. No way could a fighter that musclebound and mechanical do anything but get smashed up by Calzaghe in any time of shape.

Lacy was made for Calzaghe from the feet up. The entire Calzaghe camp knew it, from Enzo to Frank Warren. Easy pickings.

Still an impressive beatdown of epic proportions.
Sakio Bika is a better fighter than Jeff Lacy in actuality.

I also think that Bika was one of Calzaghe's tougher fights but he still pulled out the victory over a tough guy

[Steak]

he was never that great.

look at his fight against Richard Grant, or against Omar Sheika. he actualyl had a fairly hard time in both fights, and neither of those guys are that high level compared to others.
he had a fairly hard time against Vanderpool too, come to think of it...

movement really kills him.

[IMDAZED]

he was never that great.

look at his fight against Richard Grant, or against Omar Sheika. he actualyl had a fairly hard time in both fights, and neither of those guys are that high level compared to others.
he had a fairly hard time against Vanderpool too, come to think of it...

movement really kills him.

His hype machine was great though. Really was. Because he really struggled against those guys and (my memory is bad) but some of those stoppages were rabbit punches and all types of weird ****.

[Allucard]

I also think that Bika was one of Calzaghe's tougher fights but he still pulled out the victory over a tough guy

Man, even your highlight reel of JC looks bad, he also isn't that great. Better than Lacy, yes, better than Kessler? yes, but i think prime Jones would have beat JC (not as easily as some think but by KO) and Hopkins would have smashed him in the 90's or early 2000's.

[Steak]

His hype machine was great though. Really was. Because he really struggled against those guys and (my memory is bad) but some of those stoppages were rabbit punches and all types of weird ****.

Well, he beat Grant and Sheika by decision. he only beat Sheika by 115-113, I believe. He just looked bad against Grant.
Vanderpool might have been a questionable punch, and the Reid fight was a real mess. I think he started dropping Reid by hitting on the break, and then back to the head shots followed. although admittedly Reid didnt look like he was gonna do anythign in that fight anyway.

The division was just so stale, because Calzaghe was having hand problems around that time. probably looked like what Zsolt Erdie is now.

[Swoosh]

Lacy was exactly where he needed to be at the point in his career. He just had the cancer named Gary Shaw that ruined his career. He was/is limited in his abilities, but you can blame Shaw for sending him overseas and ruining the mans career.

[ßringer]

Highly overrated.

No offense to Jeff intended, but he was rushed along way too soon, and was way too inexperienced to be in there with Calzaghe that night.

If he weren't overrated, and if he actually was as good as he was hyped to be ; he would've done something semi-impressive post Calzaghe.

But he hasn't.

[Jone2ts]

He was a prospect that looked the part like Andre berto does now. How he looked played more into his hype than anything else. he looks like a guy that can **** and if he was skilled and really fast would be almost unbeatable. I blame what happened to him on bad management, i have heard Lacy wanted to go there and fight. That being said he was a young fighter that had never been tested at all, he should have never took that fight over there. Lacy stood in there and did what he was supposed to and thats pull a Tyson and take a beating and show some heart. Lacy could have been much better had he been brought along and trained better.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

The yanks overrated him and underrated Joe. Pretty much sums it up.

[Swoosh]

He was a prospect that looked the part like Andre berto does now. How he looked played more into his hype than anything else. he looks like a guy that can **** and if he was skilled and really fast would be almost unbeatable. I blame what happened to him on bad management, i have heard Lacy wanted to go there and fight. That being said he was a young fighter that had never been tested at all, he should have never took that fight over there. Lacy stood in there and did what he was supposed to and thats pull a Tyson and take a beating and show some heart. Lacy could have been much better had he been brought along and trained better.

No, Lacy had been tested, just not against a boxer. Lacy and Berto's similarities end at their physiques. Throwing Lacy into the fire and making him travel overseas to do it was completely Shaw's fault.