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The post fight press conference for Joe Calzaghe's emphatic victory over Jeff Lacy last night took place at 4am GMT at the MEN Arena. Unfortunately the former IBF champion Lacy was unable to attend due to eye damage that was receiving immediate attention in the dressing room.
Sports Network promoter Frank Warren opened the session by stating, "That was the best performance by any fighter I have ever been involved with. To win every minute of every round against the so-called 'next big thing' in your long-awaited career-defining fight is extraordinary. It was a superb and deserved victory and now Joe should be recognised as the best fighter at 168 pounds. We had Hagler, Leonard and Hearns in the 80's, we had Benn, Eubank and McClellan in the 90's, and it was between Jeff Lacy and Joe Calzaghe to add their names and Joe embarassed him."
Garry Shaw added, "This is a bitter pill for us to swallow. Before the fight I would have bet my house that this result and in this way would not have happened. It looks like I am now without a house. We have been beaten by a better man in Joe Calzaghe. They had a game plan and they executed their game plan but Jeff Lacy did not execute his game plan. He is a young fighter and he will come back but tonight we have no complaints and we were beaten by the best man. Joe not only boxed brilliantly but smothered and took away Lacy's own game plan from the start. I take my hat off to Joe and his dad Enzo- they did a superb job tonight in Manchester."
Lacy's trainer Dan Birmingham confirmed that he was surprised by Joe's dominance of the fight. He said, "I don't really want to focus on what Jeff didn't do but tonight you saw a master class from Joe Calzaghe. I have never seen such a magnificent performance as that in America or the world over. You know we have a special southpaw in Winky Wright in our team and Joe's performance eclipses any of his performances in the US. His performance was masterful. The distance, the timings, angles were fantastic and I assure you that Joe Calzaghe is the only man in the world who could handle Jeff Lacy in this way, probably the only man there has been who could of done this to such a good fighter. I heard that Marvin Hagler said before the fight that he thought Joe Calzaghe deserved to be in the top six pound-for-pound, Marvin is wrong. Joe is one of the three best boxers on this planet. We have no issues and were beaten by a master class of boxing from a well respected fighter."
Garry Shaw finally added, "Joe Calzaghe is highly under-rated and a lot better fighter than I ever realised. I think we sometimes overlook overseas talent. With this performance on Showtime I think the boxing world and the US audiences will wake up to such a deserved fighter. The UK should be proud of Joe's performance tonight and achievements in his career. I assure you there are some big doors going to open up for Joe and perhaps one day when Jeff is older and more experienced he can come back in a few years and defeat a fading Joe Calzaghe. I thought Jeff Lacy was by far the best fighter to come out of the 2000 US Olympic team and he can still be a legend in the game, but Joe Calzaghe is in a class of his own until he gets too old."
Joe Calzaghe entered the room to a standing ovation from the press and it was obvious he had a hand injury to his southpaw left hand that was packed with ice. He felt it was not broken but was hurting and badly swollen. He confirmed the position of his hand, "I don't think it is broken like in the Evans Ashira fight but in round eight it started to hurt. I will get it examined but do not think it is broken. I hurt my wrist on this hand about three weeks ago and had to miss about five days training and it was 50/50 whether I thought I would even go through with the fight but after a long discussion and rest for those five days it cleared up."
When asked about his thoughts on the fight he commented, "I have never been so focused and dedicated emotionally and physically for any fight. I was written off by so many people and some of the comments by Garry Shaw calling me a chicken when I broke my hand did hurt me but only fuelled my desire, motivation and dedication to pull out my best performance. In the build up I was calm, relaxed, focused and I knew I was going to win. I outclassed their opponent tonight. I focused on some of their comments about me slapping my punches so if I am a slapper then I must slap pretty damn hard judging by the state of Lacy's face. I just used my southpaw jab, my foot speed and he just had no answer to my superior hand speed. But that was my game plan and he had no answer and whilst his face looks damaged I am unmarked and despite his predictions about stopping Joe Calzaghe, in reality I was never hurt."
When asked about his future plans he stated there were two clear options. "Having got the two belts now they will be very hard to give up and I could go on and clean up the division and perhaps add some other belts or I could move to 175 pounds and take on the likes of Tarver and Roy Jones. If it was my choice as what I wanted next, it would be Roy Jones at 175 pounds as he is a legend in boxing. But I will have a long rest now and it is up to Frank Warren now for the next step."
edit:
sorry BIGPOPPAPUMP, I'll take out the link from the website I got this from
Sports Network promoter Frank Warren opened the session by stating, "That was the best performance by any fighter I have ever been involved with. To win every minute of every round against the so-called 'next big thing' in your long-awaited career-defining fight is extraordinary. It was a superb and deserved victory and now Joe should be recognised as the best fighter at 168 pounds. We had Hagler, Leonard and Hearns in the 80's, we had Benn, Eubank and McClellan in the 90's, and it was between Jeff Lacy and Joe Calzaghe to add their names and Joe embarassed him."
Garry Shaw added, "This is a bitter pill for us to swallow. Before the fight I would have bet my house that this result and in this way would not have happened. It looks like I am now without a house. We have been beaten by a better man in Joe Calzaghe. They had a game plan and they executed their game plan but Jeff Lacy did not execute his game plan. He is a young fighter and he will come back but tonight we have no complaints and we were beaten by the best man. Joe not only boxed brilliantly but smothered and took away Lacy's own game plan from the start. I take my hat off to Joe and his dad Enzo- they did a superb job tonight in Manchester."
Lacy's trainer Dan Birmingham confirmed that he was surprised by Joe's dominance of the fight. He said, "I don't really want to focus on what Jeff didn't do but tonight you saw a master class from Joe Calzaghe. I have never seen such a magnificent performance as that in America or the world over. You know we have a special southpaw in Winky Wright in our team and Joe's performance eclipses any of his performances in the US. His performance was masterful. The distance, the timings, angles were fantastic and I assure you that Joe Calzaghe is the only man in the world who could handle Jeff Lacy in this way, probably the only man there has been who could of done this to such a good fighter. I heard that Marvin Hagler said before the fight that he thought Joe Calzaghe deserved to be in the top six pound-for-pound, Marvin is wrong. Joe is one of the three best boxers on this planet. We have no issues and were beaten by a master class of boxing from a well respected fighter."
Garry Shaw finally added, "Joe Calzaghe is highly under-rated and a lot better fighter than I ever realised. I think we sometimes overlook overseas talent. With this performance on Showtime I think the boxing world and the US audiences will wake up to such a deserved fighter. The UK should be proud of Joe's performance tonight and achievements in his career. I assure you there are some big doors going to open up for Joe and perhaps one day when Jeff is older and more experienced he can come back in a few years and defeat a fading Joe Calzaghe. I thought Jeff Lacy was by far the best fighter to come out of the 2000 US Olympic team and he can still be a legend in the game, but Joe Calzaghe is in a class of his own until he gets too old."
Joe Calzaghe entered the room to a standing ovation from the press and it was obvious he had a hand injury to his southpaw left hand that was packed with ice. He felt it was not broken but was hurting and badly swollen. He confirmed the position of his hand, "I don't think it is broken like in the Evans Ashira fight but in round eight it started to hurt. I will get it examined but do not think it is broken. I hurt my wrist on this hand about three weeks ago and had to miss about five days training and it was 50/50 whether I thought I would even go through with the fight but after a long discussion and rest for those five days it cleared up."
When asked about his thoughts on the fight he commented, "I have never been so focused and dedicated emotionally and physically for any fight. I was written off by so many people and some of the comments by Garry Shaw calling me a chicken when I broke my hand did hurt me but only fuelled my desire, motivation and dedication to pull out my best performance. In the build up I was calm, relaxed, focused and I knew I was going to win. I outclassed their opponent tonight. I focused on some of their comments about me slapping my punches so if I am a slapper then I must slap pretty damn hard judging by the state of Lacy's face. I just used my southpaw jab, my foot speed and he just had no answer to my superior hand speed. But that was my game plan and he had no answer and whilst his face looks damaged I am unmarked and despite his predictions about stopping Joe Calzaghe, in reality I was never hurt."
When asked about his future plans he stated there were two clear options. "Having got the two belts now they will be very hard to give up and I could go on and clean up the division and perhaps add some other belts or I could move to 175 pounds and take on the likes of Tarver and Roy Jones. If it was my choice as what I wanted next, it would be Roy Jones at 175 pounds as he is a legend in boxing. But I will have a long rest now and it is up to Frank Warren now for the next step."
edit:
sorry BIGPOPPAPUMP, I'll take out the link from the website I got this from
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