Joe calzaghe v Jeff Lacy- How great a win was it?

[*TonyMontana*]

Just rewatched this fight. i remember the build up for this fight, noone gave joe a prayer, jeff lacy was meant to be the second coming of mike tyson, and he put on a boxing clinic, joe looked sensational that night.

Ive seen polarising opinions, with some shrugging it off as lacy being overrated. Jeff lacy obviously didnt turn out to be a world beater after the fight, but was it because jeff lacy was not that good in the first place or could it be argued that after a schooling like that, no fighter is ever the same?

So what are peoples opinions about the fight? How highly do you rate it as a win? Does lacys poor achievements afterwards take the shine off the victory or is it unfair to penalise joe for this, when at the time lacy was seen as such a formidable opponent? And for wider discussion, can the credibility of a win on a fighters record diminish based on future performances of said loser?

EDIT: And check out some of the pre fight predictions on this when bearing in mind how jeff lacy was rated at the time!

http://www.boxingscene.com/boxingsce...calzaghe--3266

At the time it was a great win
Looking back it doesn't mean much
Joe exposed him first
Roy Jones did too
And he never ranked a meaningful victory either before or after
Lacy is the definition of hype
Saying that it was Joe's definitive fight and I won't even attempt to take that away

[A.K]

Lacy was being billed as the next big star in boxing at the time, he got exposed this fight and I remember having the feeling he would but I didn't think it would happen that quick he really fell off hard after that loss.

[*TonyMontana*]

Well the people in the States hyping Jeff Lacy up are the ones that made the fight what it was it's sort of like what some of the people State side have done with Andre Ward you've made Ward out as If he is the boogeyman and that he has this magical outstandingly high boxing IQ...

I think Ward is better than Lacy but Ward is definitely a hype-job like Lacy.

Nobody has ever been hyped for ward though
He proves it in the ring
And if Andre is a hype what does that make kov?

[dan_cov]

Not a great win at all or even a particularly good one really.

As time passes more & more people seem to exaggerate the Lacy hype and like to go on like it was a huge upset despite the bookies being unable to really split them.
If anything it was deemed as a 50/50, 55/45 type match.
Nobody in the U.K knew Lacy outside of hardcores just that the U.S was hyping up as Tyson esque probably more down to his image/physique than his actual performances because even prior to fighting Joe he never looked that great.

Very good performance, best Joe ever looked but it isn't a great win or even close, Lacy never beat anybody even if he was hyped in America for all of 5 minutes.
Not in Joe's top 5 wins & his resume is awfully shallow.

[leather gloves]

I remember at the time it reminded me of McCellan - Benn and how Lacy was going to come over to the UK and destroy Joe and take the title back to the US just like McCellan was supposed to.

[A.K]

Nobody has ever been hyped for ward though
He proves it in the ring
And if Andre is a hype what does that make kov?

The guy they screwed to attempt to keep their hype train going

[VatoMulatto]

Calzaghe beat him like he stole something from him.

People were so in love with Lacy because he looked the part (amazing physique) and had a reputation of being a great puncher. Lacy looked like a beast against Scott Pemberton and had KO'd him in brutal fashion. Lacy was the next big thing and very few gave Calzaghe a shot to win so back then this was a HUGE win.

I mean he outclassed Lacy and won every single round. I hate to use the word exposed but in this case I think Lacy was definitely exposed when it comes to ability at the highest level. Lacy had never fought a world class fighter before this fight. I don't think Calzaghe ruined him, he only proved that Lacy was never a top level fighter.

I still think it's a great win because of the way he picked Lacy apart. It was a brilliant performance.

[The Hammer]

Joe was 3 to 1 underdog. His greatness won't be truly appreciated for at least 2 decades.

Joe was much more than a boxer. He had a relentless pressuring energy that would gnaw into the fighters and break their spirits. The Hopkins fake low blow victim was just a cry for help from the relentless pressure.

He took Lacy's fighting spirit right out him with the blistering combinations and that pressure. Rewatch some of his fights their is hidden brilliance in his style. 46 and 0 tells a very interesting story.

Yes.

And Lacy was never the same after that fight, Joe took his confidence.

[*TonyMontana*]

The guy they screwed to attempt to keep their hype train going

But the fight was pretty 50-50 so if wards a hype-job by those standards then kov is a hype too
Unless common sense isn't your thing

[IronDanHamza]

It's barely a good win let alone a great one.

Jeff Lacy is a literal bum.

Never beaten a fighter in the Top 10.

Won a vacant title off an unranked nobody.

Had a close fight with a shot Omar Sheika.