RSSJeff Lacy
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Lacy Requires Surgery; Will Miss At Least One Year
Jeff Lacy’s career isn’t looking so bright these days, even after winning his fight against Vitali Tsypko this past weekend…
Lacy suffered a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder during the second round of the bout and the injury will require surgery, meaning Lacy will be out of action for at least one year.
“It’s a bad injury,” Jim Wilkes, Lacy’s adviser, told ESPN.com on Tuesday. “It could be career threatening, but we certainly hope it isn’t. No one can believe Jeff was even able to finish the fight. It’s amazing that he did.”
Many boxing experts questioned if Lacy would ever return to the form he once had because of his dismal performance against Tsypko whom many felt actually won the fight despite the judges’ decision. It’s now obvious that Lacy was unable to use his left shoulder during the fight.
Lacy will most likely have the surgery at some point this week:
“They want to schedule it as quickly as possible while it is still a fresh tear,” Wilkes said. “They think it’s a full thickness tear of the tendon and they also think part of the muscle is torn, which makes it an even worse injury. They’ll look to do the arthroscopic surgery, but they’ll probably have to open the shoulder up in full. The doctor said he doesn’t know how he fought with such a bad injury.”
Monday, November 06, 2006
Lacy to Fight Tsypko in Return Bout
Jeff Lacy will make his return to the ring against Vitali Tsypko on December 2nd.
The fight will be part of the Winky Wright-Ike Quartey undercard as we previously reported...
This will actually be the second time that these two have fought. They fought before in June of 2004 in a bout that was to decide the number one contender to the vacant IBF Super Middleweight title.
The fight was stopped in the second round due to a severe cut that Tsypko received courtesy of an accidental headbutt from Lacy. The bout was ruled a no contest…
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Another Fight Added to Wright-Quartey Card
This card is looking mighty impressive so far - Wright, Quartey, and Lacy are all already signed to be on the December 2nd event. Now here come two more…
Rey Bautista will take on WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Giovanni Andrade in a 10-round bout that same night.
The two were scheduled to fight earlier this year but the fight was forced to be postponed after Bautista was injured while training. Bautista actually suffered a hairline fracture of his collarbone while shadow boxing of all things.
Doctors have cleared Bautista to be able to fight and his camp has already stated that he is in heavy training for this fight.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Left Hook Fires Back
After hearing the comments that Joe Calzaghe responded to Jeff Lacy with, Lacy has decided to return fire.
Just like Calzaghe continues to use the British newspapers as an open forum for him, Lacy prefers to use boxing websites...
So what did Lacy have to say?
“Yes he beat me easy and all that,” said Lacy. “If it was me that beat him so easy, I would put it on everything. I would take the easy fight once again. So Joe makes this easy money! I want to see if you have the heart to take the fight again. When I knock you out this time. I will give you a third fight because anyone could have a bad night in the sport of boxing.”
Lacy continues to press the issue of a rematch while Calzaghe seeks better opponents. I wouldn’t call Sakio Bika a top notch opponent for Joe. With many fighters not showing interest, will he have to revert to giving a rematch to Lacy? Only time will tell…
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Calzaghe vs Lacy
No, not in the ring people, not yet anyway. It’s a war of words here…
Before we get started, it’s been confirmed that Lacy will be fighting on the undercard of Winky Wright-Ike Quartey in December. An opponent has not yet been named.
Anyway, it’s been well documented that Jeff Lacy wanted another shot at Joe Calzaghe following his dismal performance in a loss to him this past spring. Lacy reminded us again that he still wants Calzaghe in an interview with Gabriel Montoya this past week.
“I want all my fans to know I’m back and I’m fresh and better then ever before so you don’t want to miss what I’ve been missing for some months now. One or two fights back and I want a rematch with Joe Calzaghe! He won the first fight and I just know I let a lot of my fans down. I want my titles back and I’m not going to stop until I do! On March 3rd Joe didn’t even fight 30 percent of me that night. He had to do what he had to do. It’s funny that a fighter can’t say timeout, I’m not up to this tonight and ask to fight when you’re up to it. Someone has to win and he did that. Now I’m fresh and ready to return and get what I really know I should have gotten the first time out. I want Joe again and I won’t let my fans down in doing so.”
Well Calzaghe caught wind of what Lacy had said and decided to respond...
“Is this guy crazy or is he still concussed?
“I can give Lacy a thousand and six good reasons why he should not get a rematch against me, because that’s the number of times I landed with punches on the night, and I can count the number of times he caught me on one hand – four.”
“Lacy will never be the same fighter again after the one-sided beating I gave him. And how can he call for a rematch when the first fight wasn’t even close or controversial? The only controversy is why his corner didn’t pull him out of the fight sooner.
“If Lacy gets in the ring with me again I’m scared I will get arrested for aggravated assault!”
Honestly, Calzaghe has permission to talk in such confidence. He absolutely destroyed Lacy, a fighter who everyone was very high earlier in the year. A lot of experts picked Calzaghe to get murdered and he certainly proved them wrong.
Calzaghe isn’t even going to mess with Lacy - He wants Lacy’s pals…
“It’s his buddies in Florida that I’m gunning for. Winky Wright and Antonio Tarver, who are both on the run from me,” said Calzaghe. “The only way I’ll get them in the ring is if a bounty hunter manages to catch ‘em!”
Well see if Calzaghe is right when fighters start picking their opponents for their first fights of 2007 in a couple of months.
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Thursday, August 17, 2006
Lacy Eyes Possible December Return
Although Jeff Lacy’s promoter Gary Shaw originally stated that Lacy would not be fighting again until 2007, Jeff himself is now saying that a December return may be possible...
“I’m hoping to maybe fight in December, but if not, I’ll fight in January or February. I haven’t had any time off since 2000. I need this time off and be able to come back in great shape,” Lacy said.
“I’m not going to rush myself and set myself up for something like that (Calzaghe fight) again,” Lacy said. “I didn’t see anyone blaming Gary Shaw when I lost that fight. Everyone was coming down on me ... I’m going to do my own thing with Dan Birmingham, and we’re going to make the right decisions. Gary does a great job promoting, but he needs to leave the boxing and training to me.”
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
What’s Next for Jones Jr?
Now that Roy Jones Jr. has returned to his winning ways, one must be contemplating what his future plans are, right? If we sit back and examine Roy’s post fight quotes, he has given us a few different answers as to what he wants to do with the rest of his career…
The Real Roy Jones Jr. is on his way Back
“The champ is on the way back, baby,” a beaming Jones said after the fight. “Don’t pay attention to what people say.”
“I wanted to see if my reflexes were still there,” Jones added. “I wanted to see if I could put my hands down and not get caught, do all the things people say I shouldn’t do. Do the things I used to do.
“After tonight, I realize I can do anything I want to. He came out early and tried to catch me… just like Tarver did,” Jones said. “And I took his best stuff.”
Reading that, you would think that Jones can’t wait to get back into the ring. I personally think he was just a tad bit emotional after the fight and just blurted out what he was feeling at the time.
But John, he sounds so confident! Yes, I know - however let’s see what Roy had to say at the post-fight press conference…
Jones’ inconclusive return win yields inconclusive future
Of course the retirement questions were going to be asked, how did Roy respond?
“I don’t have a clue ... I’m not leaning any way”. said Jones.
“I wanted to go out my way. If I wanted to, I could go out right now. It took a lot (nine weeks) for me to get ready for this fight ... I’m going to have to go home and think about it.”
It sounds to me like someone isn’t sure about what to do. I expect another De La Hoya-like situation in that Jones will go back home and contemplate what he should do - I don’t think he will take as long as Oscar did though.
Is a win over Ajamu and the NABO Light-Heavyweight title enough of an ending for Jones to be able to call it quits? Or will Roy want his curtain call to be a victory over a big-name fighter? I guess we will find out in a short while.
If Jones does decide to fight again, he’s picked some interesting choices for opponents - Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins.
“But Bernard said he doesn’t want to fight anymore”. Jones said
“It all depends if they make it worth my while”, Jones stated, referring to promoters, television outlets and their money. “When I get home on Monday, my phone will be ringing. Someone will say they want to fight me. I’m going to lay them all out on the table. Whichever looks best, I’ll take.”
As far as Hopkins goes, I know Bernard has already said that he is done with fighting, but he has already said on local Philadelphia news that he is already bored with retirement. I think that Jones would be one of the only fights that he would come back for - the 1993 loss to Jones is a big deal for Bernard according to what he has said in the past. It would also even further cement who was the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of the 1990’s.
Calzaghe is a very dangerous opponent for Jones, he’s no Ajamu, that’s for sure. This isn’t the Jones Jr. of 6-8 years ago - Calzaghe looks to be the faster, more powerful fighter at this stage. However, the best talent that Calzaghe has faced so far is a young Jeff Lacy. Is Calzaghe ready for the caliber of fighter that is Jones Jr?
No matter what Jones chooses to do, I’m sure many are going to be eagerly awaiting his decision.
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Lacy May Not See the Canvas in 2006
It’s been an up and down year for Jeff Lacy. ‘Left Hook’ announced that he would be returning to the ring on October 7th to face Allen Green earlier this year. Lacy then pulled out of the fight, telling the St. Petersburg Times that he would rather fight Green in November. Lacy’s promoter Gary Shaw now says that talks between the two camps are dead and that Lacy may not fight in 2006. His adviser, Jim Wilkes, is talking along the same lines.
“The Green fight is dead for right now,‘’ Shaw said. “Jeff told me he may not fight for the rest of this year.‘’
“He’s trying to figure out what he wants to do,‘’ Lacy’s adviser Jim Wilkes said. “Truthfully, I don’t know. I don’t know who the right opponent for the comeback would be. Some of it is just timing.”
Thursday, July 13, 2006
A Potential October Classic
A possible October classic will not be this year’s World Series, but rather a potential showdown because two fighters coming off recent losses - Antonio Tarver and Jeff Lacy. Rumors have been swirling around for months about the two agreeing on a bout in October but no formal announcement has been made as of yet.