 The Cover Boy Headlines in Tahoe
By Steve Kim (October 31, 2005) Photo © TheRing-Online.com
 Send this page to friend Give us your feedback
Jeff Lacy, the reigning IBF super middleweight titlist who defends his crown against Scott Pemberton this Saturday night at Caesars Tahoe in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, (Showtime 9 pm, ET/PT) sees his image all over newsstands, at 7-11 and on magazine racks in book stores.
About a year after winning his first world title, 'Left Hook' has earned another notable distinction by gracing his first cover of 'The Ring' magazine. Even in today's day and age of the world wide web, having your mug featured out front on this pugilistic publication is a great honor.
It marks a boxer's transition into the big time.
"Man, to see that cover of me on that magazine, it's like everything is coming together for me," said Lacy from his camp in Tahoe last week. "The boxing public is really getting a chance to really see what I'm all about and I'm one of the gentlemen of the sport."
Plenty of fighters have belts around their waist, but only the very best and most notable ever make the cover of 'The Bible of Boxing'. Lacy has put himself in some impressive company.
"To see it," marveled Lacy, "and to see all the champions that have been on 'The Ring' in the past, and I'm here sitting with the IBO and IBF titles in 20 professional fights and to see me on the cover of 'The Ring', it lets me know I'm doing something right and I'm going to continue to do that."
And as Lacy travels, he sees the magazine across the country in hotel gift shops and airport newsstands.
"It's great. It's not only seeing it, it's seeing people purchase it and not know that I'm sitting there. It's like everybody's interested. It's something that you didn't expect to happen and it happens and its like, ‘Wow!' It's hard to put into words; it's a feeling where you think so many things at the time you see it," he says.
The always accommodating Lacy has put his Hancock on more than a few magazines.
"Oh, man, being that I've been away from home and I've been here in camp, when I was at the Corrales-Castillo fight, I've autographed quite a few of them," Lacy said.
Lacy thought he would be facing WBO titlist Joe Calzaghe in a highly anticipated unification bout that would bring some clarity to the super middleweight division. But those plans went out the door when Calzaghe hurt his hand in his last bout in September against Evans Ashira.
Given Calzaghe's past history of pulling out of fights, more than one eyebrow was arched like Groucho Marx's.
"I wasn't surprised because I knew this guy was capable of backing out of the fight that he had previously," said a skeptical Lacy. "It was in the back of my head that he was probably going to get out of this fight. And it makes me think more when he took the fight with this guy two months out before a bigger fight.
"It really made me think that this fight wasn't ever going to happen for November 5th."
And despite what Calzaghe or his promoter Frank Warren say, as of this moment, don't count on that date being rescheduled for February of 2006.
"No," said Lacy's promoter, Gary Shaw, flatly. "Because I don't think that Jeff needs Calzaghe. I think Calzaghe needs Jeff. Right now, I'm targeting another fighter. We've got to get through November 5th, and I'm superstitious. As soon as November 5th is done, I'm going to try and start negotiations with another fight for Jeff - and it's not Calzaghe."
Bottom line, Lacy and his camp feel as though Calzaghe and his claims lack credibility.
"Yeah," Shaw admitted. "I thought they played a game with us. They kept saying, 'Well, Jeff took a fight.' If Jeff didn't take the Robin Reid fight he was going to get stripped. He spent five years trying to get the title and then to get stripped, it didn't make any sense. Calzaghe just took a fight, he could've paid someone and sparred for 12 rounds. So I don't think they were really targeting Jeff. I think it's just another way that they get out of the fight.
"Look," continued a perturbed Shaw, "he may have gotten hurt. But if he was going to get hurt he should've done it against Jeff Lacy in November on his own turf."
And the promoter makes it absolutely clear that they have no obligation to face Calzaghe in February, or any other future date - that Calzaghe could pull out on.
"They had the contract, they never signed the contract," he explained. "There's an e-mail to myself and my attorney that said they'd work on it Monday after their fight. If I had a contractual obligation, I would fulfill it."
And just who is Shaw focusing in on should they down Pemberton this upcoming weekend? Well, not to jinx it for them but we'll give you a few hints: he's a tall lanky southpaw, who hails from the same hometown of Tampa, Florida as Lacy, and is a talkative and gregarious sort who shattered the myth of Roy Jones.
But Jay Larkin, boxing czar of Showtime, which has showcased Lacy and Calzaghe throughout their careers, is a bit crestfallen that this match-up might never come off. Although, this being boxing, things can change in a heartbeat.
"I'm extremely, extremely, disappointed," Larkin admitted. "I think it's the right fight, I think it's the right time for that fight. The 168-pound division could use some consolidation. You've got these European champions who as good as they may be - or may not be - are virtually meaningless over here. The one exception being Calzaghe because of the exposure he's had on Showtime. I think if Jeff fights Joe, the winner of that fight will be a major star and that fight becomes a jumping off point to not only dominating 168 but moving up to 175."
As far as Larkin's concerned, with none of the current super middleweight titles unified and with other belt-holders like Mikkel Kessler out there, plenty of issues are still unresolved in this often overlooked weight class.
"I know that both camps are talking about fighting Antonio Tarver," said Larkin of both Calzaghe and Lacy. "I just don't find the sense in that move. I see where it can be a nice marquee fight, a very good marquee fight, in fact an excellent marquee fight with Tarver coming off the Jones fights. But I really do think there's unfinished business at 168. I would very much like to see Joe and Jeff fight each other because there really will be no loser. In a fight between Calzaghe and Lacy, both guys will move forward. Neither guy backs up, both guys can bang. Just having that fight will produce two winners. I don't think it's a shame or a step backward for either one to lose to each other."
Problem is, Calzaghe is boxing's version of 'check's in the mail'. He'll tell you he's on his way, but he never actually arrives.
"I would love to fight Joe Calzaghe," said Lacy. "But there are other fights out there. I feel like if he's going to want to fight, I was trying to make it as easy as possible to come over to his hometown. I feel he should come to me now. I have fights over here that I can move up in weight, I can go down in weight and fight the champions in the upper and lower categories here in the United States."
A fight against former U.S. Olympic teammate Jermain Taylor, currently the middleweight champion, is a possible superfight, but one far down the road. The battle for Tampa against Tarver is a much more realistic possibility for the present. But the questions in making this fight will center on the financial feasibility of paying both Lacy and Tarver what they would want. That particular fight, while an exciting and intriguing face-off, is most likely a fight that is not of pay-per-view ilk.
"When it comes to that, like I said, I can go up or I can go down in weight class," claimed Lacy. "So I'm looking to fight the best out there. If the money's right, I'm not going to turn it down."
Since winning the vacant IBF strap last October, Lacy has made three successful title defenses against Omar Sheika, Rubin Williams and Robin Reid, showing his wide array of power punches and offensive skills. But at times against Sheika and Williams he showed that while he can pitch, he also caught too much.
But according to his trainer, Dan Birmingham, Lacy is an ever-developing boxer.
"There's no comparison," said Birmingham. "He's keeping his hands up for one thing, the whole fight, all the time and through the camp. When I first started him we were having quite a few arguments on a daily basis until he finally realized that 'unless I keep my hands up, I'm going to have to argue with Dan constantly.' So he keeps his hands up and he's setting up his punches better and his defense is better; he's using his jab more and now we're working on using his feints more. It's the little things, a step at a time."
And Birmingham says his fighter is ready to move up - or down - to face the world's premier prizefighters.
"No doubt about it," he states unequivocally. "And he's confident in that. He believes in himself now. So yes, I really believe he's ready to face anybody." But will he be ready to face the game Pemberton, in light of the letdown in not facing Calzaghe?
"Well, being that the fight was two months out before we knew he wasn't going to fight me," Lacy explained. "So that's the amount of time we need to train for one another. I already wrote him (Calzaghe) off as not fighting me."
THE OTHER KLITSCHKO?
While Vitali Klitschko defends his WBC title against Hasim Rahman on November 12th, his brother Wladimir, coming off a career-saving win against Sam Peter in September, awaits a title shot.
"We're hoping to fight Chris Byrd," said his adviser Shelly Finkel, who mentioned that some legal issues have to be resolved with the IBF and that he hopes that that fight takes place sometimes in 2006.
STAPLES VS MANDALAY BAY
It looks more and more like a battle between Fernando Vargas and Shane Mosley will take place on February 25th; the biggest question now is just where it will take place.
A source says that one side prefers the Staples Center in Los Angeles and another wants the bout at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
CUP RUNNETH OVER
The 'World Cup' put together by Golden Boy on Saturday night provided an entertaining night of boxing on HBO Latino. Now that Oscar De La Hoya's guys have taken care of Thailand, how about a match-up against Top Rank?
You want to talk about a heated rivalry, this would be like the Palestinians against 'the biggest Jews out of Harvard'.
FINAL FLURRIES
I hear that the rematch between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao on January 21st could be taking place at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas.... I think the UCLA Bruins are the Mathew Saad Muhammad of college football this season..... Was it just me or did Fernando Montiel have the shortest shorts this side of John Stockton and Daisy Duke?.... I'm sure there were a lot of yuks at Don King's recent roast, but were some of those folks in attendance being downright hypocrites by participating in it?......
Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums
For Questions or Comments
E-Mail Steve Kim at k9kim@maxboxing.com
|
