Most of you have probably never heard of Joe Calzaghe or Jeff Lacy. They are both Middleweight (168 lbs.) boxers and they faced off against each other about a week ago. Both fighters were undefeated and they both have roughly a 75 percent knockout rate.
Joe Calzaghe is 33 years old and was on a streak of 17 defenses of his IBF Title before facing Lacy. He has never fought outside of his native country, England, andfor a fighter with such a long winning streak he never really got the hype he deserved, partly because he never had a defining fight although he has beaten some highly regarded fighters.
Jeff Lacy, on the other hand, is an up and coming American fighter who often gets compared to a Middleweight version of Mike Tyson. Lacy has less fights under his belt than Calzaghe has knockouts but he has extrodinairy power and he has been hyped up just as much as Lebron James. He is supposed to be the next big thing and prior to this fight he has been in Everlast ads in Ring Magazine. Jeff, like Joe, has never had a defining fight as his resume thus far is filled with average opposition (The last person Lacy fought was recently knocked out by the feather-fisted winner of The Contender).
This was viewed as a pick'em fight (meaning the odds are virtually the same on both fighters coming out victorious) and most of the "experts" were choosing Lacy by late round knockout. Well, the experts have never been more wrong. This fight was a blowout. It was on the same scale as the Gatti-Mayweather fight. Lacy never landed more than five decent punches. By the end of the third round his nose and both eyes were bleeding.
This just goes to show how boxing is such an unpredictable sport. Personally, I chose Calzaghe to win by decision (which he did) but I thought it would be a close decision. I was wrong. I'd seen some fights by both fighters and I knew that Calzaghe was highly skilled and extremely quick and I knew Lacy was a street fighter with little defence but a ton of heart. Calzaghe had dropped out of fights in the past citing an injured hand as his reason for backing out and many boxing people thought he was using his hand as an excuse to avoid certain fights. Well, they were all wrong too.
After laying a beating on Lacy and knocking him down for the first time in his career, Calzaghe admitted that he did injure his hand a few weeks before the fight. He knew he needed to fight Lacy right now or he may never get a chance to fight him again. So Calzaghe sucked it up and dominated Lacy with a sore hand (he said it began to hurt in the 8th round) making the American look like an amateur.
Hopefully Calzaghe will unify the title and avoid a quick payday by fighting a washed up Roy Jones Jr. or a boring Antonio Tarver. He shouldn't care about getting richer because he's rich enough (and he never even had to move to Alberta). There comes a time when glory should overpower every other urge. Let's hope Joe strives to be glorious.
1 comment:
Glory. I, too, hope that he goes for glory rather than bucks, as so many boxers tend to look for the quick pay day. In their defense, however, boxing is a fleeting profession, one in which a career-ending injury may occur at any time with no notice... with that in mind, I am sure many people would opt for the quick and easy big cheque... Still, glory is forever, money is only temporary...
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