This past week, news has been circulating that Former IBF super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy is going to be retiring. Last Wednesday on ESPN Wednesday Night Fights, Lacy won a lackluster, razor thin majority decision over Epifanito Mendoza. Lacy was hurt a couple of times in the fight, but gutted it out in the tenth round of a very close fight and won the tenth round to win a very close fight. Upon reading Fightnews this morning, I was made aware of Lacy's reasons for the abrupt retirement. The following was taken from Fightnews:
Former IBF super middleweight Jeff Lacy has revealed that he's retiring from boxing because he is insulted by a $550,000 offer to fight Jermain Taylor. "What do I look like fighting a fight of that caliber for $550,000 when I have more to risk than anything?" Lacy commented to the Tampa Tribune. "I feel like Taylor needs me more than I need him and what do I look like fighting that fight for $550,000 and risking my life in there like I did Wednesday night because the referee is not on top of this guy hitting me in the back of the head?"
Jermain Taylor needs Jeff Lacy more than Jeff Lacy needs Jermain Taylor??? I really don't think so, Mr. "Left Hook".
The general public would appear to know who Taylor is more so than Lacy.
Taylor is the one who has headlined PPV cards.
Taylor has actually been in a few exciting fights.
Taylor is the one who has two wins over the legendary Bernard Hopkins, even if you choose to call them controversial.
Even though Taylor got knocked out the first time and lost a narrow decision in the rematch, he's been in there with Kelly Pavlik (one of boxing's P4P elite) two times and both fights were crowd pleasing affairs.
Taylor is the one who has been in there with Wright (another crowd pleasing fight) and fought to a draw with Wright (whom Pavlik still hasn't fought).
Lacy's greatest quality of opposition happens to be Calzaghe, who schooled the young and inexperienced pugilist -- and to be bluntly honest -- beat his ass from pillar to post in an easy shutout decision win over two years ago. Since the one-sided loss to Calzaghe, Lacy's had three fights, against mediocre opposition, and he's barely beaten all three and looked bad doing so.
Following the sequence of events that have transpired in Lacy's career from March of 2006 to present, Lacy would be well-advised take a $550,000 to face Taylor and attempt to pull off the upset and revive his dying career. Even if he doesn't, he can still retire $550,000 richer following the defeat.
2 comments:
I like Lacy. Was he over-hyped at the time of the Calzaghe fight? Yeah, but it doesn't mean he wasn't a damn good fighter. I'm not down on his win over Mendoza. I think Mendoza is underrated and I think Lacy showed some real guts trying to surviving in there. Not only that but even though one of the judges scored ridiculously I do think Lacy took a legitimate win despite some real adversity over an underrated opponent who had him significantly hurt at least twice. I think it was a commendable performance.
I also think he's going to give Taylor a good fight. I think it's understandable that a former champion with only one loss on his record who has been jerked around by public opinion like he has, might get a little pissy after a while. I do agree though that it's smart to take this fight. It's not superstar money but he's going to recognize the reality that he's just not a superstar despite his best efforts.
I'm not really trying to dog Jeff Jacy as much as that post would indicate. I merely criticized him for retiring due to the offer that was made to him for the Jermain Taylor fight. I think $550,000 for fighting Taylor on HBO is more than fair. Certainly Lacy is decent fighter with a big left hook as well as a underrated right hand, but he has looked a little subpar in his last few fights against guys like Tsypko, Manfredo, and Mendoza. Any of those fights could've arguably been a draw, but I'm not complaining about him getting those wins. I'm just saying that he should fight Taylor for that purse, if he wants to get back into the spotlight as well as title contention. I'm GLAD he finally accepted an offer for the Taylor fight. I do believe that's a fight that Taylor is going to win, but let's see how Lacy does -- I've been wrong before!
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