HBO World Championship Boxing Recap Part 2

 

November 15, 2008

Vanderbilt University Memorial Gymnasium-Nashville, Tennessee

 

 

Super Middleweight (168 pounds) 12-Round Match:

Jermain Taylor (27-2-1, 17 KO's, 167.5 pounds) vs. Jeff Lacy (24-1, 1 ND, 17 KO's, 167.5 pounds)

 

Taylor had a great amateur boxing career that culminated when as a member of the United States Olympic boxing team he won the bronze medal at 156 pounds at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.

 

The Little Rock, Arkansas native's last match was an immediate rematch with Kelly Pavlik at the catch weigh of 166 pounds on February 16, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The match was very close, and the judges rarely scored any of the rounds the same. However, Taylor tired at the end allowing Pavlik to pull away on the scorecards to earn the unanimous decision. The original recap of that match and a lot of background on Taylor can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/10/18/recap-of-pavlik-vs-taylor-ii.html

 

Taylor is The Ring magazines number 10 contender at 168 pounds to their vacant championship in the weight class.

 

Lacy too had a stellar amateur boxing career that was highlighted when he represented the United States at 165 at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games. In fact, Lacy and Taylor were roommates at the Olympiad. This will be only the seventh time in boxing history that United States Olympic boxing teammates have faced each other.

 

The native Floridian was considered to be the future of the 168-pound division after the Olympics. Then he faced Joe Calzaghe on March 4, 2006 at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England. That night a star was solidified, unfortunately for Lacy it was Calzaghe's. Calzaghe won every round and knocked Lacy down in round 12. Lacy was being so thoroughly beaten by Calzaghe that night that 1 judge credited Calzaghe with an additional 2, 10-8 rounds where no knockdown was scored. Ever since then, Lacy has been ducking top opposition. This has been a constant frustration to his promoters.

 

In an attempt to rebuild Lacy, Golden Boy Promotions gave Lacy, Peter Manfredo, Jr. as the top undercard match on the Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. PPV on December 8, 2007 at the MGM Grand. Manfredo had been knocked out by Calzaghe 8 months earlier in 3 rounds for not punching back when he got in trouble and was a blown up 154-pounder competing at 168 pounds. Lacy was supposed to get a quick knockout victory. However, Lacy turned in a terrible performance and the match was awful. Lacy appeared to have put on too much muscle and was moving very slowly in the match. He barely managed to pull out a unanimous decision victory. The action was so horrific and boring that Jim Lampley who was doing play-by-play of the event for HBO did not remember what happened in round 6 in round 7, because he had stopped paying attention. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/11/15/recap-of-jeff-lacy-vs-peter-manfredo-jr.html

 

Apparently spooked by that abominable performance, Lacy became more hesitant to face any sort of quality opposition. His last match was a narrow 10-round majority decision over Epifanio Mendoza on July 23, 2008 at the Morongo Resort & Casino in Cabazon, California.

 

Lacy is The Ring's number 5 contender at 168 pounds.

 

At 30-years-old, Taylor is 1 year younger then the 31-year-old Lacy. Taylor has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Lacy stands 5' 10" tall. The Olympic medalist has the reach advantage with a 23.5" arm length measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to the 23" arm length of Lacy. Lacy will be the heavier boxer in the ring having unofficially rehydrated to 181 pounds approaching match time. Taylor has only rehydrated unofficially rehydrated to 176 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance. Taylor is the 5-to-1 betting favorite.

 

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. Two of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from Texas and the other is from New Jersey. The referee is Laurence Cole. Harold Lederman is keeping unofficial score for HBO.

 

Very little happens in round 1. However, Taylor may have done enough to barely win round 1, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for Taylor, 10-9. Taylor out-boxes Lacy to win round 2, 10-9. The Little Rock, Arkansas resident wins round 2 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Taylor had Lacy badly hurt in the last minute of round 3. Lacy was staggering around and forced to hold on to last out the round. The Olympic medalist takes round 3 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. We both have Taylor ahead in the match after 3 rounds, 30-27. Lacy appears to be over-muscled to the point he has lost a lot of the speed he had earlier in his career. This is allowing Taylor to avoid most of Lacy's slow punches. Also, Taylor can land punches rather easily, because Lacy is too slow from being muscle-bound to get out of the way of the Taylor punches that he (Lacy) sees coming.

 

Taylor dominates round 4 and wins it on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. The Olympic medalist is getting better in every round. He had Lacy hurt again in round 4. Through 4 rounds, Lacy has landed only 22 of the 159 total punches he has thrown, for a terrible 14% total connect percentage. Through 4 rounds, Taylor has landed 68 of the 146 total punches he has thrown, for a 47% total connect percentage. A right hand from Lacy drops Taylor to the canvas with 2:07 to go in round 5. However, the referee is ruling no knockdown and that Taylor slipped. A between rounds replay may help explain that, because it looked like a pretty clear knockdown. Taylor was given no time to recover, because the call was that it was a slip. Once the action resumed, Taylor began to hold on to Lacy and had stopped punching. The referee may not have ruled a knockdown, but Taylor's actions are betraying that the boxer was knocked down. Even though the referee missed the call, Lacy wins round 5 on my scorecard, 10-8. On replay it is obvious the referee blew the call on the knockdown. The punch that knocked Taylor down glanced off the boxer's shoulder and then hit him behind the ear. What part of that made Taylor off balance enough to fall down is irrelevant. The only thing that caused Taylor to fall down was being hit by Lacy. Therefore, it should have been ruled a knockdown. Apparently, the referee believed that the punch got Taylor off balance and then his feet contacted Lacy's feet causing the boxer to go to the mat. It was a quick judgment call and the referee probably realized within a few seconds after the action resumed that he got the call wrong. Both boxers are treating the event as a knockdown, and the referee will probably officiate the rest of the match as if that was a knockdown. Lederman scores round 5 for Lacy, 10-9. Taylor wins round 6, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 58-55. The Olympic medalist takes round 6 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9, and leads on his scorecard after 6 rounds, 59-55.

 

Towards the end of round 7, both boxers have swelling developing around their left eyes. However, it is not a problem for either boxer, yet. Landing a wide variety of punches, Taylor wins round 7, 10-9. Lederman scores round 7 for Taylor, 10-9. Taylor complete out-classes Lacy to win round 8 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. With 2:13 to go in round 9, the boxers come together and someone loses their mouthpiece. The referee recognizes it and calls time with 2:06 to go to let Lacy get his mouthpiece put back in his mouth. After only a few second pause, the action is resumed. Behind a solid jab, Taylor takes round 9 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9, and after 9 rounds Taylor leads on both of our scorecards. Lederman has Taylor ahead, 89-82, while my scorecard has Taylor ahead, 88-82 after 9 rounds. Larry Merchant, who is doing color commentary of this event for HBO, commented that this match resembles last weeks Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones, Jr. In that match, Calzaghe won every round, except for the 1 round in which he was knocked down.

 

Taylor easily wins round 10 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. In the last few rounds, Taylor has begun to do a lot of holding. That is not necessarily an indication that the Olympic medalist is tired. It may be part of adopting the Bernard Hopkins defensive strategy of land a few punches and grab. The holding is also partially being caused by Lacy laying on Taylor. Lacy could counter this by punching with his free hand while Taylor attempts to hold. With 2:47 to go in round 11, the referee calls timeout. He wants the tape on the left glove of Lacy to be secured with more tape. "Left Hook" Lacy has not thrown that punch all night, so the tape being loose on that glove would not have been a factor. The Floridian has become right hand happy turning into "Miss with the Right Hand Lead and Fall-In" Lacy. After a several second pause, the action is resumed. Taylor wins round 11 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. The Olympic medalist wins round 12 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Taylor wins the match on Lederman's scorecard, 119-109. The Little Rock, Arkansas native wins the match on my scorecard, 118-109.

 

The final decision as read by Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored the match: 119-109, 119-109, 118-110, all for the winner by unanimous decision, Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor. The win moves Taylor to 28-2-1 with 17 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

 

The final punchstat numbers have Taylor landing 213 of the 442 total punches he threw, for an outstanding 48% total connect percentage. Taylor landed 107 of the 257 jabs he threw, for a 42% jab connect percentage. The Olympic medalist landed 106 of the 185 power punches he threw, for an astonishing 57% power connect percentage. Lacy landed 75 of the 443 total punches he threw, for an awful 17% total connect percentage. The Floridian landed 29 of the 214 jabs he threw, for a dismal 14% jab connect percentage. Lacy landed 46 of the 229 power punches he threw, for a 20% power connect percentage.

 

Taylor in his post match interview said he was not knocked down in round 5. He said that Lacy stepped on his toe and that caused the fall. Therefore, Taylor is proud of the referee for making the right call. Taylor says he wants Calzaghe.

 

The Arkansas native was very good in this match, and has replaced Lacy as The Ring's number 5 contender at 168 pounds following this victory. This win makes Taylor the mandatory challenger to a belt at 168 pounds that is currently vacant, but will be filled by a match between Carl Froch and Jean Pascal on December 6 at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, England. Taylor is not going to get an immediate match with Calzaghe, even if the Welshman does not stay retired. Therefore, Taylor will probably challenge for that title in February or March. Since, Froch vs. Pascal is being held in Froch's home arena, look for Taylor to be facing Froch in March on HBO. Taylor would probably would be the favorite in that match.

 

Lacy was awful in this match., and following the loss has assumed Taylor's ranking as The Ring's number 10 contender at 168 pounds. With the exception of the one good right hand he landed that dropped Taylor and the fact he kept competing to the end there is very little positive he can take away from this match. Lacy has become obsessed with weightlifting and looking good. He has developed into almost an extreme Tarzan and Jane style boxer. That means he looks like Tarzan and fights like Jane. Lacy has name value that should keep him headlining cards on ESPN and Versus against journeyman opponents for many years. However, any hope that he could ever be a viable title contender should have been erased by this performance.

 

 

This match was non-competitive and boring. The Calzaghe vs. Jones match is a must watch. This portion of the telecast is a fairly easy skip.

 

 

News and Notes: In stark contrast to Calzaghe/Jones 24/7, De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7 debuted on Sunday and it was great. All the key players came off as stars and important. The match seems like an important battle between 2 of the greatest boxers walking the planet. One of the Philippines cabinet secretaries talked about how great Manny Pacquiao was. They then showed footage of children being vaccinated at one of the numerous health clinics that Pacquiao funds. The show continued to call him the most famous man in the country and put him over as a star. Oscar De La Hoya and Freddie Roach were great as always. They cut promos on each other and really sold that this as a match where the people involved do not like each other. This, plus De La Hoya's recent comments make it clear that if he beats Pacquiao, the Olympic gold medalist is not retiring. De La Hoya is enjoying boxing too much. If De La Hoya can keep doing these 24/7 shows hopefully he will box forever. This is the best show on television and a must watch for anyone who reads these articles. There are still numerous replays of this show available and it can also be seen online.

 

Rau'shee Warren who represented the United States in boxing at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics has decided to not turn pro, but return for 1 more run at an Olympic gold medal. Warren won the World Championships at 112 pounds this year, but lost by 1 point in the first round in Beijing. He was the youngest male Olympian on the United States team in 2004 in Athens, and the only member of the Olympic boxing team to not turn pro following the games. In Beijing, Warren became the first 2-time Olympic boxer for the United States in 30 years. At the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Warren will only be 25-years-old and could become the first person to represent the United States in boxing at 3 Olympiads.

 

Telefutura has canceled its weekly Solo Boxeo series. With the cancellation of that and ESPN's Wednesday Night Fights that is going to be at least 60 fewer televised boxing cards per year. At a minimum that will be 120 fewer televised matches per year to showcase young boxers. The loss of these 2 shows could be very bad for the future of boxing in the United States.

 

Paul Williams has vacated his belt at 147 pounds. He is vying for a vacant belt at 154 pounds on November 29 and the rules of that belt's sanctioning body would not allow the big southpaw to hold a title in another weight class and compete for this title. Williams still intends to compete at 147 pounds, where he can probably find the biggest money matches. However, Williams also intends to compete at 154, 160 and 168 pounds simultaneously when the right match up is available. Williams is a physical anomaly. At 6' 1" tall he is taller then Calzaghe, has a wingspan wider then either of the 6' 7" Klitschko brothers and easily cuts to 147 pounds. Following Cristian Mijares' loss to Vic Darchinyan, Williams moved into The Ring's list of the top boxers pound-for-pound at number 10. It appears Miguel Cotto will face Michael Jennings for the now vacant WBO 147-pound title. That match would likely headline an HBO event in February.

 

In the last few days, Shane Mosley has fired his trainer and father, Jack Mosley. Shane's version of "its not you its me" was that they are "just not on the same wavelength." Shane is expected to replace Jack with Bernard Hopkins' trainer, Nazim Richardson. Mosley is expected to return to action on January 24 against Antonio Margarito on HBO. However, the contracts have not been signed and to make that match happen Margarito would have to turn down a bigger guaranteed payday with Williams.

 

 

 

 

The next recap will come out November 23 covering the previous night's HBO event featuring show featuring Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi. Also, I will be on the Bryan and Vinny show this Thursday to talk about SmackDown! vs. Raw 2009.