Jeff Lacy's Career Officially Over

from fightnews:

Moments ago Philly vet Dhafir Smith (25-19-7, 4 KOs) won the biggest fight of his career by defeating former world champion Jeff Lacy (25-4, 17 KOs) by decision at Jannus Landing in St Petersburg, Florida.


Joe. C and shoulder injuries ruined him.

Sad that injuries end your career in that way huh?

when i first saw him fight years ago, i thought that he was going to be a good fighter. he ended up being pretty worthless.

One of the swiftest falls from grace I have ever witnessed.With Lacy I believe a lot of his problems were between his ears.

WinstonSmith wrote:One of the swiftest falls from grace I have ever witnessed.With Lacy I believe a lot of his problems were between his ears.

maybe. Calzaghe laid a beating on him and he physically never seemed 100% afterwards. he left a decent chunk of himself in the ring that night with Joe C.

He didn't have the best career, but I'll remember Lacy and for a time I was a fan. He brought some excitement to the sport. Too bad he couldn't figure it all out. Hope he saved some $.

i saw the results yesterday and said hes more then finished.

I thought it was over when he lost to Roy

captainanddew wrote:

WinstonSmith wrote:One of the swiftest falls from grace I have ever witnessed.With Lacy I believe a lot of his problems were between his ears.

maybe. Calzaghe laid a beating on him and he physically never seemed 100% afterwards. he left a decent chunk of himself in the ring that night with Joe C.

+1

I was at the 2nd Tsypko fight, his first fight after the Calzaghe debacle, and he did not look good. I don't know if it was a hangover from JC or the shoulder, but he was gassed out after 6 or 7 rounds. I think his problem was dedication. He valued his strength more than training.

I guess its easy to figure out a fighters style when his best punch doubles as his nickname.

He split from Dan Birmingham and I think that's where his problems began.

He definitely has a career as a doorman or bouncer if he wants it.

Joe. C and shoulder injuries ruined him.

I was one of those "experts" who thought that Lacy was going to tear Joe Calzaghe a new asshole, boy was I ever wrong. Lacy started out as a damn good fighter, but Calzaghe was in a league all his own, (as much as I hated to admit it) after the loss/beatdown, Lacy was just never the same, and then injuries finished him off.. Like someone said, I hope he put a few dollars back for a rainy day.

Lacy's career ended when his corner refused to pull him out against Calzaghe.

WinstonSmith wrote:One of the swiftest falls from grace I have ever witnessed.With Lacy I believe a lot of his problems were between his ears.

Agreed. Once he found someone he couldn't dominate, he seemed to look at the world in a different way.

Frank wrote:

WinstonSmith wrote:One of the swiftest falls from grace I have ever witnessed.With Lacy I believe a lot of his problems were between his ears.

Agreed. Once he found someone he couldn't dominate, he seemed to look at the world in a different way.

Yeah, Lacy seemed to me like one of these guys who didn't get that just because you're the stronger and maybe more athletic guy in the contest you can still be beaten by superior boxing skill. Very one-dimensional, but there have been plenty of one-dimensional guys who have been sucessful making that one gift work. Just need that mental toughness.

Tobe wrote:

Frank wrote:

WinstonSmith wrote:One of the swiftest falls from grace I have ever witnessed.With Lacy I believe a lot of his problems were between his ears.

Agreed. Once he found someone he couldn't dominate, he seemed to look at the world in a different way.

Yeah, Lacy seemed to me like one of these guys who didn't get that just because you're the stronger and maybe more athletic guy in the contest you can still be beaten by superior boxing skill. Very one-dimensional, but there have been plenty of one-dimensional guys who have been sucessful making that one gift work. Just need that mental toughness.

Good point. I've noticed that fighters who depend on strength alone to win fights, but don't have the bully state of mind, are more effective. They don't see themselves as invincible, just a gifted puncher. Earnie Shavers was one of those guys. He took a few major setbacks and seem to come back after every one of them.

let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

dbudge wrote:let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

Yeah, Joe beat him down. However, if he had mental fortitude, he could've come back from that.

Frank wrote:

dbudge wrote:let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

Yeah, Joe beat him down. However, if he had mental fortitude, he could've come back from that.

no way. taht fight was a complete psychological and physical beatdown. no way did Lacy ever imagine anybody could do that to him, particulary not a 34 year old guy he was meant to walk through. If Lacy's camp had got him out of there earlier then maybe he could have come back from that, but he was victim to a 36 minute public execution. Psychologically a fighter always has to have belief in their own ability to win a fight, the loss to Joe Calzaghe completely destroyed that notion for Lacy, it's not like it was a quick devestating KO, it was the manner of the defeat

dbudge wrote:

Frank wrote:

dbudge wrote:let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

Yeah, Joe beat him down. However, if he had mental fortitude, he could've come back from that.

no way. taht fight was a complete psychological and physical beatdown. no way did Lacy ever imagine anybody could do that to him, particulary not a 34 year old guy he was meant to walk through. If Lacy's camp had got him out of there earlier then maybe he could have come back from that, but he was victim to a 36 minute public execution. Psychologically a fighter always has to have belief in their own ability to win a fight, the loss to Joe Calzaghe completely destroyed that notion for Lacy, it's not like it was a quick devestating KO, it was the manner of the defeat

I have to agree that Joe absolutely ruined the guy.

^ +1

Frank wrote:

dbudge wrote:let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

Yeah, Joe beat him down. However, if he had mental fortitude, he could've come back from that.

he took an absolute pounding. Physically something was taken that night.

captainanddew wrote:

Frank wrote:

dbudge wrote:let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

Yeah, Joe beat him down. However, if he had mental fortitude, he could've come back from that.

he took an absolute pounding. Physically something was taken that night.

Fighters are built to take a physical beating, they do it in practice every day. It's the mental part that causes them to fight differently after a beat down.

flapanther2001 wrote:

captainanddew wrote:

Frank wrote:

dbudge wrote:let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

Yeah, Joe beat him down. However, if he had mental fortitude, he could've come back from that.

he took an absolute pounding. Physically something was taken that night.

Fighters are built to take a physical beating, they do it in practice every day. It's the mental part that causes them to fight differently after a beat down.

Whatever Joe did to him it ruined him. Physically, mentally or both. Joe Calzaghe is the reason that Jeff Lacy began to decline.

hardcorebee24 wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:

captainanddew wrote:

Frank wrote:

dbudge wrote:let's be honest about things here, Joe Calzaghe ruined Lacy's career. he killed Lacy's career and Lacy hasn't been relevant since then. Old as fuck Roy Jones KO'd him as well, this isn't surprising in the slightest anyway

Yeah, Joe beat him down. However, if he had mental fortitude, he could've come back from that.

he took an absolute pounding. Physically something was taken that night.

Fighters are built to take a physical beating, they do it in practice every day. It's the mental part that causes them to fight differently after a beat down.

Whatever Joe did to him it ruined him. Physically, mentally or both. Joe Calzaghe is the reason that Jeff Lacy began to decline.

If that's the case then he wasn't very strong mentally. I've seen a gazillion fighters take beatings that bad or worse & still fight on & win. Case in point, Joe Gatti, Arturo's older brother. He had all the physical tools to be a good fighter, but he didn't like to get hit. On the other side of the coin, his brother thrived on the action.