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Lacy Splits With Shaw
JOHN C. COTEY, Times Staff Writer
Published August 15, 2006
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Almost a year to the day after their greatest moment together, St. Petersburg's Jeff Lacy and his promoter, Gary Shaw, are no longer a team.
Shaw's tireless promotion and Lacy's charisma and vicious in-ring style helped draw 16,000 to the St. Pete Times Forum last August to see the then-IBF super middleweight champion bludgeon Robin Reid in a card that exceeded all expectations.
Today, they are going their separate ways.
"Basically, I wanted to do my own thing," Lacy said. "Me and Gary, we still have a relationship, but there comes a time when a fighter wants to do his own thing."
Shaw, who deserves a lot of credit for guiding Lacy to the IBF super-middleweight title, said he hasn't talked to the fighter since late July. He said that conversation ended poorly, with Lacy upset after being told he would be fighting on the undercard of the Oct. 2 card headlined by Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor.
Lacy said fighting on an undercard had nothing to do with his decision; fighting in October, though, did.
In the time off since losing his title to Joe Calzaghe in March, Lacy said he gained nearly 30 pounds - topping out around 195 - and did not want to rush to meet the 168-pound limit by Oct. 2.
He said he thought he had a November date, but Shaw said that was contingent on the opponent being Tampa's Antonio Tarver.
Those negotiations fell apart, leaving him with a $350,000 offer to fight Allan Green in October.
Lacy decided he wanted to proceed at his own pace.
"That's why I pulled out of that fight," he said.
Lacy said he has more options as a free agent. He has always had a handshake deal with Shaw, and might pursue similar deals with other promoters. He said he is not limited to certain cards or certain networks, and can choose the fights he wants.
One of those could be on the undercard of pal Winky Wright's next event, if it's at the Times Forum and the money is right, Lacy said.
"We're working on a deal to get in on the Winky fight if it comes here Dec. 2," Lacy said. "If it comes here with Winky and whoever he's fighting, we're going to fight on the undercard. Me and Winky are looking to bring it here together."
NEXT UP: Wright is expected to name an opponent for his Dec. 2 fight on HBO pay-per-view soon, with the leading candidates being junior middleweights Kassim Ouma and Ike Quartey and WBA middleweight champion Javier Castillejo.
Quartey or Ouma who is signed with Golden Boy Promotions, the company Wright recently teamed with would draw bigger pay-per-view numbers, but Castillejo has a belt and is probably the easiest fight for Wright.
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