Oakley vs Britkid!

[Snakey]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first bout of this evening. Brought to you by saddoboxing.

In the blue corner, he stands 18ft tall, from london England. BRRIIIIIITTTT THE MEAN MACHINE KIIIIDDDD!

Now in the red corner, he stands 15ft tall, from Worthing England, he is a champion in ju jitsu, grekko roman wrestling and muay thai. JAAAAAAAAAAMMMMESSSS IRON OAAAAAKKKKLEEEY!
im james iron oakley.

Now every body...LLLLLLEEEEETTTSS GEEEEETTTT REEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAADDDDDDY TOOOOO RUUUUUMMMMMBBBLLLLLLEEEE!




Boys and girls lets not post in this thread until the fight is over and the decision has been announced, it'll work better think if this thread is clutter free for the time being

[oakleyno1]

right, im here to state the case for jeff lacys demise when he finally fights joe C.

Calzaghe, firstly is a much better boxer than lacy, he has shown with his 31 kos that he can bang hard aswell.
He has sucessfully defended his middleweight title 17 times and is the longest reining champion in boxing today. In a competitive division this is quite a feat.
He has shown he can beat the best in the world on numerous occasions. He has beateh chris eubank a former middleweight champion. Robin reid, another xchampion, and another richie woodhall. aswell as the previously unbeatten mario veit.

Joe is also an active champion, since winning the title has fought nearly every year at least twice.
people accuse him of avioding fights, however hge has fought many unbeaten fighters and even outboxed evans ashira with one arm.
this is not a champion who is running scared.

jeff lacy however is a relatively unexperienced fighter with only 21 fights although he has won all so far, However his level of competition is really inferior to joes. His most recent fight vs scott peemberton was a ko win for lacy, however recently pemberton was knocked out by peter manfredo, who gained fame through a tv show!. his best opponent is robin reid, who joe himself has already beaten, lacy is yet to be tested unlike calzaghe and will surely fall now he has someone who will stand up to him.

[SimonH]

And I am here to state the case for a Lacy win.

Lacy is the latest of the classic blue chip American fighters. A conveyor belt for talent, that has given the world the likes of Leonard, Hearns, Whitaker and de la Hoya.

Lacy has been brought up the right way; 209-12 as an Amateur, culminating in an appearance at the Sydney Olympics.

His pro career has been impressive from day one; putting a devastating KO streak together, against some fair opposition for a novice. In only his eighth bout, a mere year into his pro career, Lacy beat Glenn Thomas, a former hot prospect and a top contender for the IBF Middleweight crown, in a single round.

But then Lacy stepped to the next level, despite only having gone three rounds with anyone as a pro, Lacy showed his true pedigree in his next bout, by going the distance for the first time (10 rounds), with the teat tough journeyman, Bobby Jones. And he furthered his education by going the 12 round distance with the likes of fringe contenders, Ross Thompson and Richard Grant.

So what!!! You might say; Thompson, Grant and Jones, were no Eubank or even Byron Mitchell, and you are right. But remember, these were learning fights, meant to help Lacy step up to World Class as soon as possible.

And what a step up to World class it has been. Initially he had two finding his feet fights with Vanderpool and Sheika, but since then, he has found his stride, and the experience he has gained from his early career, is now bearing fruit.

Against Robin Reid, a fighter thought to of beaten Calzaghe, by some, he was devastating; blasting out the previously never stopped Reid in eight very impressive and extremely one-sided rounds. And then to follow it up with the victory over then streaking Pemberton, further establishes Lacy as top 168lber, who is possibly at or reaching his peak.

Unlike Calzaghe, Lacy is at or near his peak; unlike Calzaghe, Lacy is hungry. If I had to explain in one sentence why Jeff will beat Joe I would say this:

Lacy is looking at the Calzaghe fight as a stepping-stone for bigger and better things; Joe is looking at the bout as one final big payday…

[SimonH]

Round Two

Is Joe past it?

Joe Calzaghe won his WBO title in October 1997! It is seemingly an amazing feat, to keep the title for over 8 years, but is it really as impressive as it seems?

Beating Chris Eubank is on paper eye catching, but Joe had him down very early, and could not finish him off, like Carl Thompson did… twice! And in 1997, Eubank was two years removed from losing to Collins, and he had looked pretty ordinary ever since the Rocchigiani fight in early 94.

And then you have Calzaghe’s next big fight, an encounter with Robin Reid. Tut, tut, tut, Joe very nearly blew it big time. Despite Reid looking terrible losing his WBC title to Malinga, and only having one fight in nearly 18 months since then, he gave Calzaghe fits, and Joe was lucky to escape with his belt.

Struggling in awful fights with the likes of Dave Starie and Rick Thornberry, Joe showed his tendency to fight down to opponents level, and his lazy and casual attitude in the ring, lucky for him, the likes of a Starie and Thornberry unlike Lacy, were non punchers.

He then had another epic struggle with a former Middleweight in Richie Woodhall, he won in 10, and people praised him, saying he looked as good as ever had done during his reign, and to be fair, it probably was his peak performance. The date of that fight: December 16 2000.

Since then, Joes great chin has failed him twice, and he has had to struggle though fights with the likes of an aging Charles Brewer. But luckily for Joe, the WBO has taken pity on him; after blasting Mario Veit out in a round in a mandatory, the WBO in due course ordered he fight another Mandatory, against… Mario Veit!!!


Calzaghe has the numbers, no doubt, be does he really have the pedigree to beat someone of Lacy’s stature? Joe has yet to beat a prime truly World Class fighter, and unlike Lacy, Joe has had eight years to answer this question, but for what ever reason, has failed to do so.

[oakleyno1]

calzaghe has also been brought up i the boxing world, he had an excellent career as an amatuer and had 3 different aba titles in different weights.
joe has called out different ledgends such as roy jones and bernard hopkins however the fights have never been made, and after he defeats lacy will move up to light heavyweight to try and take on antonio tarver of glencoffe johnson, this is a boxer who wants to fight the best only.
joe also fought impresive opposision for a mnew pro when he moved up from amatuer in 1993, hhis very first fight was agiaast a man that had taklen to the ring professionaly no less than 23 times.
in 1996 he beat unbeaten mark delany for the british title and has never looked back.
people may say he is past his peak? this is strange considering he has recejtl;y beaten evans ashira with one arm and knocked out mario veit. peeople say viet is not a contender, funny how he has beaten every other opponent he has ever faced.
people question his chin agaist someone like lacy, joe has been down 2 times in his career and in both fights he has got back up and has also knnocked the opponent down.
Has lacy ever even been in the ring with a world class fighter before with prehaps the exception of an ageing robin reid? i dont think so, joe leads in experience big time. People say joe has had eight years to fight someone world class, well lacy has just fought scott pemberton and we all know what just happened to him. Lacy has never been in with someone who can box like joe can, someone as ring wise and sly. He doesnt have the intelligence to have a plan B, he has been bread to be a KO artist. Joe has never been knnocked out. and has gone the distance many more times than lacy, can anyone really say lacy will beat calzaghe? no, hes never proven himself can anyone say joe will beat jeff? yes i think so hes been in with mutiple world champions and unbeaten fighters. not someone lacy will just bully like usual

ill start round 3 2moz cheers for this guys

[Gandalf]

's guys for an interesting thread......and oakley is from worthing? so am i, small world!!!

[oakleyno1]

Joe Calzaghe after 8 years at the top of his division and after 14 defences so really not need to prove himself any more. His career and record are flawless. He is accused of not going for the 'big' fights. However as we know in 1997 he was schduled to fight steve collins the champion of the wbo belt at the time however colins pulled out and soonly retired, not joes falut. As to beign past his prime, he is 32 years yound, when you compare him to champions such as lennox lewis and george foreman he stil has his best to give there is no doubt.
people may say he is an unsused talent, number one he is not and number two even if he was there is tije to turn it around, once he has beaten lacy he plans to steo up to light heavy and take on glencoffe johnson or tarver, this is not a fighter who did not have the desire to fight the best.
The style in which lacy fights, as long as joe sticks to his plan will work into the hands of the welshman, if lacy is to come at him, which is the only way he knows then there is no doubt joe will box circles around him, lacys stamina dsipte going long rounds has never been truly tested, due to lackluster opponents running from him and therefore introducing no fatigue and battle factors. jow however is a proven warrior inthe ring.
Lacys chin has also never been tested, he guards it well credit to him but if joe counters who knows if lacy will be able to take the punches, nobody has ever hit him like joe will before.
At the end of the day lacy is relatively inexprienced and in truth untalented compared to joe, as long ass joe does not ytry to engauge in a brawl early on, which he has the intelligence not to then there is not alot lacy has that can win him the fight.

[alex w]

oakley you come from worthing? thats not far from me mate, i train at hove... you ever been to the club?

[SimonH]

Early on in his pro career, it was obvious that Lacy’s weight meant he could not fight at Middleweight and would need time to grow into a Light Heavyweight. So this meant Lacy was stuck in a division dominated by Europeans. So from early on Lacy’s management made sure he visited Britain, with an eye on a fight with Calzaghe.

He was devastating on the undercard of the Calzaghe’s snore fest with Jimenez, in 2002, and then fought once more in Britain in late 2003 on the undercard of Hatton/Tackie. So Lacy is fully aware of the atmosphere of a passionate sell out crowd in Britain.

You see Lacy is taking no chances in this fight, he could of fought Calzaghe a year/18 months back, but then it would have been a 50/50 bout. So Lacy’s management cleverly manipulated the situation, to give Lacy more experience, and for Calzaghe to get that bit older, and past his best.

Style wise, Lacy will love it, Joe will be there to be hit. He lacks the speed to use his advantage in reach, and Calzaghe rarely fights on the back foot, he likes to come forward, which will suit Lacy down to the ground. Lacy is the most powerful fighter Joe has ever met, and if the likes of a Mitchell and Ashira, have troubled him, imagine what will happen when Lacy releases his firepower onto Calzaghe’ chin.

And you also have to look into Joe’s mental and physical conditioning; he has had one or two personal problems… sorry, back problems lately! He also showed that he becomes star struck when his name gets mentioned with the finest in boxing. When he looked like he might fight Roy Jones a few years back, he spoke like a loser; ‘It is a great honour to fight him’, ‘I will give it my best’, hardly the words of someone confident in their ability to win a big fight. More like the words used by the likes of Bruno, Bugner, Sibson and Green when they had their big fights with the likes of Tyson, Ali, Frazier, Hagler and Leonard….

Joe has been a stand out for British boxing for the last 10 years, as he has tried to gain the fame and credibility that Benn and Eubank had in the early 90s, but sadly due in part to the lack of terrestrial TV coverage, and poor opposition, he has failed. But maybe in losing bravely to Lacy, Joe will get the respect in defeat he never quite achieved in his 40 wins. Britain’s love a loser, who goes out on their shield. Â

[SimonH]

So to sum up my points:

Jeff is the blue chipper in this fight, he has the pedigree, his career development has been built up in such a way, that this is the next logical step for Lacy, before he goes on to do bigger and better things.

But that comment is not meant to mock or belittle Calzaghe, Joe has shown over the last 10 years that he will be a fair test for Lacy. Jeff will have a fight on March 4th, he will win it, not easily, but I am certain he will in it clearly.

Lacy will be too much for Joe, but I think Calzaghe’s pride in front of his own crowd will keep the fight competitive for a while, before Lacy does finally get totally on top, and then Joe’s bravery will show, as I think his heart will mean he will not quit.

Lacy is far from the finished article, but he is that good now, that he needs to fight the Calzaghe’s of this world, to have a meaningful fights and help him learn, so when the even bigger fights come, he is ready.

Calzaghe has stated this is his career defining fight; it is unlikely he will have a bigger fight in his career, so he will give it everything he is got. But I think he knows he cannot win, his body is not what was 6/8 years ago, he seems to get a lot more injuries and has become stale, by meeting mediocre to adequate opposition, that have rarely tested him, unless he had his sloppy head on.

Lacy is no 97 Eubank, Lacy is no Richie Woodhall, Lacy is no Robin Reid, and Lacy is most certainly no feather fisted German WBO mandatory, he his much, much better than that. Joe has had a good run, I suspect he is not short of a penny or two, and he is probably getting paid well for this fight, but come March 5th 2006, he will be a former undefeated fighter, and we will be turning our attention to Lacy/Taylor and Lacy/Tarver. Â

[oakleyno1]

i willl make the final post 2moz, memba judges pm the annoucer

[skel1983]

Who's the judges??

[Memphis]

Myself Jimboogie and Smash, boys PM your scores to Snakey.

I wasnt aware of a summing up round so have disregarded yours BK , I think a summing up round could gloss over cracks in your previous rounds (not you directly but in general)

[SimonH]

Myself Jimboogie and Smash, boys PM your scores to Snakey.

I wasnt aware of a summing up round so have disregarded yours BK , I think a summing up round could gloss over cracks in your previous rounds (not you directly but in general)

That is my fourth round, Oakley still needs to post his fourth round.

[Memphis]

Really? I thought it was 3?

Some judge I am