Was Jeff Lacy a fake or did Calzaghe ruin him?

[Manuel "Chubby" Medina]

Overrated

[Violent Demise]

I say both. Anybody that paid attention knew Lacy was overrated. Severely overrated. But Calzaghe did ruin him. He turned Lacy from a C fighter into a D fighter

[luvfightgame]

I voted Joe ruined him. I somewhat agree with Violent.... except I would say a A fighter to a B fighter. He has what it takes to be a top guy, but he was never gonna be an all time great. Good power, chin, work rate. Plenty of flaws.

Overall I think most fans overate every fighter. Continually talking about this mythical skill level that someone else is lacking. Lacy was good in his prime, and he got his prime ended by Joe.

[Andre]

Neither ....... I think Lacy was a powerful, intimidating go-ahead fighter who put people under pressure and had good finishing power. With the benefit of hindsight, he couldn't fight effectively going backwards (he liked to get into a rhythmn and keep that same rhythmn going). He was made to be countered, and because he didn't throw good combinations, a fighter who moved him around, had good handspeed, and could get off first was always going to push him hard.

We seem very quick to put boxers into huge categories .... 'all time great', 'fraud' etc etc.

Styles make fights ...... the whole point of boxing is it's intangibles ...... Ali losing to Frazier, Foreman wroecking Frazier, Ali kayoing Foreman. There are no logical equations in boxing !!

Good stuff.
I admit back in the day I also thought he may have been a great but at the same time when you see someone with that sort of power comming off just the basics you automatically think he has to get better as he goes along, but he didnt.

I thought" if that guy had more head movment. " If he works on stretching his body and legs and gets more mobile and flexable and then works off more angles hes going to be able to rule with power punches. Turns out he wasn't trained that way.

You can say the same for Bojardo at that same time; ,natuarlly sat on punches at the right time .tight defence from straight out in front and turned on a dime so that others stayed straight out in front.
Same thing if he got fitter more flexable and kept what he had but created more angles he could of been better by far.

Turns out he was a lazy boy and thought he was a natural and it was all going to be just a given: so he hardly got trained any further or regimented in any way let alone a certain way to add to his natural skill. Shame, such a waste.

But those people who study it close cant force these guys to training harder or force them to be trained correctly to enhance their natural abilities.

Most gyms train fighters in exactly the same way until they shine out then they start to redevelop some things. It should be more personal from the start and more shaping and steering around each fighters natural abilites.

Thats why these guys who get trained by their fathers get whats required exactly when its required.
Think about how many of the top untouchable champions that are trained and taught all the way through by their own dad!, they are most of the ones who really shine out. I recon Tyson got adopted for that reason too.

Its also very easy to be correct in hind sight or at the time against a boxing system that relies on hype to up the excitment to bring in new faces and dollars prior to a fighter actually proving themselves beyond doubt.

[Scrap]

What happened with Joe and the circumstances surrounding it, caused Lacy to lose Belief in Himself But more importantly in His Team. They let Him down. I bet He feels He is now on His own when He gets in the Ring. His clear Head concept isnt clear anymore.

[Pugilistic]

Lacy was a good strong pressure fighter.

Calzaghe was simply in a different class and exposed him.

The beating Joe gave him and the shoulder injury really has fucked his career up.

[Kel]

I voted Joe ruined him. I somewhat agree with Violent.... except I would say a A fighter to a B fighter. He has what it takes to be a top guy, but he was never gonna be an all time great. Good power, chin, work rate. Plenty of flaws.

Overall I think most fans overate every fighter. Continually talking about this mythical skill level that someone else is lacking. Lacy was good in his prime, and he got his prime ended by Joe.

He was never an A fighter man your being way to generous.

[Andre]

Lacy was a good strong pressure fighter.

Calzaghe was simply in a different class and exposed him.

The beating Joe gave him and the shoulder injury really has fucked his career up.

True , but like Scrap just said though ,it starts and ends in their mind first.
Its a hard road back from there if your core belief has gone out with it,then more physical trouble usually follows.

[Scrap]

Great Fighters, dont get hit much. When they do they stop being great

[Scrap]

One point, The Game is called the Art of Self Defence, which means it is better to give than recieve. Ahmen to That.

[The Shadow]

He sure as hell wasn't fake, and I don't think Calzaghe ruined him, although he did give him a bad beating. Lacy, not unlike Vernon Forrest, never seemed to fully recovery from their torn-rotator cuff injuries. All bodies are different, though, and it can't be left unsaid that this is the most taxing of sports.
I think if anything would apply in this case, it was just that Lacy was a bit over-rated and never thoroughly tested until he faced Calzaghe. And we all know what happened in that 'fight'.

[leftylee]

Calzaghe ruined him. But he weren't great to begin with.

[jon09]

Calzaghe exposed Lacy the way Hopkins did to Pavlik. Lacy vs Pavlik could be an interesting match up in the future.

[johnsebastianmiran]

Lacy was inexperienced and basically untested and Joe had been around for a while and he had experience and experience takes apart youth especially when you don't listen to your trainers.

[The Shadow]

Calzaghe exposed Lacy the way Hopkins did to Pavlik. Lacy vs Pavlik could be an interesting match up in the future.

Yeah, please don't forget to pass the crack pipe to your right, buddy.