03.08.05 – Photo: Tom Casino / Showtime: Undefeated IBF super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy skips rope during an open media workout Wednesday in Tampa, Fla.
With a world title unification showdown looming against WBO 168-pound titleholder Joe Calzaghe later this year, IBF Super Middleweight Champion Jeff Lacy will first have to defend his crown against former world champion and current IBO super middleweight kingpin, Robin Reid, on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Saturday, Aug. 6, 2005, at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). Lacy, who has battled opponents in nine different states, as well as England and Wales, will fight in front of his hometown fans for the first time as a pro. This is Lacy’s 13th appearance on SHOWTIME.
JEFF “LEFT HOOK’’ LACY (19-0, 15 KOs): “I am very excited about defending my title in my hometown and, for me, this is more than a dream come true because, really, I never believed something like this could happen. I would like to thank my promoter, Gary Shaw, and SHOWTIME for making this fight happen. Time-wise, it is taking forever for Saturday to get here. Two weeks ago, it seemed like a month out. Here we are, a few days away, and it still seems like two weeks away. So, I am ready to fight..
“I consider any opponent a dangerous one so I am not going to underestimate Reid. I do not watch a lot of tapes. That is not my job. But I am very confident that I will win. I expect to go out and do what my trainer and I have worked on for the last two months and put on a spectacular show.
“Reid is a veteran. He did not come all the way from England to lose. He knows the taste of what it is like to be a world champion. He also knows the taste of what it feels like to lose it. I do not want to taste that feeling. I am proud to be IBF champion. I take my job very seriously. I worked hard to win the title; now I am working even harder to keep it. I like the feel of wearing the belt around my waist.’’
ROBIN “THE GRIM REAPER’’ REID* (38-4-1, 27 KOs): “Lacy is a good fighter and a great champion, but he is still rather new to the game and I have a lot of experience in big fights and am a slick mover. Lacy has some weaknesses. I am going to expose them.
“All the pressure is on him. They are already talking about a fight with Joe Calzaghe. Of course, I think that is a mistake to look past me. Lacy is a powerful puncher. I think he is as strong with the right hand as he is with the left. But I am a counter-puncher who does best with guys who come forward
“I am not saying this will be an easy fight because technically it is going to be a hard fight. But I can make it easier by using everything in my arsenal and by doing all the things I know I am capable of doing. I am in fantastic shape. I have some tricks that can create a lot of problems for Lacy.
“I do not think I have to win by knockout just because this is his hometown. I have not got some decisions that should have gone my way in the past when I fought on the road, but I won the WBC title in Italy so I know it can be done. If I do my job the way I am supposed to, I trust the judges will do theirs and score each round as they go.’’
* Photo: TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME: Former WBC super middleweight champion Robin Reid hits the mitts during an open media workout Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. Reid will try and spoil the homecoming of Jeff Lacy when he challenges the unbeaten IBF 168-pound champion Saturday on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).