04.03.06 – By Izyaslav “Slava” Koza: Tonight, as I watched Welshman Joe Calzaghe take the pain to American Jeff Lacy, one picture kept reappearing in my head and it was surprisingly of the great Jack Johnson. Yes, Calzaghe won every round, yes, he had the far superior handspeed, but the main reason why I think he won the fight was his willingness to clinch, hold, grab, and claw to keep Lacy’s offense at bay.. Jack Johnson, as many of the old time fighters, had to know how to conserve his energy as he fought fights well above even the old 15 round limit, especially in a less than climate controlled environment like an indoor arena. Joe Calzaghe was a true student of that technique, as this fight demonstrated. In each round, the Welshman had more then enough energy, conserved from all the holding, to rip Lacy apart as the American closed in to receive more punishment.
What Calzaghe basically did was fire quick combinations (and I mean quick) and either move away to not allow Lacy to respond, as Lacy mostly took them on the gloves, like Winky Wright, or grab Lacy’s arms and hold. Even if Jeff Lacy would land good shots, and there were possibly four good shots landed by him in the fight, Calzaghe was always within Ruiz range. To me, it was obvious Lacy was on his way to losing a unanimous decision, as early as the fourth round.
As a boxing fan, I don’t condone this strategy, of course; I think it’s not really boxing, but rather similiar to wrestling and the reason why, in my opinion, Jack Johnson would not be a popular television fighter today. However, I am not the third man in the ring. TV fighters, like James Toney, Floyd Mayweather, Arturo Gatti, Oscar De La Hoya, have made tons more than Calzaghe because they know how to fight without this tactic, but save for PBF, all have losses (and a tougher list of opponents but that is another story).
In a perfect world, the referee would enforce the rules, as I understand them against excessive holding and make warnings and take away points. We all know, however, boxing is not perfect. Though, Raul Caiz did take away a single point from Calzaghe in the 11th for a blatant WWF headlock. Nevertheless, by that time, he could have taken away 3 or 4 points and it would not matter one iota. Lacy was well behind on the cards, very tired, and save for a warning of disqualification to Calzaghe, Lacy had no real chance, even if he landed a single lightning shot.
Jeff Lacy’s crucial mistake was first and foremost, his overconfidence, as he alluded to in the post fight comments. However, equally as important was, in my opinion, his inability, or nature, of not wanting to make it dirty. He was too complacent inside, too willing to not do anything when Calzaghe tied him up. He waited for the ref to break them up and waited through most of the fight giving away round after round. Only in the end, when frustration set in, did he begin to focus on presenting his case to the referee, but by then it was too late, even though, as mentioned previously, Caiz did take a point away.
What Jeff Lacy should have done, as after watching this fight, I think all fighters should do, is prepare for dirty old school fights like this. Jeff Lacy said he had sparred with Winky Wright, but the problem was his opponent was not a tight defense jabber, like say Felix Sturm. Winky Wright can’t really help prepare Jeff Lacy for fighting a clincher-type guy like this. Instead, I think Jeff Lacy should have had bigger guys, cruiserweights, or perhaps even heavyweights, who would lean on him and practice inside pushing around and tying up for whole rounds during sparring. This may sound silly but in recent high profile fights, this is precisely the tactic that won it for the likes of Ricky Hatton, Wladimir Klitschko, and our own personal pet peeve, John Ruiz.
Again, ideally the referee forces them to fight, not clinch, yet if a guy is allowed to get away with it, they will make use of it, and the opponent should be ready to counter. Instead of complaining to the referee when it didn’t matter, what Jeff Lacy should have done is what Nikolai Valuev did to Gerald Nobles. In the very first round, when Nobles went to tie Valuev up, Valuev jerked his body and threw Nobles to the canvas. That may seem dirty or cheap, and we as fans may say “what a jerk,” yet Gerald Nobles was weary when it came to tying Valuev up. If Valuev hadn’t used that tactic, that fight might have gone on for much longer. In Kostya Tsyzu’s younger days, when he would corner guys and they would try to grab his arms, he would shove them away and continue pummeling.
The referee may get on the pusher’s case because that is a more visual foul, then an inside tie up, but it is then that a fighter can plead his case about wanting to actual fight and box and not hug and waltz.
Bottom line is, Joe Calzaghe won, as I predicted he would, more based on experience rather than such a wide margin, but I felt it was as much Lacy’s mistake. We, as fans, may complain about calls, and certain actions of fighters, but if they want to win, they have to do what it takes. In Jack Johnson’s time, it was expected, in our time its not, which is why Jeff Lacy has our respect as a true warrior and a nice guy, but he is the one with the Loss on his record. Had he shoved Joe Calzaghe or pushed him off as early as the first and risked a warning or a point deduction, he would not in retrospect explain why he lost. I don’t think he used it as an excuse but a reason for why Calzaghe was able to win. Joe might have very well retaliated with a shove of his own had Lacy responded to the holding, but without a Lacy response, Calzaghe did not need to take it further then he did to win.
Congratulations to Joe Calzaghe on winning, and congratulations to Jeff Lacy for learning that sometimes dirty determination is what it takes to win. Nice guys often finish last in boxing.