Who else could he have fought to prepare him? He destroyed Reid, who gave Calzaghe a tough time, he fought contenders like Sheika, Pemberton, and wanted (like all fighters with great heart do) to fight the best. He was prepared as he was ever going to be for Calzaghe.
I wouldnt say Pemberton and Sheika would prepare him for Calzahge. Joe is a pretty slick fighter, with a lot of experience. Sheika and Pemberton are right in front of you all night.
Well when you manage a fighter, you want to bring him a long giving him looks at all styles. First guys they can outclass and then guys that have durable chins, and then guys that give you looks at different styles, while not being too tough that they beat you. I know thats easier said then done, but to me, Lacy never faced a guy who could move, box and punch similar to Calzahges style. It was evident the way he was completely outclassed by Calzahge, and completely looked lost in the fight. To be honest, I would have to go through the fighters to pick them out because Im not too familiar with super middles, but I know this for sure, his manager is notorious for getting name fighters they can beat and then throwing them in fights they're not ready for. Just like Panchito Bojado, Shaw rushed Lacy into fights that suited his agenda better than Lacy's.
While I think Lacy wasn't properly prepared mentally to face JC, I agree with Illmatic that it was going to be impossible to hold him off any longer. There was no other meaningful out there for him except Kessler, and that fight couldn't be made at the time. In retrospect, I think had Lacy lost to Kessler in November when JC pulled out due to the injury, it would have been much better for Jeff. It's highly unlikely he'd have taken the same level of beating, and then he could have licked his wounds and worked his way back up. As it was, the outcome against Calzaghe was unavoidable. And for the record, I don't think Jeff ever would beat that version of Joe. Still, though, I think he could have been more prepared mentally -- though I give all credit to Calzaghe for a great fight, the Lacy he fought was frozen and inferior to the previous incarnations of Lacy -- and his corner should have stopped the bout to preserve his career. I suspect that he will never be close to the same pre-Calzaghe. Hope I'm wrong.
As for Berto, I agree that he has some of the same flaws as Lacy and could be in trouble against a mover. On the other hand, perhaps his chin isn't as good and he'll simply get KOd, rather than absorb a prolonged beating. I'm more worried about Paul Williams, who gets caught cleanly and seems to be one of those guys with a good chin who doesn't mind getting hit. That could be trouble against the wrong opponent, especially because the Punisher fights with so much heart.
Showed true heart in that fight. I felt bad as he was getting pounding. His mistake was that, he was overwhelmed by the crowd and was looking for 1 punch.
Not really, more so that Berto has shown me is a good offensive fighter that has some holes in his game just like Lacy did. Hes now being moved into the upper part of the division where guys are going to be able to expose some of those holes. Look what happened to Edison Miranda. Sometimes these bangers look like dynamos blowing guys out, but when they get in their with a solid technician, they get taken apart. I dont think Calzahge is some dynamo that cant be matched. I think a guy like Hopkins, Pavlik, Wright, would have done the same thing to Lacy, which was nullify his lefthook and take him to pieces.
There are some similarities between Lacy and Berto.Both used to be quite mediocre amateur fighters who couldnt hold a candle to the better cubans and the fighters from the countries of the former soviet union.Both boxers have been hyped by the american media,and both have been able to look quite impressive against average American journeymen and other mediocre opposition. Lacy was totally schooled and taken out of the fight by Gaidar Gaidarbekov,and got a lesson by Joe Calzaghe as well as a gift decision against Vitaly Tsypko. As soon as Berto faces top notch international opposition he will be exposed as was Lacy against Calzaghe.
Im also of the belief that Berto is following a similiar path to Lacy, because he is quite similiar. I dont think however Berto will be put in the same position because Lacy looked crap in fights before his title reign but never was in danger of loosing a fight, which you could argue Berto has been. So I think they know what kind of fighter they have but now they are much more aware of his weak points and will probably be more careful with him. Plus Welter is in a transition phase at the moment, lots of new blood, lots of elite fighters hanging there. Berto will not be on anyones radar for some time, so there is a chance to develop him a little more carefully. Joe was kind of on his own for a while there and most thought he was getting to end of his reign. Few expected him to do what he did to Lacy. I think most people know chucking Berto in against the very best at welter would be suicide, whereas Lacy taking on Joe looked like such a promising opportunity beforehand.
You seem to be bitter about Lacy for some reason. He deserves more credit than that. He beat a host of solid contenders, even if most of them were aging, and he never ducked anyone. And while you love to blame the American media for Lacy's overhype, even some European posters here predicted Jeff to beat Cal, or at least called it a 50/50 fight. And Lacy fought evenly -- I agree the decision could have gone the other way -- against Tsypko after suffering a serious injury early in the fight. He had dominated to that point.