The outcome depends on the whether or not Lacy has faith in his left shoulder. If he doesn't, Taylor wins. If Lacy comes out throwing bombs, Taylor is in for a long night. Jeff has never been stopped (in the pros). Jermaine has. Even though he has had poor showings in his last four fights, he only lost the Calzaghe fight. Taylor lost two straight to a lesser puncher than Lacy. If Jeff lands something flush, JT is outta here. If he doesn't keep JT honest, JT by UD/SD, whichever. I still think this fight is a toss up. I take Lacy if I have to pick. He controls the outcome of this fight, not Taylor.
I am expecting a Taylor win by UD, and that score is more or less what I have in mind. :good A shutout-near shutout wouldn't surprise me either. A competitive fight would surprise me and a Lacy win would leave me staring at the pc screen like a ****** for hours.
Late Stoppage. Taylor just ain't that good. Without HBO and their gift decisions, he's another Olympic washout, no better than Lacy.
I think you're selling Taylor short. I'm not a big fan of his, but I believe he's better than you're making him out to be. Remember, Taylor did a much better job against Pavlik in their second fight. I personally scored the fight for Taylor. Meanwhile, Lacy got questionable decisions against Mendoza and Manfredo.
I thought he lost the rematch with Hopkins and his fight with Winky he may have lost, too, but I thought he genuinely beat Hopkins their first go at it, and I am a big times Hopkins fan. The fact that he fought three competitive fights against elite talents like Hopkins and Wright lead me to believe he is a very good boxer. I think he lacks focus, and is not very smart inside the ring, but he has amazing physical abilities and, at times, good fighting instincts. I think you're selling him short, Zakman. If he wins impressively tonight, might you change your mind?
Here's what I think. I was gonna make essentially the same argument to BigReg's post as well. In my view, Taylor is a guy who got a lot of hype, and then should have lost twice to Hopkins, once to Wright, and arguably to Cory Spinks, and then to Pavlik twice - that's his record, as I see it, at the world class level. ONE clear win against Kassim Ouma - who was subsequently shown to be very overrated himself - does not prove much as I see it. To me, Lacy and Taylor are pretty comparable fighters. Neither has done much to live up their hype. However, Lacy's a harder hitter and Taylor's coming up from a lower weight division. That's why I think he wins. Now, if all those who are saying Lacy is done are right, then Taylor might win. One thing's for sure - if it goes to the cards, history would indicate that whatever has happened in the ring, Taylor's getting the nod.
Fair enough, but I don't think you're ever giving him the benefit of the doubt. For one, I truly believe he beat Hopkins the first time. He swept the first 8 (barring the 5th) in close rounds, and was beaten decisively over the final four. But even if he did not deserve victory in the first Hopkins bout, he STILL fought cometitively against guys like Hopkins and Winky, and to me, that MEANS something. Here's to hoping we get a good fight, whatever the outcome. :cheers
i remember this being hyped as a hagler-hearns match as a future possiblity about 4-5 years ago..., now i see it as a leonard-hearnsII type fight.., 50/50 but ill take lacy to stop taylor around the 9th..., DAN hope:bbb