Time for people to admit

yeah i do, i think it's kind of inevitable. it was a big fight, a unification bout between a hyped KO artist and the hometown boy. the buildup in the online boxing community certainly added to it as well with most writing calzaghe completely off so the backlash was always going to be big as well.

but yeah it's pretty overhyped. it was just fun as a calzaghe fan to see him explode onto the world scene like that in such devestating fashion and see people who were unsure about him saying, "actually this boy is pretty damn good".

to be fair even we didn't realise he could be that good.

 

he's just said why it's a big deal. stop stirring ****.

 

It is true, I think that Lacy suffered terribly from the loss to Calzaghe, and will probably not recover. But prior to that, most posters here, myself included, picked Lacy to KO Joe. He seemed to powerful and motivated for the seemingly more fragile Calzaghe.
It is obvious in hindsight that Lacys corner did him no favor allowing him to go the distance, and Jeff took punishment, physically as well as mentally that he'll not recover from.

 

It wasn't an outstanding win, it was a decent win, but more importantly an important win. Because for some reason it was a breakthrough for him, in America at least.

However, whatever you say about Lacy Calzaghe was outstanding that night, his own performance level was top.

 

It was still a great win for Joe at a very important time in his career. Don't forget that Calzaghe had looked **** in the fights preceding Lacy (being decked by Salem in a messy one, labouring against Ashira) and was in need of an impressive performance badly. We got more than an impressive performance - he hardly had a glove laid on him all night long. For how **** Lacy has looked since, Joe Calzaghe, that night - in that frame of mind was awesome.

It's very easy to discredit a win in hindsight. But that just conveniently forgets and neglects the cards that were on the table at the time. The general consensus was that Joe was a fighter in decline and Lacy was a destructive force ready to wipe him out.

Just look at this link:

http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/3430/lacy-calzaghe-fight-predictions/

If ever one fight changed the perception of Joe Calzaghe worldwide, it was the Lacy one.

 

The performance was world class. The opponent it was against wasn't. Similar to the Pac-Diaz fight in those regards.

It obvious to see that Lacy isn't the man a lot of people thought he was but i do believe he is less of a fighter than he used to be.

Pre-Calzaghe fight, Lacy would have knocked out Manfredo and Mendoza. However, i do not believe Lacy looked bad in these fight's because his skill's have deteriorated post-Calzaghe. I think it is all mental, for Jeff and his opponent's; Lacy has clearly lost his confidence and Calzaghe has shattered the mystique and fear surrounding Lacy. Now im not saying that Lacy used to intimidate opponent's even before they entered the ring like Tyson did, but there is always a bit of an intimidating aura around a hard puncher that can effect the mind of some fragile minded fighter's.

 

Calzaghe got unlucky cause Lacy injured his left shoulder in his very next fight. Not a small injury either. A career threatening injury

People think Calzaghe ruined him mentally but thats not the case at all. The injury ****ed up his career, its painfully obvious

 

I tought Sheika did enough to beat Lacy. One of those fighters your waiting to fall.

 

I think you're right. I remember Lacy, even just after the Calzaghe fight was talking about getting a rematch and things being different next time. That's not the talk of someone who has lost it mentally. The injury was devastating to his career at the worst possible moment.

 

I agree with this to a certain extent.

I don't know if Lacy is necessarily a top fighter, but it's hard to tell because it's obvious that Calzaghe's win deeply affected his psyche.

In his last fight against Mendoza, he looked like he would do better in an octagon rather than a ring as he looked completely out of shape and was reduced to clinching.

In the first few rounds though, he showed a hard hitting straight right hand, and throughout the match he did show signs of power, but his lack of conditioning and mental fortitude, and just the fact that he wasn't looking at his opponent who he put on wobbly legs several times, made him look like a finished fighter.

Still though, Calzaghe is a special fighter, regardless of what people say. I don't think that he would have beat Jones in his prime, but he would have given Jones a good fight.

 

the Calzaghe win did NOT affect Lacy's psyche

 

You have to be kidding. The man was beaten like a dog for 12 rounds. It must have felt like he was in hell.

Believe it or not boxers can be affected by ring experiences.

 

Did you watch the fight?

Calzaghe not only beat Lacy from the outside, but tore his ass apart from the inside where Lacy was the bigger, stronger man, and should have had an advantage.

Lacy was an undefeated fighter, and a rising prospect that many thought was set to take over the super middleweight division, even earning a place in the FIGHT NIGHT game, and then was completely destroyed by a skinny guy that looks like he can't fight.

 

I saw the fight. I've seen worse beatdowns

If Lacy was affected by that fight, it was barely. Obviously the shoulder injury is what really affected him