03.12.04 – Interview by Ike Enwereuzor, JacBoxing.com – Your impression of Omar Sheika?
Lacy: He’s a warrior, a good decent fighter si this is the fight fans want to see. No disrespect to the main event but I think our fight should have been main event. Fans will get their worth from this fight. He’s like me, he’s going to come to fight and in fact, I think he’s going to come try to knock me out. He said he’s coming to fight. That’s what I like, I’m in great shape to throw a lot of blows.
How long have you been training for this fight against Sheika?
Lacy:The fight was announced 2 weeks after my fight with Vanderpool so I have been traing for about 7 weeks. I’m in great shape.
How did you get the your ring name “Left Hook”?
Lacy: I got that name since I was a kid. I use to like to throw a lot of left hooks so they just gave me that name since then.
How many amateur fights did you have?
Lacy: I had 221 fight and lost about 14 of them.
What titles did you win as amateur?
Lacy: I think I won about 7 titles as amateur
Tell us what the Olympics 2000 was like to you?
Lacy: It was a dream come through, from a little boy I always wanted to go to Olympic so my dreams came through in 2000.
How would you describe your fights at that Olympics 2000 in Sydney, Australia?
Lacy: I had a blast and it was a learning experience for me even though I hate to loose. I think the tournament came out the way it did because I didn’t have international fights to build my experience.
What made you box for first time?
Lacy: It was a punishment. I had a fight in elementary school so my dad received a call from the school so when I came home my punishment was to take me to a gym in St Peterburg, Florida. They put me in the ring with a guy I was bigger than but this boy kicked my butt. I hate to loose so I went back and started liking Boxing from there so I got stock to it. I fell in love with the game
Your most memorable moment as an amateur?
Lacy: It was at the Olympic trails which I won to go to Olympics 2000. I fought a guy Randy Griffiths to get birth to go to Sydney, Australia. It was a great experience and exciting moment for me. Again, my childhood dreams came through. I beat Randy with wide imagine, I think it was 26-19.
What was the City of Sydney like?
Lacy:It was really nice and I loved it. It’s a very clean City and the people there were so nice to me. I’ll like to go back there because I didn’t really get to sight see.
What do you remember most from your first professional fight?
Lacy: My Pro debut, a guy I was suppose to fight backed out on scene a day before the fight. I had to wait another month before I could fight a guy name Jerald Lowe in Columbus, OH I knocked him out in round 1.
Out of all your professional fights. Which fight do you consider your toughest to date?
Lacy: I will say the fight with Syd Vanderpool here in Las Vegas.He was determined and came to win. It was a very competitive fight.
Please, tell us about your fight with Richard Grant?
Lacy: It was a fight you had one guy was there to fight and the other guy just wanted to survive. So, I never got a chance to show my skill level. I went 12 rounds with him. After the fight Grant was saying yeah, I went 12 rounds with Jeff Lacy. He didn’t want to get kocked out.
What’s your thought on other Super Middleweight champions like WBO Champ Joe Calzaghe, WBC Markus Beyer, or WBA Mikkel Kessler?
Lacy: I want to fight these guys especially Joe Calzaghe. He’s a good champion, comes to fight that is the kind of fight I want. I want to fight guy that comes to fight so I can prove to the world what Lacy is made of. I can’t show my skills waith a guy who don’t come to fight. I want to fight fighters like Antwun Echols so I can display my boxing ability for the fans.
Describe you bout with Ross Thompson?
Lacy: He was another guy that just was ther to survive. Iblame the Ref for letting do all the fowls and he was just letting him that. When you get angry in a fight you loose focus and use your game plan.
What else can you tell us about your fight with Vanderpool?
Lacy: It was a very competitive fight and it brought the best out of me and I won the IBF world championship. He was quick, sleek with an ok power and came to fight.
Please, describe your fight with Vatali Tsypko before you fought for the world title?
Lacy:It was a fight that never got to get started because we had a head clash in first round and the fight was stopped in second round. It was a beginning of an end.
Let us about your fight with James Crawford?
Lacy: at first he came out to fight but once he found out what he was against that I had skills, I can punch and fight he went to defensive mood.
What about your fight Donnell Wiggins in Manchester, England?
Lacy: It was my first fight after a cut with Richard Grant fight. I was a little ring rust. I received a cut at the fight with Grant fight on 7th round. The fight with Wiggins ended at 8th round. He was winning a few early rounds but I knew I was going to cut him sooner or later and I did knock him out in 8.
Impression of Antwun Echols?
Lacy: He’s a strong fighter and I take my hat off for him. I want to fight him so I can prove to the world that Jeff Lacy is a real fighter. He can punch and I can punch too. I fought some good guy as professional but they want to see who can take next. All fighters I fought are not able to stick around with me game plan, I put a lot of pressure so you have to be in great shape to handle me or you’re going to break down.
What do you want to tell your fans about this weekend fight with Omar Sheika?
Lacy: Jeff Lacy is giving boxing fans this fight as a christmas present. It’s going to be explosive. Thanks for all you supports next 2005 I want to rap more belts on my waist.
Six fighters with a combined 185 professional boxing victories and 148 knockouts will fight for three title belts on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Saturday, Dec. 4, at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast) from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. In the main event, former World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Featherweight Champion Joel Casamayor (31-2, 19 KOs) will attempt to win his second world title when he steps up in weight to challenge two-time World Boxing Council (WBC) Lightweight Champion Jose Luis Castillo (50-6-1, 45 KO)
In the evening’s second televised bout, International Boxing Federation (IBF) Super Middleweight Champion Jeff Lacy (17-0, 14 KOs) will make his initial title defense against IBF No. 14 contender Omar Sheika (26-6, 17 KOs). Opening the SHOWTIME tripleheader will be undefeated heavyweight contender Samuel Peter (20-0, 17 KOs) taking on heavyweight contender Jeremy Williams (41-4-1, 36 KOs) for the vacant North American Boxing Federation (NABF) heavyweight title. Top Rank, Inc. in association with Gary Shaw Productions, LLC and Cedric Kushner Promotions, LTD with Team Freedom and Duva Boxing will present the event.
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