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St. Pete's Lacy Says He Is Retiring

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Jeff Lacy says he's retiring despite his recent success and a potential payday in his next fight.

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By EDDIE DANIELS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 26, 2008

TAMPA - Fresh off a 10-round majority decision against Epifanio Mendoza, Jeff Lacy spoke Thursday of an anticipated showdown with former Olympic teammate Jermain Taylor.

Friday, his mood was drastically different.

"I'm retiring," the St. Petersburg super middleweight said, frustration evident in his voice. "There will be no fight between me and Jermain."

The Mendoza victory Wednesday in California kept Lacy, 31, on track for a November date with Taylor in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator. Negotiations were under way, and Lacy had expected to hear from his management team at Golden Boy Promotions on Monday or Tuesday.

Why the sudden change of heart?

"I'm just retiring," he said. "I'm done.

"This business is dirty. That's all I have to say. This is a very dirty business. I would advise anyone who has kids not to ever let them fight in this business."

Golden Boy Promotions COO Dave Itskowitch was shocked, saying he had yet to hear from Lacy.

"I really have no comment until I speak to Jeff," Itskowitch said.

Golden Boy had a similar incident take place in early June when Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired six months after he beat Ricky Hatton. Mayweather was in line for a multi-million-dollar rematch against Oscar De La Hoya, but he walked away from it.

Taylor's promoter, Lou DiBella, CEO of DiBella Entertainment, was surprised at the development.

"Put it this way, I've heard nothing from anyone in his camp indicating anything other than the fight's happening," DiBella said. "We have a Nov. 15 date on HBO."

Lacy's trainer, Roger Bloodworth, was another caught off-guard by the news.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him," he said. "If there has been anything to upset him, he hasn't told me. I don't know."

St. Petersburg middleweight Ronald "Winky" Wright hadn't spoken to Lacy on Friday but said he wasn't convinced his friend was through with the sport.

"He ain't done. He's probably mad, but he ain't done," Wright said. "I know he's not done."

On Lacy's claim that boxing is a dirty business, Wright agreed.

"It is a shady business," he said. "You deal with a lot of shady characters, so it's hard to deal with it, and a lot of people don't want to deal with it."

If this is the end of Lacy's boxing career, he finishes with one loss in 25 fights, with 17 victories coming by knockout. Lacy, a 2000 Olympian, experienced a meteoric rise in the professional ranks. Recently named the No. 5 super welterweight in the world by Ring magazine, he won the WBC Continental Americas super middleweight title in his 11th fight. His next bout brought him the vacant USBA super middleweight title. In 2004, Lacy beat Syd Vanderpool for his first major championship, for the vacant IBF super middleweight belt. Ten months later, he defeated Robin Reid for the IBO title.

His lone defeat came in 2006 when he traveled to the United Kingdom to face WBO champ Joe Calzaghe. Lacy lost a 12-round unanimous decision.

He suffered another setback in the ensuing fight against Vitali Tsypko when he tore his left rotator cuff in the second round. He managed a 10-round majority decision matchup and has since won his last two fights.

"I'd rather just say the business of boxing is dirty," Lacy reiterated, "and I will never allow my kids to ever want to fight. Period."

OTHER NEWS: Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs) confirmed Friday he is in negotiations with Paul Williams (34-1, 25 KOs) of Augusta, Ga. Williams is the WBO welterweight champion. "We're supposed to be trying to do something in September," Wright said.

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be

reached at (813) 948-4214

or edaniels@tampatrib.com.

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