The maturation process of Jeff Lacy continued Saturday night against Robin Reid as Lacy pounded out his 20th victory with a dominating performance forcing Reid’s corner to stop the fight at the end of the 7th round. If you ever questioned how hard can Lacy really punch factor this in, Robin Reid who had never been down before in his career was sent to the canvas four times. Granted the 1st one was a little questionable but all in all ref Jorge Alonzo did an excellent job, especially with cheap shots, holding and at the end of the fight when Reid’s corner asked for the fight to be stopped. Hopefully he’ll get more chances like in Las Vegas, besides just working in Florida. 

      Jeff Lacy has improved with each fight since his career started. He still has some weaknesses: not the fastest hands, doesn’t move his head enough yet, and is still easy to hit but his chin, ability to adjust to what’s happening during the fight, and punching power make up for those faults. Besides it really makes for exciting fights to know the young champion is a work in progress that can flat out fight. 

      From the outset it was clear that even though Jeff Lacy was fighting in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida he wasn’t going to get caught up in the moment. Lacy continued to do a great job of unveiling his offense arsenal staring with the jab. Starting in the 2^nd round you could see Lacy using a stiff jab to help walk down Reid, who was more interested in holding Lacy to survive and slow down the pressure that was being applied. In the 3^rd Round Reid resorted to dirty tactics leading with his head and when the ref jumped in Lacy who was pissed off because of the cheap shot threw a thunderous right hand which sent Reid to the deck for the 1^st time in his career. So not only did Reid get knocked down, he also had a point taken away for the cheap shot.

      Lacy got the best of it pretty much every round after that until Reid’s corner had seen enough at the end of the 7th round. Although Lacy’s nickname is “left-hook” I really think his best punch is his uppercut. Jeff Lacy can take you out with either hand, in fact ever since his fight with Syd Vanderpool, he has done a great job of getting that punch off. After Robin Reid’s corner stopped the fight Lacy called out the reigning super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. If that fight comes off it will be a great contest.  Calzaghe is a very sturdy undefeated champion with a record of 39-0, 31 KO’s. Calzaghe will look to counter Lacy’s wide swinging punches on the outside and fight a smart fight when he’s in the pocket. One thing Lacy can take comfort in is that Calzaghe has never been in with a guy who can punch like Lacy can. Bryon Mitchell sent Calzaghe to the canvas and while Mitchell has some pop, he won’t fool anyone for having Lacy’s power.