It was homecoming night for defending IBF super middleweight champ Jeff "Left-Hook" Lacy as he readied to entertain visiting Robin Reid from across the pond in jolly old Bolton, England town.

The setting was the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL … and to be sure it would be no easy task to upstage the local bomber with the celebrated left hook - but referee Jorge Alonso clearly did his ignominious best to do just that.

The hometown hack quickly hinted, in a shameless "outta town" bomb of a non-performance, that disgraceful or not he was there to aid and abet one of its own - to the delight of the great majority of Lacy fans among the 15,000 in attendance.

Opening stanza uneventful with both fighters in something of a feeling out exercise - maybe Reid earns the edge - but come stanza two it’s a whole different scenario.

With Lacy becoming more active each passing round Reid finds himself  working in uncharted waters of inside combat - enter Jorge "court jester" turned man in charge of the action - and the anti-Reid rhetoric keeps pace with the increased Lacy output.

No shocker here the Reid rocky road of hard knocks would translate to a  corner surrender between stanzas seven and eight, after watching some of the most blatantly slanted "officiating."

Misdemeanors begin early … rounds one and two it’s non-stop chatter … "you’re holding, stop holding, watch the head" rambling … expected hearing something as ludicrous as "Reid, you’re breathing too loudly."

We’re talking getting into a fighter’s mind stuff … round three it’s the visitor down from a Lacy low blow … Alonso quickly on top of it with a wave of the hands accompanied with "no knockdown" - missing was any caution to Lacy for the infraction.

Round five is a gem of sorts … Alonso spots "intentional" opposed to "inadvertent" clash of heads, and quickly calls a halt to the punching to do the point deduction thing - but alas, clear and flagrant is Lacy with a big right hand to the Reid kisser while distracted by the in his face Alonso, and is dropped to the canvas.

No problem for home cooking Jorge the hack … once Reid is back on his feet, it is Alonso charging the point deduction for the head butt that preceded the el cheapo shot by Lacy.

On and on the referee lunacy continued with assorted admonishments - including threats of DQ to Reid for varied infractions of mutual  holding/hitting, and kidney punching.        

Finally, as a past renowned radio personality once shouted, "For the rest of the story" …

Post Scripts: Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy ( 20-0, 16 KOs) ~ a valid force for top recognition among super middleweights. Gets my $2.00 over the other share holders  on proven strength and power punching. Plus the visible upgrading of the inside combinations. Didn’t need help from Jorge the hack, but the fallout could kill the longed for Calzaghe unification. Calzaghe from Wales - as part of Kingdom of great Britain may be seeking payback for the Yankee Reid mugging.
                      Robin Reid (38-5-1, 27 KOs) ~ Question at age 34, and suffering first ever knockdowns, is how well he recovers. Says he’s not finished - smart move is pick and choose at this point of career.
                      Jorge Alonzo ~ If what we got from this guy last nite is example of what happens when exposed to high profile (as in  hometown variety) cable venue, it is time to reflect on moonlighting in far away places with strange sounding names. Says here better choice is trade places for ringside judge assignment - be sure and find pencil with a large eraser at one end.

GEL

8-6-2005