By Eric Thomas: 36-year-old former IBF super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy (25-4, 17 KO’s) will be returning to the ring on August 24th against a still to be determined opponent in his home city of St. Petersburg, Florida, according to Fightnews. Lacy hasn’t fought in three years since losing by a 12 round unanimous decision to journeyman Dhafir Smith I December 2010.
Lacy has lost 3 out of his last 4 fights, and it’s unknown what he’s expecting to accomplish with this comeback. If his goals are small and he’s just looking to get a little money by fighting journeyman then he’s going to be successful.
However, it’s doubtful at this point whether a 36-year-old Lacy will be able to have an impact on the super middleweight division like he did in his prime.
Lacy was a dangerous puncher in the super middleweight division in best year, holding down the IBF super middleweight title from 2004 to 2006. However, after a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Joe Calzaghe in March of 2006 followed by a fight against Vitaliy Tsypko in December of 2006 where Lacy tore his left rotator cuff, he never seemed to be the same fighter after this.
Lacy’s best weapon was always his left hook, hence the “Left Hook” nickname. But when Lacy came back from the torn rotator cuff a year later in December 2007, the power in his left hook didn’t look to be the same as it was before the injury.
In looking at Lacy’s next five fights, the power didn’t appear to come back. With 7 years now having gone by since Lacy’s injury, it’s possible that his shoulder is back to where it was before the injury.
Baseball pitchers that suffer torn rotator cuff injuries frequently need a lot of time before they’re able to build back up their arm strength to what it was. It’s possible that Lacy’s left shoulder is at full strength. If it is, Lacy could be a very dangerous fighter for anyone.
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