Showing only brief glimpses of his former power, super middleweight Jeff Lacy (23-1, 17 KOs) struggled badly in the process of defeating reality TV start Peter Manfredo Jr. (28-5, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision on Saturday night. It was the first fight for Lacy in a year, after having major shoulder surgery to repair a tear of his left rotator cuff which occurred in his last bout against Vitali Tsypko. If there was any question as to whether Lacy still possessed his awesome left hook it was answered early in the first few rounds, when Lacy rarely used his left hand at all, much less his left hook. The final judges’ scores were 95-94, 96-93 and 97-92, all for Lacy.
When he did throw his left hook, it had very little power, looking nothing like it once did a year ago. Whether Lacy will ever regain the power in his left hook is questionable, as rotator cuff injuries often cause permanent weakness in the side of the injury. In the first three rounds of the bout, Manfredo used his speed and combinations to easily out-box the plodding Lacy, who was fighting mainly one-handed using his right almost exclusively. In the fourth round, Lacy surprised Manfredo with a huge right hand, dropping him to the canvas.
Former International Boxing Federation Super middleweight champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy (22-1, 17 Kos) returns to action on the undercard of Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Peter Manfredo Jr. (28-4, 13 Kos) on December 8th, at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada. Lacy, 30, has been out of action since tearing his left rotator cuff in a bout with Vitali Tsypko on December 2, 2006. The injury to Lacy’s left shoulder involved a full thickness tear of the tendon, including a partial tear of the muscle as well. What made the injury even worse, however, is that it involves the side in which Lacy throws his left hook – his most dangerous weapon, in other words. Without his powerful left hook, Lacy becomes for all practical purposes and average fighter.