Lacy Wants More
After being thoroughly dominated by Joe Calzaghe earlier this year, Jeff Lacy says he wants a rematch for Calzaghe’s super middleweight titles. I’m not sure that’s the best idea, and Joe Calzaghe agrees with me.
“I can give Lacy 1,006 good reasons why he should not get a rematch against me because that’s the number of times I landed with punches on the night, and I can count the number of times he caught me on one hand — four. If Lacy gets in the ring with me again, I’m scared I will get arrested for aggravated assault.”
Jeff Lacy has a bright future but it will be interesting to see how he rebounds from his loss. He turned down a fight with Allan Green and there is a chance Lacy could be psychologically damaged from his one-sided loss. Lacy needs to build his confidence back up before calling out Calzaghe again.
PPV and TV Numbers
The Oleg Maskaev-Hasim Rahman pay-per-view in August generated 65,000 buys, easily putting it last amongst HBO’s eight PPVs this year. The card should never have been on pay-per-view and it’s surprising that many people tuned in.
HBO’s last PPV showcased a rematch between Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez. This PPV ranked seventh out of eight with 165,000 buys.
Meanwhile, in TV numbers, the season finale of The Contender drew ESPN’s best boxing rating in nine years. The 1.9 rating means slightly less than 2 million homes tuned in to see Grady Brewer upset Steve Forbes to become the new Contender champion.
Contender Alum vs. Roy Jones?
Speaking of The Contender, Dan Rafael of ESPN reports that Season 1 runner-up Peter Manfredo is in talks to face Roy Jones Jr. Promoters are hoping to put this on PPV along with a rumored fight between Vernon Forrest and Sergio Mora or possibly Grady Brewer.
Considering Roy Jones is involved, this is nothing more than a rumor. Junior is one of the most difficult fighters to get in the ring, but this is a good fight for him. He certainly is past his prime but still has better speed than Manfredo. Regardless, Manfredo will have to win his upcoming bout with Joey Spina on Oct. 14 for this to even be a possibility.
Results: 9/26 – 9/30
There were not any marquee fights to review this weekend but some were noteworthy:
– For results from The Contedner Finale, click here.
– Darnell Wilson scored a 4th round TKO over Daniel Judah. Daniel is Zab’s brother and fought this bout at cruiserweight.
– In a battle of former world champions, Kevin Kelley defeated Carlos Hernandez by unanimous decision.
– John Duddy, a hard-hitting Irish middleweight, beat Luis Ramon Campas by unanimous decision.
– Hugo Fidel Cazares retained his WBO Light Flyweight Title with a 10th round TKO of Nelson Dieppa. This is the second time Cazares stopped Dieppa in the 10th round. Cazares won the title from Dieppa in April of 2005 with a 10th round technical decision after the bout went to the scorecards after accidental headbutts.
– Juan Manuel Lopez remained undefeated with a TKO in the 3rd round over Jose Alonso. Lopez is a prospect in the super bantamweight division.
Upcoming Fights – October
Oct. 6 – Oscar Larios vs. Santos Martinez
Oct. 7 – Diego Corrales vs. Joel Casamayor III (Showtime)
Oct. 7 – Nicolai Valuev vs. Monte Barrett (HBO)
Oct. 7 – Tomasz Adamek vs. Paul Briggs II (HBO)
Oct. 14 – Peter Manfredo vs. Joey Spina (ESPN)
Oct. 14 – Mikkel Kessler vs. Markus Beyer
Oct. 14 – Joe Calzaghe vs. Sakio Bika (HBO)
Oct. 21 – Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Jimrex Jaca (HBO PPV)
Oct. 27 – Joel Julio vs. Cosme Rivera (Telemundo)
Oct. 28 – Kermit Cintron vs. Mark Suarez
