by David P. Greisman

It was 2 a.m. in Manchester, England. Joe Calzaghe was tired, having slept poorly in the weeks leading up to his super middleweight unification fight with Jeff Lacy. If Calzaghe did not yet want to sleep, then at least Lacy desired to put him there, having predicted a knockout victory over his Welsh opponent.

Yet just two rounds into the bout, it was Calzaghe that was full of energy, and Lacy whose hopes, chances and stamina were being drained. The proverbial writing was already on the wall, and Calzaghe could have confidently looked Lacy in the eyes and channeled Edward R. Murrow by saying, “Good night, and good luck.”

In his blue corner, Calzaghe boldly asserted that it would indeed be a good night, telling his father and trainer Enzo, “He can’t punch,” adding an expletive for fecal matter to the end of the sentence, and then describing Lacy with the same term.

It wasn’t bluster in the slightest, nor self-motivation, because Calzaghe didn’t need any tactics beyond what he was already employing in the ring. Through a well-developed plan of constant activity that involved a variety of angles to launch his accurate arsenal from, the “Pride of Wales” had neutralized any of Lacy’s perceived advantages, ducking his power shots and countering back hard. He had reduced “Left Hook” to less than his nickname, a young, highly-touted punching bag that, if possible, threw less than one punch at a time.

For twelve rounds, Lacy was on the receiving end of an absolute drubbing, taking the kind of battering that Floyd Mayweather Jr. inflicted upon Arturo Gatti last June. Lacy was swollen and bloodied, while Calzaghe had nary a mark, not at all the result that people were expecting of a fight between two pugilists renowned for their power punching.

Yet the beatdown was achieved through the kind of boxing clinic that Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright had put, in separate bouts, on Felix Trinidad. It wasn’t about any limitations that Lacy had due to a young career, but about Calzaghe taking his opponent seriously, stepping up his game and focusing all of his efforts on pitching a shutout.

It was his will, his ring and his crowd, and the scorecards of 119-107 (twice) and 119-105 made it his night. There was no charity, no round that could be given to Lacy; the lone point that Calzaghe lost came when referee Raul Caiz Sr. docked him for fouling.

One may or may not call it a humiliation, but Lacy, to his credit, took it with humility, knowing that there were no excuses, and that a better man had won.

“He came out and he fought remarkable tonight,” Lacy told interviewer Jim Gray after the bout. “He fought a perfect fight. Sometimes you have to lose to gain. I think this was a learning experience for me.”

There’s no shame in losing to the best fighter in one’s division, no matter the sting of defeat. But at the same time, in order to gain, there is a necessity for Lacy to grow, to go back to the drawing board and improve his abilities, so that he can remove the stigma that he is a one-dimensional fighter that had been getting by on power against lesser opposition, a status that could be titled Samuel Peter Syndrome.

“I need to work on my boxing skills more,” Lacy said to Gray. “I came here thinking I was going to come out here and knock him out. I didn’t think that he could handle my pressure.”

Lacy, who since winning his belt a year and a half ago had been the epitome of a fighting champion, will likely take some time off and then get back to work. When he returns, there are plenty of names from middleweight to light heavyweight that would enjoy the exposure of facing off against an exciting American star. And with the possibility that Calzaghe could move up to the 175-pound division, Lacy may still be able to take over at 168, biding his time and rebuilding his capabilities for a rematch with an aging Calzaghe that, for the moment, is still on top of his game.

Calzaghe, as expected, called out light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver following the victory. In the meantime, though, with Tarver facing Bernard Hopkins in June, many would appreciate it if Calzaghe gave a shot to the other top super middleweight, Mikkel Kessler, the undefeated Dane who was seated near ringside for the fight. But that is a decision for another night.

For on this one night – or actually, this one morning – dawn was approaching in Manchester, and Joe Calzaghe may have been tired, but he wasn’t showing it. Instead, his exuberance was bursting through, pumping enough adrenaline to produce energy for a prolonged, well-deserved celebration.

The 10 Count

1.  It’s a difficult call, but perhaps Lacy’s trainer, Dan Birmingham, should have thrown in the towel for his charge. As the bout progressed, Calzaghe was still as strong and landing just as many shots, while Lacy was having difficulty staying upright, much less blocking incoming punches. The result was seemingly set due to Lacy having nothing left in the tank, and letting the fight continue was only delaying the inevitable.

Maybe Birmingham could have told Lacy much earlier that he had to go all out, to go and show him something or else the fight would be stopped. But then again, I can see that, mentally speaking, an early stoppage would do more damage to Lacy’s career and confidence than a 12-round decision. Still, Lacy took enough punishment to make this viewer uncomfortable, and it was comforting to see that Lacy appeared fine during the post-fight interview.

2.  Jeff Lacy, a Floridian, crossed the Atlantic Ocean for a chance to unify two super middleweight belts, only to lose. Yet in this past week, he wasn’t the only person to fly long distances for a title shot, just to return home in disappointment

3.  Gianluca Branco traveled to Puerto Rico from his native Italy to face junior welterweight beltholder Miguel Cotto, losing via stoppage in the eighth round, retiring due to pain in his right arm. Cotto patiently stalked Branco all night, ripping left hooks to Branco’s body and head that were better than any that Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy threw against Joe Calzaghe, and the victory came easily, with little resistance in a bout that seemed to be half showcase, half sparring session.

Since losing a unanimous decision to Arturo Gatti two years ago, Branco returned to the Italian circuit, garnering four wins before signing to fight Cotto. When Branco dropped out with an injury last fall, Ricardo Torres stepped in as a late replacement, flooring Cotto but losing in one of the best fights of the year. It’s doubtful that we’ll see Branco on a major card in America again after this recent showing.

As for Cotto, he did what he had to do, and now looks forward to a June 10 match against Paulie Malignaggi, a bout likely to be held on pay-per-view due to HBO (Cotto’s normal network) also putting on the Antonio Tarver-Bernard Hopkins PPV that night.

4.  Juan Manuel Marquez traversed the Pacific Ocean, taking about $25,000 to go to Indonesia to fight for a WBA belt, this coming after Marquez was unjustly stripped of his IBF featherweight title, causing him to lose his WBA “super” title. Things only got worse. Marquez lost a unanimous decision to the undefeated Chris John, and now Marquez is without his titles, possibly without a promoter interested in featuring him, and far, far away from ever getting the rematch with Manny Pacquiao that his team dumbly turned down.

5.  Jose Navarro was ripped off a year ago when he lost a controversial split decision to Katsushige Kawashima in Japan. He flew back to the United States empty-handed, and had to do the same this past week, after being legitimately outpointed by Masamori Tokuyama. It’s a blow to the career of Navarro, who will need to regain momentum in order to establish footing in the junior bantamweight division, one that has such talented titlists as Fernando Montiel and Martin Castillo.

6.  And Shannan Taylor made the long trek from Australia to Germany, losing a decision to middleweight beltholder Arthur Abraham that was just about as one-sided as the scorecards for Calzaghe-Lacy. Taylor, who was stopped by Shane Mosley in a welterweight fight in 2001, has now lost his last two fights, having also been knocked out by the normally pillow-fisted Raymond Joval in November.

As for Abraham – the “other” middleweight titlist, who received his trinket when the other Taylor, middleweight champion Jermain, was stripped by the IBF – he may now attempt to enter the Jermain Taylor sweepstakes. If Abraham doesn’t own the winning ticket, he could hope that Felix Sturm defeats Maselino Masoe this coming weekend. If that occurs, Abraham – an Armenian who fights out of Germany – could set up a German extravaganza against Sturm, who also fights out of Germany.

7.  Was I the only person utterly confused by the point of Larry Merchant’s post-fight speech following Cotto-Branco?

8.  Speaking of Cotto-Branco, the aforementioned Paulie Malignaggi worked for HBO as translator for the Italian-speaking corner of Branco. It’s too bad that HBO isn’t promoting Cotto-Malignaggi, as they could have used Malignaggi’s presence and love for trash talking to sell the showdown. Think of it like in professional wrestling broadcasts, when heel wrestlers join the commentators to talk junk while the rival babyface is performing in the ring. Or like when another “Magic Man,” Antonio Tarver, crashed a Roy Jones Jr. press conference to verbalize his want for a match, getting boxing fans and pundits buzzing, essentially forcing what became a successful trilogy.

9.  Kirk Johnson, at one point in his career, was an up-and-coming heavyweight that usually tipped the scales in the 220s. He knocked out Oleg Maskaev in 2000 and outpointed Larry Donald the following year to earn a title shot against John Ruiz.

And then he imploded.

He was disqualified for repeated low blows against the king of the jab-and-grab, and as his career went on the downward path, his weight went up dramatically. Against Vitali Klitschko, he came in at 260 pounds, making the thud that much louder when Klitschko made short work of him.

Yet for all of that, Johnson was on a bit of a comeback, having lost some weight and having defeated journeymen Gilbert Martinez and Yanqui Diaz. He was doing decently this past Friday against Javier Mora, and was winning the fight when Mora stepped on Johnson’s left foot and jabbed. Johnson dodged, took a step back with his right leg and legitimately injured his knee, causing the fight to be stopped and, for some reason, a technical knockout victory to be awarded to Mora.

A classic underachiever, and a heavyweight with actual boxing skills, Kirk Johnson was an up-and-coming heavyweight, and now he’s just down and going.

10.  Yes, the fight between Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas was good, and well worth watching, although the pay-per-view undercard left much to be desired. But with 410,000 people purchasing the event, the good news that there might be another entertaining rematch is tempered with the bad news that people sent the wrong message with their wallets, and that thusly the networks and promoters have just another example to cite when they send out their plethora of $40 to $50 shows.