Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy Takes Care of Business on Showtime

TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 7, 2005) – In a devastating performance in front of 15,106 hometown fans and millions more watching on SHOWTME, undefeated Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy successfully defended his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight title with an impressive TKO over IBF No. 3 contender Robin Reid Saturday on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. Reid, who had never been floored, went down four times in the final three rounds. His corner stopped the one-sided bout after the seventh.

By beating Reid, Lacy moved closer to facing Calzaghe, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion, in a world 168-pound title unification bout later this year. Saturday’s bout, which took place at the St. Pete Times Forum, was promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, and aired at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Lacy (20-0, 16 KOs), of St. Petersburg, Fla., dropped Reid twice in the fifth and once in the sixth and seventh rounds. In perhaps a career-best performance, Lacy was ahead 70-57 on all the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. The first knockdown came as the referee was about to step between the boxers to take away a point from Reid for a headbutt. Before he got there, Lacy nailed Reid with a right after he had dropped his hands. After issuing an eight-count, a point was deducted. Lacy decked Reid the second time with a left-right combination. Two overhand right hands matted Reid in the sixth. A flurry of punches followed by a right uppercut sent Reid to the canvas a final time. Lacy, the first 2000 Olympian to capture a world title, was making his third title defense and 13th appearance on SHOWTIME.

Reid (38-5-1, 27 KOs), of Runcorn, England, was warned repeatedly by the referee for a variety of infractions. Before going down the last time, the referee had deducted a second point, this time for holding. A former World Boxing Council (WBC) super middleweight champion, Reid was fighting for just the third time since Dec. 13, 2003. The defeat was his fourth in world title fights.

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING’s Steve Albert and Al Bernstein called the action from ringside with Jim Gray serving as roving reporter. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast was Jay Larkin, with David Dinkins producing and Bob Dunphy directing.

The next SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast is Saturday, Sept. 3, at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). In the main event, WBO junior middleweight boss Daniel Santos (29-2-1, 20 KOs) will defend against former WBA welterweight champ Jose Antonio Rivera (37-4-1, 24 KOs). In the co-feature, WBC No. 7/WBA No. 9 heavyweight contender Owen Beck (24-1, 18 KOs) faces IBF No. 8 contender Sergei Liakhovich (22-1, 14 KOs). Don King Productions will promote the doubleheader.

For information on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecasts, including complete fighter bios and records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at http://www.sho.com/boxing.