posted December 7, 2007 at 20:07 in Other Articles

Jeff Lacy, the former U.S. Olympian, will be back in action after an absence of a year on Saturday night's Mayweather vs. Hatton undercard when he takes on Rhode Island's Peter Manfredo in a bout scheduled for ten rounds in the super middleweight (168-pound) division.

BetUS Boxing Betting Odds:

Super Middleweights

December 8 -- Las Vegas

JEFF LACY -500

PETER MANFREDO +350

For boxing betting purposes, let's size up the contestants:

LACY (22-1, 17 KO's), the -500 favorite at BetUS Sporstbook, represented the U.S. at the 200 Olympics and came into the pros with great fanfare. he is a quality puncher, who blew through a number of fringe contenders like Ross Thompson, James Crawford, Richard Grant and Donnell Wiggins, before winning the IBF super middleweight crown in October of 2004 with a TKO-8 of Syd Vanderpool. Lacy was pretty impressive in decisioning Omar Sheika and knocking out Robert Reid and Rubin Williams before his big showdown fight in March of 2006, when he was completely befuddled from the outset and knocked down in the 12th round in losing a decision to undefeated Joe Calzaghe - a fight where two of the judges had Calzaghe ahead by 12 points and a third by FOURTEEN points.

It was clear that Lacy was not equipped to fight such a technician, and that he had no game plan other than to let his power take over. Obviously it didn't work, and it was back to the drawing board. But Lacy has fought just once since - a ten-round majority decision over Vitali Tsypko, who came into the fight with a 19-1 record, last December in Tampa. In that bout, Lacy tore the rotator cuff of his left shoulder and also ripped the tendon right off. He had to have surgery, along with the accompanying rehabilitation period. Now that he is back, he looks forward to a possible fight with Antonio Tarver that could draw a lot of people in the Tampa-St. Pete area.

MANFREDO (28-4, 13 KO's), the +350 (7/2) underdog at BetUS, is known mostly from his work on the NBC television show "The Contender," where he developed a fan following. In that format, he scored wins over Alfonso Gomez, who later beat Arturo Gatti, Joey Gilbert. He also has a three-round KO win over Scott Pemberton, but it can be argued that after he was knocked out in two rounds by Lacy in a title fight, Pemberton took that fight - the last of his career - strictly for the payday.

Manfredo has little in the way of positive results against high-level opposition. In fact, Tsypko, who was a "comeback" opponent for Lacy, is probably better than any of Manfredo's victims. The Rhode Islander's moment of truth also came against Calzaghe, in April of this year, as he got his own WBO super middleweight title shot. Unlike Lacy, however, who at least stood in for the 12-round beating, Manfredo froze, offering no resistance whatsoever and virtually quitting in the third round of what was a true embarrassment. It was an illustration of how far Manfredo was from being able to compete on equal terms with world-class opponents. Furthermore, Manfredo, who has fought two bouts against middling opposition since the Calzaghe fiasco, had surgery himself in August, to repair bone spurs in his elbow.

You have to remember - there have been very few real contenders created by "The Contender." Manfredo is not really one of them. There is a definite class difference between him and Lacy, who may, to an extent, be one-dimensional, but has enough pop in his punch to take out anyone. Unfortunately for Manfredo, he doesn't possess the bag of tricks Calzaghe does. He doesn't have the defensive prowess, the accuracy in punching, or the angles Calzaghe can throw at an opponent, nor does he have the mental toughness. In fact, he will be a pretty straight-forward opponent for Lacy to face, meaning that he will be available to be hit, in all likelihood.

It's one thing to handicap a fighter's rustiness into the equation. We all do that. It's quite another when you have to depend on a guy being rusty or having "lost it" for the other guy to win, especially when there is a big talent gap and our favorite is only 30 years old. Unless Lacy's shoulder completely can't handle the impact of a fight (and his camp insists he's in great health), we see no reason he can't walk through this guy eventually. Manfredo MIGHT go the distance, but he won't win.

JAY'S PLAY: LACY (-500) ***

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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com is a former manager, matchmaker and color commentator in professional boxing. He currently pulls no punches in the BetUS Locker Room)