How Calzaghe defended the left hook of Jeff Lacy

In 2006 Joe Calzaghe fought Jeff Lacy – both were undefeated Super Middleweight champions. Calzaghe was the more established fighter who had already made double digit defences of his titles and whilst Lacy was also a champion and lesser experience, it was Lacy who was seen as the better fighter and many people, especially those in the USA, gave Calzaghe little to no chance of beating Jeff Lacy.

The main reason stemmed from the left hook of Lacy and his Mike Tyson like build and aggressiveness but in the end Joe Calzaghe showed yet again that it is boxing and a great boxer will find a way to take away an opponents power. In the video below I take a look at some of the methods Joe Calzaghe used to stifle the left hook of Lacy and hand him a defeat so thorough that Lacy was never the same fighter again.

First of all, to prevent Lacy from being able to set his feet and throw power shots especially the left hook – Calzaghe was constantly turning his opponent. Sometimes he would do this off the clinch, dipping in low to avoid the hook forcing the clinch and then spinning Lacy around. Other times Calzaghe would do this off a combination, firing a quick combo and then using the pivot to force Lacy to turn and reset.

As a result of this not only was Lacy throwing punches off balance but he also left himself open to the uppercut as he tried to walk in towards Calzaghe, even at times lunging in to try and close the distance but only succeeding in walking into another uppercut.

Calzaghe would also tie up the left arm of Lacy, knowing he could not use his left hook whilst the arm was tied up, Calzaghe would use his free hand to slide punches in underneath, again he used the uppercut well in this situation.

Another trick Calzaghe used which is one I have mentioned in the past on my videos is stepping inside the left hook. This is an old school trick to defend the hook and serves to smother the punch which takes away the power of the punch. Calzaghe could do this either off his jab or when rolling under the shots, in both cases he could dip in to close the gap and smother any punch.

Joe Calzaghe also utilised angles very well in this fight, angling off the jab stepping to the side to again Lacy could not be in position to unload a left hook with any sort of meaningful power and he even started using his own hook, the check hook to counter Lacy and give him another angle. Watch the video below for a real boxing masterclass from Joe Calzaghe.