Lacy Squeaks by Griffin

Former Super middleweight Champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy scored a very tight, unanimous decision victory over Otis Griffin Friday night at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, FL. Billed as Jeff Lacy’s “Homecoming”, Otis Griffin was looking to play spoiler in front of Lacy’s hometown crowd during his promotional debut.

            From the opening bell, Lacy was the aggressor and pushed the action forward. In round two, Griffin was cut on the side of his right eye from a vicious right hand. However, Griffin refused to go down quietly and looked very strong in the middle rounds. The 4^th round was Griffin’s best of the night as he moved around the ring picking his shots and avoiding Lacy’s punches.  After the middle rounds, Griffin’s confidence grew and he stood toe to toe with Lacy for the final three rounds. The final scorecards read 95-95 draw and 97-93, 96-94 for Lacy. After the fight, Lacy thanked the fans for coming out and showing support. He also called out Roy Jones Jr., who was sitting ringside, for the blockbuster fight to take place in the Tampa Bay area. Roy gave a thumb up to Lacy and it looks as if this fight may take place over the summer with the St. Pete Times Forum as a possible venue.

            In the opening bout of the evening, Danny “White Lion” Van Staden from Key West, FL and crowd favorite Henry Mitchell fought in an action packed 4 round light welterweight fight. Early on Van Staden dropped Mitchell in both the first and second rounds with left hands and looked to have the fight sealed up. However, Mitchell did not back down and took the last two rounds from a tired Van Staden. The knockdowns proved to be the key factor in the fight as Van Staden took a 38-36 decision on all the cards. Van Staden upped his record to 8-4 while Mitchell fell to 8-10. In a side note, this was the first time that Mitchell had been knocked down in his career.

            Two undefeated welterweights, Said El Harrak and Darrel Jones squared up in the second bout of the evening.  El Harrak made his first trip to the east coast a successful one as he picked apart Jones over four rounds, winning by the scores of 40-36 across the boards.  Trained by Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, El Harrack showed great technical skills and throwing effective combinations at different angles. In round three, El Harrack threw a straight right to the nose of Jones, causing it to bleed and lose his mouthpiece. With the victory, El Harrack moves to 4-0 while Jones goes to 2-1.

            In a rematch from a fight from November 2008, Adawirky Lopez scored a 40-36 shutout over Caitlin Dance in a 4 round women’s featherweight fight. The Dominican Lopez, now fighting out of Tampa, was aggressive from the beginning and brawled her way into the inside of the taller Dance. Dance tried to keep Lopez away with her long jab, but to no avail Lopez bullied her way to the inside. By the third round Dance was visibly tired and could be seen breathing out of her mouth. With the win Lopez moves to 4-1, while Dance falls to 2-5.

                        In the fight of the night, two undefeated Florida based super featherweights battled to a 4 round draw. The bought was full of nonstop action as both fighters showcased their blazing speed and determination. Kermit Gonzalez was the fan favorite entering the fight against Derrick Wilson. Wilson seemed to have the better power of the two, staggering Gonzalez throughout the fight. Both men threw flurries that had the crowd on their feet. With the draw, Wilson’s record moves to 4-0-1 while Gonzales moves to 6-0-2. Everyone in attendance would love to see these two go at it again.

            Adam Jaco, son of former heavyweight boxer David Jaco, suffered a point deduction late in the 4^th and final round of his fight with Roberto Failey, which resulted in Jaco losing the fight by Majority decision. Scores where 38-37, 38-37 for Failey and 38-37 for Jaco. Without the point deduction, the fight would have been ruled a draw. Failey moved his record up to 2-0 while Jaco, who had been on a 4 fight winning streak, but inactive for 17 months falls to 4-3-1.

            In the co feature of the evening, Lenroy”TNT” Thomas dropped Wes Taylor in the first and the referee waived the fight off at 1:16 of the second round. Less than 30 seconds into the fight, Taylor used his power to stagger Thomas. The crowd, behind St. Pete resident Thomas, was stunned by the opening moment from the late sub Taylor. A headbutt to Thomas’ jaw caused him to drop in grimacing pain. After a short break, “TNT” let the dynamite explode as he unleashed a flurry of relentless power shots to Taylor.

            Outside of the ring, notables in attendance included, Roy Jones Jr., Nate Campbell, Edner Cherry, Hector Camacho, Andre Berto, and several Tampa area fighters.