Nick Diaz Looking in the Wrong Direction with Jeff Lacy
by Scott Christ on Apr 16, 2011 12:22 AM EDT
in Boxing Commentary & Opinion
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Strikeforce welterweight (170 lbs.) champion Nick Diaz believes his big-fight options in the world of mixed martial arts are dwindling, so the controversial star is now looking to land a notable boxing fight. Fernando Vargas was the first option, but Vargas has been out of the game for almost four years now and hasn't won a fight since 2005.
So since one shot boxer appears to be out, another one is stepping up. Eddie Daniels of TBO.com reports that Jeff Lacy has offered to take the fight with Diaz (25-7 MMA). On Friday, Diaz mentioned Lacy as a potential boxing opponent in USA Today.
"Honestly, I was a little stunned. Nick has accomplished a great deal in mixed martial arts and is certainly one of the best in the sport. But getting in the ring with me for a boxing match is a path he needs to be very wary of taking. I’m willing to put it all on the line anytime, anywhere!" said the St. Petersburg resident.
"For the right price, I’m more than interested in heading to his turf and put my fist in his mouth and silencing him."
Diaz is one of the better stand-up fighters in MMA, and probably one of the better boxers in the MMA world. Lacy, meanwhile, is 33 years old and hasn't looked so much as good in a fight since 2005. That came just before he was dominated and ruined by Joe Calzaghe on the road in the UK, after which he struggled with injuries that turned him into a fighter shot early. He got debatable wins over Vitali Tsypko, Peter Manfredo Jr. and Epifanio Mendoza before losing wide to Jermain Taylor in the last HBO appearance for both fighters in November 2008. Since then, Lacy has bottomed out. He escaped with another questionable win over Otis Griffin, lost big to a long-since-relevant Roy Jones Jr., and in December, lost to journeyman Dhafir Smith (24-20-7, 4 KO) on wide scorecards over 12 rounds.
To put it nicely, Lacy is irrelevant in the boxing world at this point. For a first opponent in boxing, he would make a decent opponent for Diaz, but if Diaz is really looking for some major payday, he's looking in the wrong direction. Any amount of money there ever was in Jeff Lacy is long gone.
Is the idea better or worse than blown-up Vargas? Better, I guess. At least Lacy has fought recently, even though he didn't do it well, and is a natural in the weight class Diaz would need to fight in. But either fight is just a novelty against a washed-up boxer.
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Diaz's style will not translate well to boxing
not sure his camp will find the right opponent with enough name value for the right incentive to do a boxing match but lack of skill to lose to Diaz.
I am a big fan of Diaz and his brother is also pretty good.
But i agree with mikedh his style is not going to translate very well in boxing. He throws a lot of punches but he puts almost no power on them. But I disagree with Scott I think if he does box he will do it in south California and it will sell pretty well. And with his strikeforce connection I could see this maybe being a opening bout on Shobox. I think it will sell well because he almost always sells out the arena in s. Cali bc he has a persona like Floyd, you either love him and want him to win or hate him but you watch hoping to see him KO’d.
If he does do this it will not be like Toney’s crap fight in MMA bc I believe Diaz will come to win, where as Toney was there for the money. Also he is a top 10 if not top 5 fighter in his weight class not a fat guy boxing/fighting for money.
If he does do this it will not be like Toney’s crap fight in MMA bc I believe Diaz will come to win, where as Toney was there for the money.
Toney was also a shot boxer fighting a wrestler who had more left as a fighter than he did…If Couture had stood with him,James would have made a fight of it to say the very least.
What’s he’s supposed to do against a world class wrestler who takes him down from the very start?
The UFC picked that opponent on purpose to make sure there was only ever gonna be one winner.
This is the other way around..You’ve got an MMA fighter at his peak looking for a boxing match agaisnt boxers who should be retired.
I never rated Lacy much when he was at his best but i’m not sure that Diaz would know enough to beat him.
Lacy always has a really high opinion of his average skills whenever he is quoted.
It made me laugh when he called Calzaghe a “hype puncher” after JC cleaned his clock for every one of 12 rds.
That hype puncher ruined his career.
Dude, any MMA fighter would have done the same thing, Boxing is about 3-4 degrees removed from MMA… you got kick boxing (as a pure sport), wrestling/jujitsu (as a pure sport), and sanshou(chinese kickboxing with throws) another pure sport, muay thai (pure sport), and judo before you get to MMA from boxing. Even if the fight went stand up, which most smart mma fighters would not do agst a pro boxer, you’re not taking into account kicks to the legs, body or head, also knees or elbows once the gap is closed, and clinching and throwing/shooting once the fight is in close range. It’s not a matter of who’s better, it’s a different sport, and neither athlete (whos’ trained differnetly) should be expected to perform at the elite level of the other’s sport IMO. Holler!
"According to all the laws of aerodynamics the bumble-bee should not fly, but the bumble-bee does not know this and so flies anyway."
Dude, any MMA fighter would have done the same thing
I agree totally but my point was that Lacy is an easier boxing opponent for Diaz than Couture was an MMA opponent for Toney.
Meaning i think Diaz has a chance of beating Lacy (though i would def make Lacy the favourite) whereas Toney never stood a chnace in am MMA cage as there are so many ways for the MMA fighter to win to win,as you alluded to.
I should also add that i agree with TXRoyal that Toney was just there for the money.
by Matt Mosley on Apr 16, 2011 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Toney never stood a chance in am MMA cage as there are so many ways for the MMA fighter to win to win,as you alluded to.
Also Couture is a much more accomplished and decorated MMA fighter than Lacy is a boxer.
by Matt Mosley on Apr 16, 2011 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree with ever thing you said but my point was
I do not think Toney even tried to prepare for the wrestling part and he had no chance at winning that bc Couture was in no way going to stand and trade. Also Toney was fat and out of shape, like he has been for years in boxing, where as Diaz will come in in shape and more then likely will train specifically for boxing.
BTW
I’m not sure Diaz is looking for a major payday in this fight…I think he just wants to test himself as he says he has run out of opponents in Strikeforce.
It’s either a boxing match or a unification match with GSP in the UFC…Or maybe both.
I like Diaz as an MMA fighter.He brings the entertainment…
I’m not sure Diaz is looking for a major payday in this fight
He should stop saying he is then.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Apr 16, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Haha
Ok…….I didn’t realise he had.
It probably says in them links if i could have been bothered to read them… :)
I think Diaz is just using this as leverage to get back into the UFC. There are no money fights left in Strikeforce and Dana White is refusing (so far) to transfer SF fighters to the UFC until their contracts are up. There is no way Nick would make more money fighting Vargas or Lacy than fighting GSP, BJ Penn or somebody along those lines.
" Rock crushes scissors! But paper covers rock. And scissors cuts paper! Kif, we have a conundrum. "
------ Zapp Brannigan
I dunno, I was never impressed with Nick Diaz. Frankly I think he sucks. But that’s just me! Holler! Oh yeah, I’m a fan of Cung Le going UFC tho. Holler!
"According to all the laws of aerodynamics the bumble-bee should not fly, but the bumble-bee does not know this and so flies anyway."
My bad, Nick Diaz REALLY sucks! Watching one of his fights now. The guy has NO head movement, he stands in front of the guy when the throws, and no lateral movement. MMA announcers are arrogant when they say he’s got the boxing skills of a professional boxer. I can see that with Jon Jones, and MAYBE Anderson Silva (if he were trained more), and i could see GSP doing only wrestling or boxing with a full year of exclusive training, but Nick Diaz? He sucks, and he’s slow. Hahaha…
"According to all the laws of aerodynamics the bumble-bee should not fly, but the bumble-bee does not know this and so flies anyway."
He sucks, and he’s slow. Hahaha
So does/is Jeff Lacy..Haha. :)
by Matt Mosley on Apr 16, 2011 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions
Diaz et. al.
Diaz is one of those guys that have alot of offensive abilitys, but is lacking big time in his defence but can survive that as a result of his great chin and amazing ability to recover (guy is always in insane shape). He puches with more power than you would think at first glance, specialy when he goes to the body and the volume makes his style work. That said, Nick Diaz have been verry open about wanting to make “boxing type money”. The problem is that his best earning potential at this point is in MMA. The boxers he would have a chance to beat are not the type of names that will make him a ton of money.
Also, Saying that Jon Jones would do well in boxing and then saying that “MAYBE” Anderson Silva could do well “if he trained more” is insane. Jon jones do not have even close to the skill and talent with his hands of Anderson Silva. Jon rarely throws anny jabs or long crosses, despite having an insane reach and is more dependant on his ability to toy with people when he grabs a hold of them than anny thing else. Anderon Silva is a good boxer (would he have beaten Roy Jones JR? No, I strongly doubt it, even with the RJJr of today) who can trow on all distances and use good headmovement and slip and counter. Also, Anderson is known to train A LOT! Atleast among the people who are more than casual MMA-fans. If you listen to the people that have insight in Silvas life and training, he is constantly training and trying to improve and learn new stuff. Whether he is working on learning a completely new martial art (like capoeira) or helping one of his friends to prepare for their fights, he is not like a Matt Hughes (at times) or Rampage Jackson (really bad), who only trains hard when they got a fight comming up.
What time is it?
HAWK TIME!
To clarify...
… I´m not saying that Rampage is a bad fighter, but he is known to ge fat between his fights and have often talked about how much he hates to train. Matt Hughe have had some of that in him aswell (most notably only training for a couple of weeks for his fight against Sean Sherk) and often prefers to work at his family farm to put time in the gym, but he never gets as much out of shape as Quinton…
Just to clarify….
What time is it?
HAWK TIME!
I think bones jones has a nice jab, and I saw vids of him training and doing mittwork. He looks pretty solid as a boxer imo. And I respect what you said, and I do feel nick diaz has more power than he looks, and that he has decent timing and finds his range well, and he did finish frank shamrock with a body punch, but nonetheless, I still think he sucks, no offense to you. Holler!
"According to all the laws of aerodynamics the bumble-bee should not fly, but the bumble-bee does not know this and so flies anyway."
I’ve never been a Nick Diaz fan. For plenty of reasons.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Apr 16, 2011 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe he should try pulling a Pete Rademacher
And fight Sergio Martinez at 160 in a title fight. He’d lose, probably badly, but it’s not like Martinez has a lot of options for name opponents at the moment.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
diaz vs martinez wouldn't be good for diaz
paul williams has a fairly volume punching, reach imposing style, and had loads of trouble against martinez. diaz picks apart guys with no head movement: guys who cover up and then get hit to the body. in mma, its hard to pull of head movement effectively, which explains diaz’s success. throw him in a square ring though, it’s a different story. volume punching doesn’t work as well against counter punchers – just watch diaz marquez.
as for lacy vs diaz, i am ashamed to admit i don’t know much about lacy and haven’t seen fit to watch him at all, so i can’t make a good judgment. but i always err on the side of experience; diaz might be a good striker, but he is not a pro level boxer, i think lacy would still beat him.
You cannot walk if you fear to crush the ant in your wake.
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