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Hand fracture slows Lacy

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 25, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- His punching power has taken out plenty of opponents.

Now it has sidelined Jeff Lacy himself.

The St. Petersburg boxer has a hairline fracture in his left hand after hitting Tony Pope on the forehead with a hook in Saturday's one-round technical knockout in Connecticut. The punch opened a gash on Pope's forehead that eventually led to the fight being stopped at 2:27.

Lacy, who broke his right hand in 1998, had surgery Wednesday to have a pin placed in his hand and likely will not box again this summer.

"I was happy with the way everything was going up until then," Lacy said. "Things were really heating up for me. All the boxing links on the Internet had me in the headlines. But that's the way things happen."

Lacy, who was on the U.S. Olympic team, has won his first three professional fights with first-round knockouts.

Pope, at 14-8, was considered an upgrade in competition for Lacy but the result was similar. Lacy knocked Pope between the ropes and out of the ring with a right early before dropping him again with the left hook.

Lacy said he will remain in St. Petersburg for the next three weeks until the pin is removed, then will return to his training site in California where he will begin preparation for a September return.

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