Pemberton defenseless against Lacy's barrage
STATELINE, Nev. -- The stark contrast in their boxing pedigrees was easy to spot even before the first punch was thrown last night.
Veteran Scott ''The Sandman" Pemberton, of New Bedford, Mass., entered the ring slowly, moving to the beat of rapper Eminem's ''Lose Yourself," which features the line, ''This opportunity comes once in a lifetime." Meanwhile, ex-Olympian Jeff ''Left Hook" Lacy entered to a custom-recorded entrance song.
Pemberton, who waited 11 years for a championship fight, finally got his shot in a nationally televised bout at Caesar's Tahoe, but the chance lasted exactly 5 minutes, 59 seconds.
Pemberton hit the canvas hard after Lacy, the International Boxing Federation super-middleweight champion, connected with a devastating overhand right with 2:59 left in the second round.
''I'm a little disappointed at how the fight went, obviously," said Pemberton, 38, who was boxing outside New England for the first time. ''But I appreciate the chance to fight for the world championship."
Lacy, who defended his title for the fourth time, caused a loud thud when his right hand found Pemberton's left temple.
Lacy, from St. Petersburg, Fla., improves to 21-0 with 17 knockouts.
The 8-1 favorite became the clear aggressor in the first round, landing back-to-back combos early on. Pemberton responded with a five-punch combo, though his flurry wasn't as effective.
Lacy landed two big left hooks that looked to slow Pemberton momentarily. But the attack continued in the second round. The champion came out aggressively, landing another strong combo. Pemberton tried to fend off the attack with a couple of jabs. But that didn't seem to slow Lacy.
Pemberton even managed to get Lacy on the ropes, but didn't do much damage. Lacy not only escaped the bind, but launched a flurry of punches that put Pemberton down to one knee after connecting with a hard body shot and a left uppercut.
After a standing-eight count, Pemberton went in for more. But the knockdown only served as an invitation for Lacy to start firing away. He chased Pemberton into the ropes and around the ring, growing bolder with each flurry. He tagged Pemberton with a pair of hard left hooks before finishing the fight with the crushing overhand right.
''He just caught me," said Pemberton, who fell to 29-4-1. ''We had a game plan and it was working, but Jeff's a strong guy."
Lacy, who took home $200,000 after the victory, is looking forward to a title unification bout against World Boxing Organization champion Joe Calzoghe of Wales. But after the match, Lacy and promoter Gary Shaw talked about the possibility of moving up to the 175-pound devision to face Antonio Tarver.
Pemberton, who took home $150,000, is hoping to earn enough money from boxing to put a down payment on a new home.
In the other main event, Rafael Marquez of Mexico successfully defended his IBF world bantamweight championship with a fourth-round TKO over Silence Mabuza of South Africa.
