Round By Round: Jeff Lacy vs. Epifanio Mendoza

The main event of the July 23 edition of Wednesday Night Fights sees Jeff Lacy continuing on his comeback trail against Epi Mendoza, a dangerous opponent who has pulled off some surprises in the past. Lacy is 23-1, though he's won two straight after getting taken apart by Joe Calzaghe in March of 2006. He promises fireworks tonight.

Teddy Atlas says Lacy's key is his famed left hook, while Mendoza needs to land straight right hands when he sees openings. The fighters get their final instructions and we're ready to go.

Round 1

Mendoza flicks the jab. Lacy lands his first left of the fight. Not a lot of lateral movement by either man. Lacy drives Mendoza back with a pair of right hands, then scores with another. Right to the body and Mendoza tries to fire back with uppercuts. Lacy misses a big right and they tie up. Mendoza finding some success with uppercuts from close range. He's warned by the ref for hitting behind the head.

Franchise: 10-9 Lacy
Spartan117: 10-9 Lacy

Round 2

Atlas says Mendoza is standing too wide when the fight is in close so he can't move to get away. Big right lands from Lacy. Now Mendoza fires back with one of his own. Both men try to get something done inside before they clinch a couple of times. Lacy jumps in with a body shot. Two punch combo comes and then Jeff dances back out of the way. Big right stumbles Lacy and he's in trouble! With 40 seconds left in the round, Lacy stuns Mendoza with his own shot. Clubbing right by Lacy and a big left hook. Fantastic action in that round.

Franchise: 10-9 Mendoza
Spartan117: 10-9 Mendoza

Round 3

We'll see who has more left after a crazy second round. Both men winging big shots in close but nothing huge connects. Lacy is leaving himself open as he jumps in. Right uppercut by Mendoza. he's warned for a low shot as they lean on each other. Lacy with two short shots in the corner. Left hook finds the range for Mendoza. Nice two-shot combo by Lacy. Right catches Mendoza leaning back. Mean left right before the bell by Lacy.

Franchise: 10-9 Lacy
Spartan117: 10-9 Lacy

Round 4

Lacy tries some body work but the fight immediately gets to close range. Mendoza is hit low and Lacy receives a warning. Lacy punches his way in and it's back to the proverbial fight in a phone booth. Mendoza fires an uppercut and backs up. Now it's Epi jumping in and missing. Left hooks landing for Lacy and Mendoza fires some lefts back. Lacy is bleeding from the nose. Right from Mendoza and Lacy is quick to fire back. Left-right combo has Mendoza in trouble on the ropes. Big swing and a miss by Jeff as the round ends.

Franchise: 10-9 Lacy
Spartan117: 10-9 Lacy

Round 5

Jabs flowing from Mendoza until he's hit with a right hand. Another right hurts Mendoza and he stumbles forward and almost falls out of the ring. It's not a knockdown though, and Lacy goes back to work. Big right hand by Lacy after he almost got caught with one coming in. Double left hook by Lacy and Mendoza is warned again for a low shot. Good exchange along the ropes closes things out.

Franchise: 10-9 Lacy
Spartan117: 10-9 Lacy

Round 6

Mendoza sends Lacy's mouthpiece flying with a right hand. He looked a little hurt as the fight stops to get it back in. Another right by Mendoza. Now Lacy firing back as they head for the corner. Uppercut by Mendoza in tight. Lacy flurries but nothing significant lands. Stiff left backs Mendoza up a step. More wrestling along the ropes and Lacy lands a left at the bell. Close round but Mendoza probably took it with his work early on.

Franchise: 10-9 Mendoza
Spartan117: 10-9 Mendoza

Round 7

Lacy jumps in with a right hand and they lean on each other once more. Mendoza trying body shots and short punches upstairs. Both men jab out in the middle. Perhaps fatigue is starting to set in on both sides. Nice exchange in the center and Mendoza may have scored the harder shot. Even with the longer arms, Mendoza seems to be more comfortable shortening up his shots inside. Not a spectacular round but it seemed to go Mendoza's way again.

Franchise: 10-9 Mendoza
Spartan117: 10-9 Mendoza

Round 8

Lacy jumping around but both men look tentative. He charges in and picks Mendoza up off the ground. Jabs landing from Mendoza. Two right hooks in a row back Lacy up. He tackles Mendoza and lands hard on top of him by the ropes. Mendoza looks a little shaken and the crowd doesn't like it. The ref gives him a minute to recover because he hit his head on the bottom rope. Mendoza goes back to stalking and lands a left hook. Lacy is wobbled again by a left hand and left hooks follow up. Lacy hangs on until the end of the round but he was definitely in trouble again.

Franchise: 10-9 Mendoza
Spartan117: Mendoza

Round 9

Looping right crashes home from Mendoza though he's backed up by return fire. Both men land left hands. Straight jab hits Lacy square. Mendoza timing Lacy well now but he eats a left hook coming back. Lacy bleeding again, this time from the left eye. Mendoza backs him up with a right hand. Uppercut inside by Mendoza. Now another and a straight right too. Lacy is game as he stands and swings away. Closer round but Epi looked good again.

Franchise: 10-9 Mendoza
Spartan117: 10-9 Mendoza

Round 10

I would not be surprised if this fight is there to be won by either man. Atlas has Mendoza up by one point. Pretty calm opening to the final round. Several tie-ups force the ref to stay active. Mendoza uppercut lands; Lacy trying to hit his signature punch. Left hook by Mendoza. Body shot by Lacy and they tie up again. Both fighters look tired and the crowd is disappointed by the lack of action. Flurry by Lacy as he tries to steal the final round. One-two combo by Lacy. He throws right until the end and may have saved himself from losing the fight.

Franchise: 10-9 Lacy
Spartan117: 10-9 Mendoza

Franchise scores it 95-95, a draw. Spartan 117 scores it 96-94 for Mendoza. The judges score it 95-95, and 96-94 and 97-93 for Lacy.

The winner by majority decision... Jeff Lacy.

Lacy feels like he did a marvelous job for ten rounds; not sure that reflects what actually happened. Atlas asks Lacy if he tackled Mendoza on purpose. He evades the question somewhat but finally claims it was good tactics and experience in the ring. Interesting take.