Lacy set to return from injury in undercard bout

No athlete chooses to get hurt, and that certainly wasn't Jeff Lacy's preference.

But Lacy said a torn left rotator cuff made him a better fighter because the recovery process forced him to focus on different areas, such as improving his right hand.

"It allowed me to tap into certain things that I wasn't doing and make my whole body much stronger than it was before," said Lacy, nicknamed "Left Hook."

"I don't wish this to happen to anybody. I don't even know how I dealt with it when I suffered the tear in the fight. But it's something I really think happened at the right time."

Lacy (22-1, 17 knockouts) gets the chance to show how much he has improved in tonight's 10-round super middleweight bout against Peter Manfredo Jr. (28-4, 13 KOs) on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton title fight at the MGM Grand Garden.

The televised portion of the undercard will begin at 6 p.m. The TV schedule includes champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (33-1, 30 KOs) against Eduardo Escobedo (20-2, 14 KOs) for the WBO junior featherweight title, and Wes Ferguson (17-2-1, five KOs) against Edner Cherry (22-5-2, 10 KOs) in a lightweight match.

Lacy will be fighting for the first time since tearing his rotator cuff against Vitali Tsypko in December 2006. Even though the injury occurred in the second round, Lacy managed to claim a 10-round majority decision.

But tonight is about more than a comeback from injury. Lacy, a former super middleweight champion in three organizations, lost his belts by unanimous decision against Joe Calazghe in March 2006.

Critics said the loss exposed Lacy's weaknesses, but the fighter said he was burdened by personal problems he carried into the ring.

"I've learned from my mistakes, and that's what you have to do," Lacy said. "If I continued to let that bother me, I wouldn't be the fighter I am today."

His trainer, Dan Birmingham, said fans will see the true Lacy tonight.

"Jeff is very prepared mentally, physically, and Saturday night we're very confident Jeff will be the winner," Birmingham said. "And Jeff will prove he's still one of the biggest forces in the super middleweight division."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2914.