BOXING: LACY RISKS HITTING THE ROAD.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES Boxing

Calzaghe and Lacy. Sounds like some kind of television detective show.

Like such a show, there figures to be plenty of intrigue leading up to the super middleweight title unification fight between Joe Calzaghe and Jeff Lacy scheduled for March 4 in Manchester, England.

Although Lacy and his promoter, Gary Shaw, had been in negotiations for a fight with people's light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver, Calzaghe-Lacy is the fight that is best for boxing, best for fans.

Regardless of what the other two champions in the division - Mikkel Kessler (World Boxing Association) and Markus Beyer (World Boxing Council) - might think, this will decide just who is the top 168-pound champion.

Calzaghe has made 17 defenses of his World Boxing Organization belt and Lacy has made four defenses of his International Boxing Federation title.

But there is another element that makes this fight even more appealing. Lacy, the American, will be traveling abroad to take on Calzaghe, who was born in Hammersmith, England and lives in Newbridge, Wales.

Of Calzaghe's 40 fights, all but three have been in either England or Wales. He has never fought in the United States. It makes one wonder if Lacy can expect fair treatment if this fight goes to the scorecards.

Boxing has been guilty of many things, and hometown scoring is one of them. That's exactly why Roy Jones Jr. - when he was WBA, WBC and IBF champion - never unified the light heavyweight division with Dariusz Michalczewski, the WBO champion who wanted the fight to take place in his native Germany.

``My dream is to unify the super middleweight division,'' said Lacy, a 2000 Olympian. ``And I have never turned my back on a dream. My dream was to make it to the Olympics and I did that.

``If I had to go over there (to England), that will let everybody know that I was willing to go anywhere.''

Lacy, however, did admit that he would not have accepted this fight in Calzaghe's backyard if Showtime, which will televise the it, was not in the mix. Since Showtime will be on hand, Lacy believes he will get treated fairly by the referee and three judges, and will not need a knockout to emerge with both belts.

``No, I think that is why we have the referee and judges to really play the third man of this fight,'' Lacy said. ``I would never take this fight if Showtime was not involved. If it was off television, sorry, the boxing fans would have to wait until Showtime came aboard.''

Lacy has fought several times on the cable network.

This will be the biggest fight in either man's career. Calzaghe is thankful that Lacy has stepped up to the plate in this fashion.

``I have been champion for eight years,'' said Calzaghe, who won the WBO belt in Oct. 1997. ``Finally, I get a fighter who shows ambition and wants to fight for the titles. So, this fight was not hard to make.

``This is my destiny. I have been waiting for this moment. A lot of people think I am going to get beat in this fight, but I have waited so long for this and I cannot wait for the time to come. I think it will be the fight of the year.''

Calzaghe has been criticized for not fighting in America even though he has been a professional for 12 years. He was asked during a recent conference call if he would like to fight here.

``You can never say never,'' he said. ``At the end of the day, I would like to come to America and fight one time. It is always a possibility.''

Lacy, 28, of St. Petersburg, Fla., is 21-0 with 17 knockouts. Calzaghe, a 5-foot-11 1/2 southpaw, is 32. He is 40-0 with 31 knockouts.

--Ruiz-Valuev: John Ruiz will defend his WBA heavyweight championship against Nikolai Valuev on Saturday at Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany.

Valuev, of Russia, is 43-0 with 31 knockouts. The only two known fighters on his ring record are Clifford Etienne and Larry Donald, whom Valuev defeated in his past two fights.

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