The long-awaited super middleweight title unification bout between U.S. Olympian Jeff Lacy and Wales-based Italian Joe Calzaghe is finally going down tomorrow night at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

Lacy, 21-0 (17), is coming off a terrific 2005 in which he stopped Rubin Williams, Robin Reid, and tough veteran Scott Pemberton. Unlike fellow Olympian Jermain Taylor, who is the undisputed middleweight champion of the world despite looking suspect in his two controversial decisions over Bernard Hopkins, Lacy has been improving with every fight and looks like the real deal. Bulit like an SUV truck, the Florida native is on the fast track to success - though his chin has never been tested. The drama surrounding Lacy-Calzaghe not only depends on whether Calzaghe can take Lacy's best shots, but whether "Left Hook" can take what he dishes out.

Calzaghe, 40-0 (31), is also undefeated and has an impressive knockout ratio, although he has not faced the quality of opponents Lacy has been in the ring with. Calzaghe has a tendency to get dropped, and is often open for counters - something Lacy will no doubt exploit. But is Calzaghe a potentially bigger version of Ricky Hatton, a European fighter with a spotless resume who feasted on mediocre opponents, until he lured the top dog into the lion's den and mauled him in front of 20,000 screaming partisan fans? Probably not. Conventional wisdom says Lacy is too big, too good, and too strong for the Welshman. If he doesn't overwhelm Calzaghe with brute force, he should be able to outwork him for a decision victory. But don't expect Team Lacy to be content with anything less than a knockout; foreigners fighting in Europe can never rely on the judges to be impartial in an atmosphere where the home fighter is cheered, and in a sport where corruption is always just around the corner.

Calzaghe sees this has his career-defining fight, perhaps inspired by Hatton's victory over Kostya Tzsyu at the same venue he will face Lacy in. He has a puncher's chance, especially if Lacy doesn't respond well upon being hit clean and hard. This fight will be an exciting, war of attrition, with both men slugging and going for broke. Lacy will try to box early, and Calzaghe will test him with his own power punches. In the middle rounds, Lacy's pressure will start to get to Calzaghe, and he will be in survival mode until Lacy starts putting together combinations and floors the game Welshman in the later rounds, causing his corner to stop the fight.

Lacy is trying to do what light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. opted not to do against Darius Michelzewski: travel across the Atlantic and whoop some European ass. Jones felt that as champion, he shouldn't have to defend his title away from the U.S. For Lacy, the oppurtunity to go overseas and beat the number one ranked Calzaghe on his home turf with the threat of being the victim of home-country cooking validates his status as a world champion.

It's what champions are supposed to do.

Prediction: Lacy KO 10