Scott Pemberton is 38 years of age and hasn’t fought in over a year, primarily because after earning mandatory position in the WBC rankings he had to sit idle while Los Bandidos sorted out their own pecking order. He beat Omar Sheika twice and then had to sit back and watch Sheika fight for a title, and is only in this one because an injury to Danny Green scuttled a WBC eliminator in Australia just about the same time Joe Calzaghe ducked out of a proposed fight against Lacy. It’s actually a pity, because now he’s getting his first – and, probably, only – title shot against the super-middleweight champion he is least likely to beat. The two are familiar with one another – Pemberton sparred extensively with Lacy in California a few years back. Look for Pemberton to do some early damage, much as he did in his fight with Charles Brewer, but Lacy should prevail sometime in the middle rounds.

George Kimball

(George Kimball is a feature writer for The Sweet Science, as well as a writer for the Boston Herald. To access his work, simply Click Here)