I still want Lacy

Lacy has chosen to defend against his fellow American rather than wait for our proposed unification bout to be rescheduled and that was fully expected.

It was always accepted that should any mishap - subsequently my broken hand suffered against Evans Ashira - prevent our November showdown, he would be free to meet someone else.

That someone has turned out to be Pemberton, who is not a bad fighter and who has been linked with a fight against me in the past.

But Pemberton's not an opponent who should give Lacy any trouble, though he's better than Lacy's last opponent, Robin Reid, who was a shadow of his former self that night.

I was criticised by some for taking on Ashira, a 'nobody' according to some people, and risking injury in my last fight.

Well on some influential independent rankings Ashira is number 14 in the world to Pemberton's 17 or 18, but I make no comment on that.

On WBC ratings, Pemberton is a ridiculous number one and on IBF and WBO ratings is seven and eight respectively, all of which merely emphasises than one pundit's nobody is another pundit's somebody.

As I say, I believe Pemberton is a reasonable fighter but, at the age of 38, should be past his prime and is unlikely to worry Lacy.

He has a reasonable dig but has also been stopped three times, twice early in his career and once by Charles Brewer in the fight after I defeated Brewer three years ago.

He was also put down by Omar Sheika, who I stopped in five at Wembley in 2000, so I don't expect an upset.

That means, hopefully, that my proposed fight with Lacy can still go ahead in February when my hand will be 100 per cent.

I don't accept all the bluster about this fight and the doubts about it now going ahead that have been raised in some quarters.

I want the Lacy fight as I always have and I believe he wants it to. It will pull in the fans, now more than ever, and it is in both our interests that it goes ahead and I'm sure it will.

Meanwhile, my hand is still painful and I can't clench my left fist. It's also frustrating that I can't do things like writing or driving (except an automatic) and that I can't really take a holiday break as I like diving and snorkelling and being active which I can't manage at the moment.

But I am still able to use my right hand to jab which means the weapon which defeated Ashira should be better than ever when the Lacy fight comes around.

I have noticed one or two ignorant comments in some quarters in recent months by people who seem to think I don't punch properly.

All I can say is they should try telling that to the 31 of 40 opponents I have stopped or KO'd or step in the ring with me to sample my 'slaps' for themselves.

The fact is that I do punch correctly but obviously, because of my hand speed and my ability to throw a cluster of punches in a very short space of time, not all such blows carry my full weight.

Sometimes I perhaps throw too many punches, ten or so in a second or two. Obviously you can't manage power punches when you punch that quickly.

It has always been my style to throw a flurry of punches and then slow down and land the big digs. It is that which has brought me success for such a long period of time and if the time ever comes that I lose my hand speed then that will be the time when I become the same as everybody else.

Another boxer with terrific hand speed which is expected to take him to a world title one day is Amir Khan and I see his next fight, having fought on my last bill in Wales, is to be in Scotland.

He is certainly getting around early in his career, but that's a good thing as he is building a large fan base and gaining valuable experience.

When I first started out I had almost all my fights in England. I hardly fought on home Welsh soil and won the world title by beating Chris Eubank in Sheffield.

Amir is also fighting on the undercard of world title fights which will also stand him in good stead and which is something I never had early in my career.

It will prepare him for the time when he tops such bills and fights for titles.