Taylor enjoyed an easy ride on Saturday night against Lacy

Jermain Taylor dominated Jeff Lacy to win a 12-round unanimous decision in a WBC super middleweight eliminator.

Former undisputed middleweight champion Taylor used strong jabs to keep Lacy off balance and landed punches at will throughout the bout.

It was the first fight for Taylor since February, when he lost a second straight fight to Kelly Pavlik.

"I felt great. I'm so proud of myself," said Taylor, who landed 48% of his 442 punches against his fellow American.

There was controversy in the fifth round when Lacy landed a right to the back of Taylor's head.

Taylor went down, but the referee ruled it was not a knockdown.

Lacy, beaten comprehensively by Joe Calzaghe in March 2006, insisted: "It was a knockdown.

"He went down when I hit him. He's a good friend outside the ring. I'm not a sore loser and I have a lot of respect for Jermain Taylor."

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