Lamont Peterson’s next step

By Boxing News - 02/24/2013 - Comments

peterson#1By Ryan Wardle: Current IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson ( 31-1-1, 16 KOs) successfully defended his title against Kendall Holt ( 28-6, 16 KOs), in his return to the ring on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Peterson’s return comes after a 14 month layoff after testing positive for a banned substance. Kendall Holt is a former WBO light welterweight champion and was a good test for Peterson’s first fight in over a year.

The fight started with Holt winning the first few rounds but halfway through the 4th round Peterson began to warm up and landed a hard right hand that knocked Holt to the canvas. Peterson continued to control the bout and landed another knockdown in the 6th round. He eventually landed a flurry against a defenseless Holt causing the referee to step in and call a stop to the fight in the 8th round.

Once Peterson gained control of the fight he never gave it back. He showed a tight defensive guard and constantly stalked Holt, while he landed hard, powerful shots. Peterson was clearly the better fighter and looked good against a decent opponent for having been out of the ring for such a long time.

Light welterweight could currently be the most talent rich division in boxing, which means there are plenty of fights for Peterson. In his post fight interview Peterson stated that he wanted a unification bout with WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia, but Garcia has a long line of people wanting to fight him so that fight is not likely to happen anytime soon. Amir Khan has a fight scheduled for April 20th so their rematch is not likely to happen in the near future. A fight with the winner of Rios vs. Alvarado could be interesting or a fight with someone like Marcos Maidana. No matter who the opponent, there is no reason it should be a B quality fighter, with all the talent at this weight class.



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