Judah and Lamont Peterson say no to Mauricio Herrera fight

By Boxing News - 05/14/2014 - Comments

herrera2By Dan Ambrose: Former two division world champion Zab Judah (42-9, 29 KO’s) and IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (32-2-1, 16 KO’s) have reportedly said no to a fight against the recently beaten but very tough Mauricio Herrera (20-4, 7 KO’s), according to Steve Kim. It’s unclear why they turned down Herrera, but given how tough of a time he gave WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia in their fight last March, it’s not surprising that they didn’t want anything to do with him.

Herrera lost to Danny Garcia by a 12 round majority decision, but a lot of boxing fans felt that he did more than enough to deserve a victory. Danny thinks he deserved an 8 rounds to 4 win over Herrera. But the fight that I saw, I had Herrera beating Garcia by a couple of rounds.

“I’m told that both Zab Judah and Lamont Peterson turned down offer to face Mauricio Herrera…#boxing,” Kim said on his twitter.

Judah, 36, isn’t getting any older, and he’s not fought since his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Paulie Malignaggi last December. Judah looked pretty much like a shot fighter in that bout, and it would be surprising if Judah can turn things around in his next fight unless he’s matched against a weak opponent. Judah has been on the fade since his 5th round knockout loss to Amir Khan in 2011. Judah was able to beat Vernon Paris two years ago, but since that fight he’s lost back to back fights to Danny Garcia and now Malignaggi. Judah has lost 3 out of his last 4 fights.

Peterson recently beat Dierry Jean by a 12 round unanimous decision last January. But in his fight before that, Peterson was stopped in the 3rd round by Lucas Matthysse last year in May. Peterson needs a big win to turn his career around, because beating Jean was kind of a nothing win due to Jean being a complete unknown in the U.S. as far as casual boxing fans go. A fight against Herrera would be a step up for Peterson, and give a good sign of what he’s got left.



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