Lamont Peterson well prepared for Felix Diaz Jr

By Boxing News - 10/15/2015 - Comments

DSC_6702(Photo Credit: Delane Rouse) By Allan Fox: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (33-3-1, 17 KOs) is as ready as he’s ever going to be for unbeaten #5 IBF Felix Diaz Jr (17-0, 8 KOs) for their fight on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC this Saturday night on HBO PPV from the EagleBank Arena at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.

Peterson has studied Diaz’s fighting style well, and he feels he’s going to be totally ready for anything the 5’5” southpaw brings to the ring on Saturday. Peterson will be sporting a four inch height and a five inch reach advantage over Diaz.

That’s going to be tough for Diaz to try and deal with because he’s very short for the 140lb division. For a fighter as little as him, he really should be fighting at lightweight or super featherweight.

Diaz hasn’t been beaten yet, but he also hasn’t fought any good opponents. Diaz didn’t look good at all in his 10 round majority decision last year over Adrian Granados in October of 2014. The 31-year-old Diaz looked a lot better in his last fight in beating 34-year-old Gabriel Bracero last April by a 10 round decision.

“I had a very healthy and productive training camp. I’m looking forward to this fight. I always look forward to fighting. I wish I could fight every month, I swear I do. But I understand it’s a business,” Peterson said. “I’m looking for a tough fight. I know he’s prepared. I did my homework on him though. I wish we could fight tonight…but I guess I can wait.”

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Peterson, 31, might need to change his fighting style somewhat for this fight by choosing not to fight on the inside like he normally does because that’s an area where the 5’5” Diaz is very strong. Peterson might have problems if he chooses to go inside and fight that kind of a battle instead of using his longer reach to pound out a decision on the outside.

Peterson is capable of fighting on the outside when he wants to, but he frequently finds himself back on the inside looking to punch. If he does that in this fight then he’ll make his job much harder than it should be. It’s a winnable fight for him if he fights smart. If he chooses to fight Diaz’s fight game, then he could lose.

Peterson lost a controversial 12 round majority decision to Danny Garcia last April in a catch-weight fight at 143lbs.

Diaz won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. It was kind of a controversial gold medal because many boxing fans thought Diaz deserved to lose to Frances’ Alexis Vastine and Ireland’s John Joe Joyce. The scoring in that Olympics was controversial in a lot of fights, but it benefited Diaz.



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