Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

By Boxing News - 01/19/2018 - Comments

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

By Jeff Aranow: IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) weighed in at the limit for the division at 147 pounds for his first defense of his title against Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) for their fight this Saturday night on Showtime at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Peterson weighed in at 146 ¾ lbs. Both fighters looked in good shape. There was no trash talking or attempts at intimidation during the face off. It was just 2 cool, calm and collection welterweights playing it in a low key manner for their fight this Saturday night on Showtime Boxing.

Spence, 27, acknowledges that he not only needs to win the fight, but he also needs to look impressive in doing do. He can’t struggle against Peterson, because that would be just as good as a loss for him. With all the hype that is surrounding ‘The Truth’ Spence, nothing short of a wipeout win will suffice. Spence didn’t look that great in beating Kell Brook last May in Sheffield, England.

Spence won the fight by an 11th round knockout, but it wasn’t an easy win for him, and he didn’t look that great at times, especially in the first 5 rounds. It wasn’t until Brook suffered an eye injury that Spence started to come on and look good in the fight. Spence blamed his losses than impressive performance against Brook on him being rusty from having been inactive for 8 months leading up to that fight.

“This is a tough challenge. If you know Lamont, you know he’s a tough fight but I came to dominate the division and it started with Kell Brook,” said Spence. ”I’m going to get Lamont Peterson and then I’m going to get the other welterweights that are out there.”

Peterson would be a handful for anyone in the 147 lb. division, but he’s really up against it with him facing Spence. This is the wrong style for Peterson to be fighting. Peterson likes to throw body shots, and that’s exactly how Spence prefers to fight. The only difference is Spence is a better body puncher.

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Spence will almost surely get the 33-year-old Peterson out of there, but getting the other top fighters to face him may prove to be impossible. Spence isn’t going to get a fight against Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman in 2018. Those guys aren’t making any noise about wanting to fight Spence. Once you remove Garcia and Thurman from the equation, it leaves Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, Adrien Broner, Jeff Horn and Terence Crawford. I don’t see any of those guys volunteering to fight Spence. Peterson may prove to be the best opponent Spence faces in 2018, and that’s kind of sad. Hopefully, Spence doesn’t have to sit for the next 8 months like he did after his win over Brook. Spence’s career is going to wind up incomplete if he doesn’t start fighting more often.

“It’s definitely important not just to win the fight, but how I win the fight. I came to dominate the division and I came here to look good. I’m the future of the division and I’m the future of boxing,” Spence said.

Spence has got to demonstrate that he’s truly the best fighter in the weight class by beating Peterson easily in the same way that Lucas Matthysse did. He’s one of two fighters that have ever had an easy time beating Peterson. A young Tim Bradley beat Peterson by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision 9 years ago in December 2009. Bradley had to go the full 12 rounds though to beat Peterson. Spence, 27, is going to be looking to make easy work of him by knocking him out.

“I wouldn’t say that Errol isn’t the bigger guy, I just believe that it doesn’t matter. It’s all about boxing skills,” Peterson said. “I think we’ll both make each other look pretty good, but I’m going to win,” Peterson said.

Peterson is correct about the size not being the story of the fight. If Spence wins, it won’t be just because of his size. It’ll be due to his punching power, youth, boxing skills and overall ability. Peterson has a lot to try and overcome in this fight, and it’ll be up to him to show that he belongs in the same class. Spence is a huge 35/1 favorite over Peterson and for good reason. He’s looked good his entire career.

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Other weights on the card:

IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. weighed in at 134 ½ pounds for his fight against Javier Fortuna. For his part, Fortuna weighed in over the lightweight limit at 136 ½ pounds, and he won’t have a chance to win the IBF title from Easter Jr. On the first weigh-in attempt, Fortuna weighed in at 136.8 lbs. He was then given 2 hours to lose the fight. On the second weigh-in, Fortuna weighed 1.4 lbs. over the limit at 136.4 lbs.

Light heavyweight Marcus Browne weighed in at 175 ¾ lbs. for his 10 round fight against Francy Ntetu. For his part, Ntetu weighed in at 174 ½ lbs.

Heavyweight Adam Kownacki weighed a flabby looking 260 pounds for his 10 round fight against Iago Kiladze, who weighed in at 220 ½ pounds.

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights

Image: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson – Official weights