Lamont Peterson: I will win [against Spence]

By Jeff Aranow: Lamont Peterson (35-3, 17 KOs) says he has no questions in his mind whether he’s going to defeat IBF welterweight champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence (22-0, 19 KOs) or not in their fight on January 20 on Showtime Boxing.

It would be a major upset if Peterson defeats Spence in a war. The two of them are likely going to make this an inside war with both guys throwing vicious body shots from start to finish. The fighter that can dish out the most punishment to the body will likely be the winner in this contest. Peterson is a very good body puncher. Spence might want to think of another way of fighting Peterson, because this could end badly for him.

Peterson says he’s going to go out there and have fun in the fight with the younger 27-year-old Spence. However, Peterson’s words don’t appear to match his body language and he says them. Peterson has always been a low key type of person, but he’s always been confident. The way he’s speaking now in the weeks before his fight with Spence, he does not come across like he believes in himself. Peterson sounds like a person heading towards retirement.

“I’m going to have fun. I’m coming to compete,” said Peterson. “There is no if. I will win the fight,” said Spence.

Peterson was arguably robbed in his loss to Danny Garcia in April 2015. He fought well enough to deserve the victory. That was a fight that he should have won. It went to the more popular fighter Garcia.

Peterson is the underdog in the fight. Spence is seen as the next star of the division. He still needs to prove it though by beating Keith Thurman, Terence Crawford, Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter. Thurman and Crawford figure to be the biggest tests for Spence. His first test starts with Peterson on January 20. If Spence doesn’t win this fight with flying colors, then he’s going to be viewed as an overhyped fighter by a lot of boxing fans.

This isn’t the idea place for Peterson to be with his career coming into what shapes up to be a very difficult fight against Spence. Peterson hasn’t fought 11 months since his 12 round unanimous decision win over David Avanesyan on November 18, 2017. Peterson won the WBA World welterweight title in that fight. Sadly, Peterson never even defended the WBA belt. The vacant WBA title is now being fought for this month by Lucas Matthysse and Tewa Kiram on January 27.

It’s unclear why Peterson never even attempted to defend the belt. Peterson’s management should have lined him up with a contender for him to defend the belt, because he’s now back to being a mere contender fighting Spence for his title. If Peterson hadn’t vacated his WBA belt, he’d still be a champion now and he’d likely be facing Kiram in a very winnable fight.

“It gets easier and easier the more championship fights I’m in,” said Peterson. ”I was in shape for all of them, but I definitely put more pressure on myself when I was young. I’ve improved each time and now I feel like I’m really at the perfect place in my career.”

A victory for Peterson over Spence would be a huge win. It would open a door for Peterson to face Keith Thurman in a unification fight. Thurman hasn’t been eager to face Spence, but he might feel a little more confident fighting Peterson.