Lamont Peterson Too Much For Rogelio Castaneda Jr

By Boxing News - 07/07/2008 - Comments

peterson46246.jpgBy Thomas Hanson: Top light welterweight contender Lamont Peterson (25-0, 12 KOs) continued his unbeaten streak with an easy 9th round TKO of Mexican journeyman Rogelio Castaneda Jr. (24-14-3, 8 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout on Saturday night at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Peterson, 24, the older and arguably the better of the Peterson brothers (his brother, Anthony Peterson, is currently ranked 3rd in the WBO lightweight division), battered Castaneda Jr. throughout the fight, eventually dropping him with a big right hand in the 9th. With Castaneda Jr. taking severe punishment at the hands of Peterson, Castaneda’s corner help threw in the towel prompting for referee Russell Mora to halt the fight at 2:50 of the 9th round.

Peterson, showing promise and a great many flaws, dominated the early action using largely his jab to control the fight. He rarely threw anything more than a jab in the first round, which was somewhat frustrating because you’d have expected more than that from a fighter as hyped as much as he is.

Castaneda Jr., for his part, wasn’t as timid about letting his hands go, and nailed Peterson repeatedly with right and left hand shots in the round. However, Castaneda Jr. had no power to speak of, and despite landing what looked to be the better shots, he was no match for Peterson’s jab.

Going into the fight, Castaneda Jr. had lost three out of his last four bouts, which is pretty much what I had expected for one of the Peterson brothers, as they mostly still fight low level opposition, and frequently don’t look impressive in beating them.

Castaneda Jr. showed no power or speed as he continuously came forward, throwing wide punches that looked as if they were thrown in slow motion. With his lack of speed, he’d have been much better off throwing straight shots, for his hooks seemed to worsen his slow shots, allowing Peterson to counter him or beat him to the punch with his own shots. Peterson only sparingly fought hard in the first three rounds, instead using his jab 90% of the time, and opening up with two punch combinations usually near the end of the round.

In the 4th round, Peterson finally started unveiling his powerful left hook, and succeeded in nailing Castaneda Jr. repeatedly in the round, staggering him at one point. It looked as if Peterson could take him out if he just fought hard and threw a flurry of punches for 30 seconds or less, yet Peterson seemed reluctant to do so. This is kind of typical for him and his brother, Anthony, because both of them are more into boxing technique, fighting carefully, and methodically beating their opponents over the course of the bout rather than getting sloppy and trying for a knockout. The problem with that, however, is that both Peterson brothers end up taking more punishment, given the fact that they are forced to fight longer for lack of knockouts.

Peterson stepped up his work rate in rounds five and six, hitting Castaneda Jr. with a high number of left hands to the head. Early in the 5th round, Peterson staggered Castaneda Jr. with a left-right combination to the head. As usual, he didn’t go after him, allowing Castaneda Jr. to stay in the fight, even though he looked ready for the taking at that point in the fight. Some boxing fans would assume that Peterson was deliberately allowing Castaneda Jr. to stay in the fight, in an effort to get more work done, but in this case, Peterson just seemed really cautious, seeming afraid to go for a knockout. I don’t know why he would, though, because Castaneda Jr. had no power and probably couldn’t knock him out no matter what he hit him with.

In rounds six and seven, Castaneda Jr. began to fade, showings signs of wearing down from both the pace and the amount of shots that he was forced to absorb. Instead of lessening his pace, he doubled his efforts, throwing even more punches, but he was pushing most of his shots due to his lack of energy.

In the 8th round, Peterson began to really punish Castaneda Jr. with heavy shots, hitting him with a high number of uppercuts to the head, swelling his right eye. Peterson continued limiting his own offensive attacks with two punch combinations, never going beyond that as if it were his golden rule. In effect, it made him very predictable, because you knew what he was going to throw at all times. Castaneda Jr., however, wasn’t skilled enough to take advantage of Peterson’s predictable offense, in this case. However, a better fighter than him would most definitely pick up on Peterson’s offensive tendencies, and perhaps beat him. Peterson fights then exact same way in every fight, always either a jab or a 1-2 combination, never more than that.

In the 9th round, Castaneda Jr. looked like he was ready to go, more so because he was simply tired than because of getting hit with anything big. A minute into the round, Peterson turned southpaw and nailed him with a perfect right hand rabbit punch to the back of the head, sending Castaneda Jr. down to the canvas. I don’t blame him for going down, because the punch caught him on the back of the head, and it messed up his balance.

After he got up, Castaneda Jr. bravely attempted to fight back, but took a pounding, getting hit with some massive uppercuts from Peterson. Indeed, Peterson went uppercut crazy, throwing nothing but that punch until the fight was stopped when Castaneda Jr’s corner threw in the towel. Again, a very predictable offensive attack for Peterson, showing more tendencies of the same style of fighting.