By Jim Dower: Light welterweight contender Victor Ortiz (28-2-1, 22 KO’s) has an important bout against Lamont Peterson (28-1, 14 KO’s) on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana fight on December 11th at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ortiz, 23, needs to win this fight and look good for him to stay in the running for the prospects of facing Khan, Maidana, Bradley or Alexander in the future.

Although Ortiz, ranked #1 WBA, WBO and #5 WBC, is looking to get a fight against the eventual winner of all those fights, he’s going to have to wait until the dust has cleared before he gets to take on the eventual winner of the tournament-like series of bouts. But this is actually a good thing, because Ortiz will likely continue to have the benefit of fighting on the undercard of the Khan-Maidana winner’s fight cards in the future, and boxing fans will get more of an opportunity to see him in action before he finally faces off with the eventual winner of all these fights. Ortiz has a four fight winning streak after losing to Maidana by a 6th round knockout last year.

Ortiz has improved a lot since the Maidana fight and is showing more ring smarts. In the Maindana fight, Ortiz made the mistake of trying to slug it out with Maidana and eventually Ortiz’s chin couldn’t stand up to the rugged and powerful Maidana’s big shots.

Peterson has good skills, fast hands and decent power. However, he doesn’t have the same kind of power that the southpaw Ortiz possesses. This could be the telling point of the fight. Peterson, 26, looked good in being matched against fringe contenders but when he was put in with Bradley last year in December, Peterson was beaten by a lopsided 12 round decision. Peterson was hurt several times in the fight by Bradley.

It’s not a good sign that Peterson was being staggered by a non-puncher like Bradley, because he doesn’t hit nearly as hard as Ortiz. Peterson might have big problems with Ortiz’ s power on December 11th unless he can box more and stay on the outside. Peterson likes to fight in close where he tends to throw a lot of body shots. He’ll have to avoid getting near Ortiz if he wants to make it to the final bell. Ortiz is one of the biggest punchers in the division and if he connects with something big, Peterson won’t make it to the final bell.