By Cutman’s Stool: This Friday night on ESPN, IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) makes his return against Kendall Holt (28-5, 16 KO’s) to the ring in an effort to prove that he is the fighter who defeated Amir Khan back in December 2011. The win against Khan was the biggest night of Peterson career, but what followed the fight soon ended the creditably of the win.
Peterson failed a drugs test in the build-up for Khan Peterson 1 and this became public knowledge in the build-up to the rematch. Peterson later admitted he had taken synthetic testosterone for a medical condition but didn’t inform the Nevada Athletic Commission. The WBA belt stripped Peterson’s belt however he retained the IBF belt.
The IBF ruled that the fighter did have low testosterone levels in the build-up to Khan-Peterson. A doctor called John A. Thompson had surgically placed a testosterone pellet under in the skin in his hip area. This is a treatment which is quite common but shouldn’t have been undertaken for a professional boxer, especially without informing the boxing commission beforehand.
According to RingTV.com an endocrinologist wrote ” the testosterone levels noted in the VADA report are consistent with the therapeutic use of the hormone and not for the purpose of performance enhancement,” “Therefore, these levels would not have enhanced Lamont Peterson’s training for or performance during the bout” against Khan. This is why the IBF did not strip the title from Peterson and they ruled Peterson should retain the belt.
After the drugs test his battling split decision win other Khan was immediately called into question with people asking how much did the drugs help Peterson win the fight. The failed drug test has cost the fighter a lot of money and his reputation has been tarnished. This is a fight for Peterson to prove to the people that the drugs didn’t help him and he’s a top fighter. I think this alone should make Peterson more determined to win the fight and be able to put in a good performance.
It is his first fight back in 14 months and is being fought in his home city at the DC Armory, Washington, D.C. The home advantage could play a huge part in the fight for Peterson, if it goes to the scorecards and is a close fight, many times in the past the home fighter gets the call. Peterson has an impressive record with only one loss to Timothy Bradley and a draw to Victor Ortiz.
Kendall Holt (28-5, 16 KOs) on the other hand cannot be taking lightly. For Holt it’s a fight he needs to win, he has lost 3 out of his last 6 fights and another defeat will really hurt his career. He is a tough boxer who will be more and prepared to take Peterson the whole 12 rounds and also has the tools to knock him out. In 2009 he was in a close fought fight with Timothy Bradley. It went the distance and he was able to drop Bradley in the first and last round’s of the fight.
Holt’s fight with Danny Garcia was surprisingly fought at a slow place for most of the rounds, Garcia won the fight by being the busier fighter and landing the most punches and the cleaner punches in each round. I think this is what Peterson will have to do. Peterson will have fight with the same intensity as he has done with Khan. In the past Holt has just looked for the one big punch instead of trying to win rounds with quantity and being busy. Holt did land some big shots in the fight with Garcia but looked totally outclassed. It was a split decision but it was close in no way, the judge who scored it for Holt was a late replacement and most people agree that he got it totally wrong.
In an interview with ESPN Holt says that this fight is the biggest fight of his career, Holt also went on to say that after getting surgery in August on his shoulder he isn’t still 100%. However Holt says he has sparred with fighters like Shane Mosley and Wale Omotoso and has trained as hard as ever for this fight. Holt looks hungry for success and knows that he needs this win, a victory over Peterson will open bigger and better doors in the future.
Holt might have too much to do, to be able to win the fight. Holt will have to work behind his jab, try and get some room to be able to land some clean punches. Holt will be trying to land powerful punches but I think he should be looking to up his work rate compared to other fights. Peterson will be looking to get up and personal and land some body punches and try to tire Holt down the same way he did against Amir Khan. I expect plenty of holding, up close battling and a lot more work coming from Peterson.
I think Peterson has a very good chin and should be able to win the fight based on his work rate. I also think Peterson is the technically better fighter and should be more than able to win plenty of rounds to get the unanimous decision. Both fighters have been out of the ring a while and it will be interesting to see who can shake the ring rust off the quickest. I think the most likely outcome is for Peterson to win on points decision. In a fight billed as Redemption, Lamont Peterson needs to prove he is a top quality boxer and is capable again of the performance he put in against Khan.
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