Lamont Peterson has won world titles in two weight classes – junior welterweight and welterweight. He’s beaten guys like Amir Khan and Kendall Holt. But he’s lost to Timothy Bradley, Lucas Matthysse and Danny Garcia.
But even if he had beaten those three, we’d still say he’s never had a victory over anyone as talented as Errol Spence Jr.
Saturday, Spence will defend his welterweight title against Peterson at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on Showtime).
Peterson understands what he’s up against. He gets why people toot Spence’s horn the way they do. That doesn’t mean Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) isn’t going to fight like heck to try and hand Spence his first loss, while at the same time shocking the boxing world.
“Errol Spence is clearly a great fighter,” said Peterson, of Washington D.C. “I can see why people revere him in that way. But on Saturday, we’re going to give him a fight and he’s going to have to prove it. I don’t have to worry about what anyone says about us leading up to this fight.
“I know Errol well and it happened that it was time for us to fight. This is what we do, so we’ll definitely give it our all on Saturday. My mentality is to win.”
Well, it’s not like he’s going to say he expects to lose.
And it’s not like he has some secret about Spence he can use to his advantage. It’s about execution.
“There’s nothing that I’m really looking to expose, but doing things at the right time during the fight will be key,” Peterson said. “Errol is a solid fighter across the board, and we’ll see what he brings on fight-night.”
It doesn’t help Peterson that this will be his first fight in 11 months and just his second in 27 months, while Spence boxed as recently as May when he won the title with an 11th-round knockout of Kell Brook in Brook’s native England.
Peterson isn’t concerned about that, or so he says.
“I’ve been staying in the gym the whole time since my last fight,” said Peterson, 33. “Even if I haven’t been fighting, I’ve been sparring and keeping my craft sharp. You never know how long a layoff will be, so I made sure to keep my mind on boxing.”
Spence, 27, is a southpaw, which makes him an even tougher nut to crack. But even though one would be hard-pressed to find someone picking Peterson to win, Spence seems to understand that overlooking anyone in this business is not the way to operate.
“I’m training for the Lamont Peterson that I know,” Spence said. “He’s a hard worker, he’s hungry and he has a big heart. People shouldn’t look past this fight because I’m not at all. Peterson is a great fighter who’s seasoned.”
Great? No, Peterson is not great. Spence is, and he just may solidify that notion with a spectacular victory. At 22-0 with 19 knockouts, Spence has knocked out his past nine opponents.
“Everyone knows my style,” he said. “The outcome usually is a stoppage. I won’t be looking for it, but if it presents itself, I’ll be ready to take advantage.”
SOR RUNGVISAI-ESTRADA
You think Peterson is in for a hard time Saturday? Well, Juan Carlos Estrada (36-2, 25 KOs) of Mexico will face a similar scenario when he challenges Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1, 40 KOs) of Thailand for his super flyweight title on Feb. 24 at the Inglewood Forum (on HBO).
Sor Rungvisai is coming off back-to-back victories over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, who was undefeated before those setbacks and was considered by many the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
In their second fight, on Sept. 9 at StubHub Center, Sor Rungvisai knocked out Gonzalez in the fourth round. Estrada, a former world champion, at least speaks in confident tones.
“I’m very happy for the opportunity and can’t wait for Feb. 24 to become a world champion again,” Estrada said. “I know this is a tough fight. Sor Rungvisai is the best super flyweight in the world. I know I have the style to beat him.”
We’ll see how happy Estrada in just over a month.
ETC.
The junior welterweight title fight between champion Sergey Lipinets and Mikey Garcia that was scheduled for Feb. 10 in San Antonio has been postponed because Lipinets sustained a hand injury. Garcia, a lightweight champion, would have been trying to win a title in a fourth weight class. … The main undercard fight to Spence-Peterson will feature Robert Easter Jr. (20-0, 14 KOs) of Toledo, Ohio defending his lightweight title against Javier Fortuna (33-1-1, 23 KOs) of the Dominican Republic.