Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
Saturday, April 11, 2015, IBF 140-pound champion Lamont Peterson (33-2, 17 KOs) will take on WBC and WBA champion Danny Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) in a non-title fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The 12-round non-title Welterweight fight will headline a Premier Boxing Champions card that will be televised on NBC in the U.S.
Peterson, 31, of Washington D.C., has two similar opponents with Danny Garcia: Lucas Matthysse and Kendall Holt. However, Peterson believes that the outcomes of those previous fights will have no effect on his fight this Saturday.
“People talk about him beating Matthysse and Matthysse beating me, but anyone who knows about boxing knows that doesn’t mean anything,” said Peterson, who was stopped in the third round against Matthysse in 2013, while Garcia scored a unanimous decision against Matthysse later that year.
Since then, Peterson has slowly rebuilt his status in the division with wins against Dierry Jean and Edgar Santana, the latter of which ended in a 10th-round stoppage.
Although he was stopped against Matthysse, Peterson is not worried about Garcia’s power. In his fight with Holt in 2011, Garcia scored a split decision victory, while Peterson stopped Holt in 2013.
Peterson believes this fact has been overlooked.
“We’re not worried about Danny’s power. A lot of people have asked me about that but I’m not worried. Danny Garcia had a split decision with Kendall Holt, who I knocked out. No one seems to mention that,” said Peterson.
Peterson isn’t worried, but he definitely shouldn’t get too comfortable in the ring. Peterson’s trainer, Barry Hunter, was even filmed slapping Peterson in the corner of his fight with Jean.
Hunter slapped Peterson after a close ninth round that Peterson could have easily won if he had merely continued boxing and keeping his hands up.
Despite his tendency to get hit unnecessarily, Peterson says his opponent will be prepared as he will be the toughest opponent Garcia has faced since Matthysse and will arguably be one of the better boxers Garcia has in his entire career.
“I don’t think they’re taking me lightly. At the end of the day, Garcia knows this is a fight and he knows he hasn’t fought anyone like me,” said Peterson.
