On Sunday, March 24, 2019, former two-division world champion Lamont Peterson and former 140-pound champion Sergey Lipinets square off in a scheduled 12-round main event of Premier Boxing Champions on FS1 and FOX Deportes from MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Peterson, the 35-year-old Washington DC native, is coming off of a layoff which lasted over a year. His last bout took place in January of 2018 against IBF Welterweight champion, Errol Spence Jr. That fight ended in a seventh-round stoppage loss for Peterson and left many wondering whether he would ever step back into the ring.
But while some outsiders may have thought that Peterson’s boxing days were over, he knew he still had more to offer the sport.
“I never felt like I was done fighting after my last fight, but you have to be smart,” said Peterson during the final press conference on Thursday at the MGM National Harbor. “After each fight I assess the whole situation before I move on. That’s what I did before this one and I’m happy to be in this position.”
Although it’s expected to hear a fighter talk himself up before a fight (especially a veteran fighter who is fielding questions about retirement), it’s always interesting to know what others around him might say.
I caught up with Kenny Porter and asked him about Peterson to get a different perspective on how the veteran fighter looked during this particular camp. Porter was a close observer during this training camp as his son, WBC Welterweight champion Shawn Porter, spent a few weeks at the famed Headbangers Boxing gym to prepare for his own fight against Yordenis Ugas.
The elder Porter was clear in his assessment–Peterson was as impressive as ever throughout camp and is still outworking younger fighters, including Shawn.
“You see Lamont workout and you say, ‘I can’t believe this’,” said Porter. “Literally, he’s the only person that I’ve ever seen do the things that he’s done in a training camp and leave my kid four or five steps behind.”
That’s high praise from Porter and one can certainly gather that the year-plus layoff has done Peterson some good.
“Lamont Peterson is amazing,” continued Porter. “If you saw any of the workouts, when they’re using the sledgehammer to hit the tire, Lamont picks up the sledgehammer with one hand. And then he switches and hits it with the left hand. And then my kid is hitting it with two and he’s struggling because it’s a hard thing to do especially with all the other stations they’ve got going on.”
Peterson will not be taking an easy fight in his return as he takes on the former 140-pound IBF titleholder Sergey Lipinets. But if you ask Peterson, he doesn’t feel like he’s doing anything special by adding another tough name to his resume.
“It’s our obligation to fight the tough guys,” said Peterson. “Everybody says I fought this person or that person, but what else am I supposed to do? I shouldn’t get kudos for that, it’s just my job.”
With an old school mentality and work ethic, fans should enjoy watching Peterson for as long as he decides to continue lacing up the gloves.
The PBC on FS1 telecast kicks off at 8:00 pm, ET from the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Fans can live stream the fights on the FOX Sports app, available in English or Spanish through the FOX, FS1 or FOX Deportes feeds. The fights are available on desktop at FOXSports.com and through the app store, or connected devices including Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, Xbox One and Roku.
