Yes, Virginia, Lamont Peterson Does Have a Chance Tonight
By Alec Kohut, Max Boxing (Dec 10, 2011) Special to Doghouse Boxing (Photo © Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/ Golden Boy Promotions)
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Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Amir Khan (Left), Boxing Promoter Oscar De La Hoya (Center) and number one rated super lightweight contender Lamont Peterson (Right)
We take pleasure in answering prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our immense gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of Maxboxing.com:
 
Dear Maxboxing—
 
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say that Lamont Peterson has no chance against Amir Khan. Papa says, “If you see it at Maxboxing, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, does Lamont Peterson have a chance?
 
--Virginia
 
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a boxing media in a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see of the past. They think that nothing can be accomplished in the ring, which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere underdog, a James Braddock against Max Baer.
 
Yes, Virginia, Lamont Peterson has a chance this Saturday. His chance exists as certainly as his heart and devotion exist, both enabling him to rise from homelessness as a child to an accomplished fighter and, more importantly, an accomplished person. Alas! How dreary would be the world if Lamont Peterson didn’t have a chance? It would be as dreary as if there were no gyms in the inner city, providing hope to the hopeless. There would be no childlike dreams of becoming a world champion, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.
 
Not believe Lamont Peterson has a chance?! You might as well not believe in what he’s done to earn this title fight.
 
I have yet to see anybody in the boxing press actually predict a Lamont Peterson victory over champion Amir Khan tonight in Washington D.C. But don’t believe that in any way this fight is a mismatch. Lamont Peterson is a live dog.
 
 
Since his lone defeat at the hands of Breidis Prescott, Khan has risen to the top of the heap in the junior welterweight division yet he is hardly unbeatable. Many believe that if not for the intervention of referee Joe Cortez, Khan would have fallen to Marcos Maidana in December of last year. This year, a lackluster technical decision over Paul McCloskey and a knockout win over the aged Zab Judah hardly make Khan a prohibitive favorite tonight.
 
 
Lamont Peterson will have to fight the best fight of his life but it’s fair to say that with just a few relatively minor changes in his game, he can win this fight. First and foremost, Peterson cannot dig himself into a hole early on the scorecards. He does not possess the kind of power to turn a fight around with just one punch nor is it at all likely that Peterson can actually stop Khan. So if he is to win, it will have to be on the scorecards and falling into a deep hole early will spell doom against a fighter of Khan’s ability.
 
 
This is easier said than done. Khan, with the exception of the Prescott loss, does start fast. He had Maidana in big trouble early and dominated Judah early before closing the curtain in the fifth. If Peterson gets off to the same sluggish start as he did against Victor Ortiz, don’t expect Khan to allow him back into the fight as Ortiz did.
 
 
Neither can Peterson go into the defensive shell as he too often does. The kind of shell that serves only to block punches and not set up effective counterpunches. The kind of shell that makes it look like your opponent is scoring well even though the punches are being blocked. The kind of shell that costs a fighter valuable rounds in a close contest. Peterson went into this defensive posture far too often against Victor Cayo and it will cost him dearly if he does the same against the world-class Khan. Peterson must be looking for all opportunities to score against Khan and not merely wait for them to be presented, as is the case against lesser opponents.
 
 
Peterson knows he can’t fall behind early, at the pre-fight presser Thursday he told Maxboxing, “I know [Khan] slows down around the middle of the fight. If I keep it even until then, I should win the fight.”
 
 
Both Peterson and trainer Barry Hunter have displayed a quiet confidence this week, leading me to believe that at least they believe they will win this fight. No longer is it a big deal to just be on the big stage; this time it’s all about winning. There’s no longer the awe of being in the bright lights; now it’s just another big fight. They’ve been here before.
 
 
Peterson says, “It’s just another fight.” But of course, we all know that it’s much more than that. This is perhaps his best- and last- chance to bring home a world title and Hunter knows it. And despite fighting in Peterson’s hometown of Washington D.C., it is likely that Khan will have the larger and more boisterous following at the D.C. Convention Center tonight. 
 
 
I give Peterson a real chance. If the fight is at all close after six or seven rounds, Peterson can beat the 10-to-one odds against him and earn the decision. So if after just the first three or four rounds, Peterson has not dug a hole for himself on the scorecards, we could be in for a back-and-forth affair and a possible new champion.
 
 
So yes, Virginia, Lamont Peterson has a chance tonight. So I’ll be the first boxing writer to make the prediction that Lamont Peterson will upset Amir Khan and become the junior welterweight champion of the world.
 
 
[Editor’s Note: Virginia never writes to me…dammit. I need to write more.]

More recent articles by Alec Kohut below his contact info...

If there is a fight or fighter you feel deserves mention in the Regional Report, please contact Alec at maxboxingeast@gmail.com. You can also follow Alec on Twitter at www.twitter.com/alecmaxboxing and tune in to his weekly online show every Tuesday at 9:00 PM EST at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search/aleckohut



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