By Lyle Fitzsimmons - OK, it took every bit of 440 days. But I guess I’m officially on board.
Seems this Lamont Peterson kid can fight, after all.
I’ll concede to being on the naysayer side of his ledger since Dec. 10, 2011, when an IBF/WBA title fight – or district-sanctioned cable TV mugging, if you prefer – ended within him emerging from the Washington Convention Center ring with everything short of Amir Khan’s wallet.
I had Khan winning seven of 12 rounds for what would have been a 115-112 scorecard margin under normal one-knockdown circumstances that night, though it was trimmed to just a single point courtesy of the still-iffy penalty machinations of overmatched referee Joseph Cooper.
I’ll admit the lingering bad taste of that first go-round might have impacted how I felt about a rematch, and, when Peterson scuttled those plans by getting popped for PEDs in a voluntary test a few months prior… well, let’s just say he didn’t help his case with me.
But he may have won me back a little on Friday.
Though I’d still rank his “the testosterone was medically prescribed” explanation below my 4-year-old’s “Mommy said I could draw on the kitchen floor” bargaining, I will give him credit for eventually shutting his mouth, taking his punishment and returning to work with the same grinding lunch-pail approach that suited him so well – win, lose or draw – in the match against Khan. [Click Here To Read More]
Seems this Lamont Peterson kid can fight, after all.
I’ll concede to being on the naysayer side of his ledger since Dec. 10, 2011, when an IBF/WBA title fight – or district-sanctioned cable TV mugging, if you prefer – ended within him emerging from the Washington Convention Center ring with everything short of Amir Khan’s wallet.
I had Khan winning seven of 12 rounds for what would have been a 115-112 scorecard margin under normal one-knockdown circumstances that night, though it was trimmed to just a single point courtesy of the still-iffy penalty machinations of overmatched referee Joseph Cooper.
I’ll admit the lingering bad taste of that first go-round might have impacted how I felt about a rematch, and, when Peterson scuttled those plans by getting popped for PEDs in a voluntary test a few months prior… well, let’s just say he didn’t help his case with me.
But he may have won me back a little on Friday.
Though I’d still rank his “the testosterone was medically prescribed” explanation below my 4-year-old’s “Mommy said I could draw on the kitchen floor” bargaining, I will give him credit for eventually shutting his mouth, taking his punishment and returning to work with the same grinding lunch-pail approach that suited him so well – win, lose or draw – in the match against Khan. [Click Here To Read More]
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