By Chris Robinson
With his upset over former champion Amir Khan on December 10th, Washington, D.C.’s Lamont Peterson realized his dream of becoming a champion and his victory has also placed him in the mix of some intriguing, high-profile bouts.
While Peterson initially seemed open to a rematch with Khan, he has suddenly found his name in the frey as a possible opponent for Manny Pacquiao, one of the two biggest draws in the sport.
Pacquiao is coming off of a highly-entertaining majority-decision over Juan Manuel Marquez in their November 12th trilogy bout and will likely return to the ring in May or June. His list of opponents for his next assignment is narrowed down to a fourth fight with Marquez, a rematch with Miguel Cotto, Peterson, and WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.
And while the classy Peterson, who has overcome his share of hardships in his life, and his recent success make for a good story, Bradley’s trainer Joel Diaz admits he would be disappointed if the newly-crowned titlist does indeed come away with the shot at Pacquiao.
Diaz knows Peterson well, as he guided Bradley into battle against him for their December 2009 clash at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California. Inside of the ring Bradley would seize command as he scored a 3rd round knockdown and pulled out an impressive, clear-cut decision win.
Diaz also pointed out that Bradley, who signed with Top Rank last year, did so with the intentions of landing the biggest fights possible and that it would be a shame if Bob Arum elected to go with Peterson instead, as Lamont is an active free agent.
I recently caught up with Diaz and he gave me his opinions on why he believes his charge very well could defeat Pacquiao, why Marquez is also an intriguing option, his history with Bradley, and much more…
This is what Diaz had to say…
In search of an opportunity…
“You know what? Right now, Manny Pacquiao is the Golden Goose. Everybody wants to fight Manny Pacquiao. And I think that every fighter out there wants a chance at Pacquiao. I think my fighter has done enough to get an opportunity at Manny Pacquiao. There’s a lot of fighters in the world that say ‘Oh, I can beat Manny Pacquiao’ but they’re never going to get to see him because they’re never going to get the opportunity.”
The ability to beat Pacquiao…
“I think that Timothy, sometimes he’s underestimated, but I think he has the potential, the ability, to beat Manny Pacquiao. Maybe, honestly, I’m his trainer and Timothy needs to work a lot on some of the things we need to focus on for our strategy for fights. Maybe he doesn’t have that power punch to knock out Pacquiao but he has the ability to outbox Pacquiao.”
Pondering Juan Manuel Marquez as an option…
“Second to Manny Pacquiao, a fight that I would really like to see it Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez. The reason why is because Marquez really put up a hell of a performance in the last fight with Pacquiao. And that would be something we would like to see.”
Respecting Marquez’s trainer Nacho Beristain…
“Marquez is very smart fighter. And Nacho Beristain is very, very intelligent person. He’s a hall of famer for a reason. That’s something that a lot of trainers like myself admire and we look forward to getting that knowledge through the years. Our main goal is to be knowledgeable enough to see a fighter and study a fighter and to strategize, most of all.
Why Pacquiao didn’t look as impressive in 2011…
“I think Marquez, after two fights, he already had a number on Pacquiao. At the same time I think Manny Pacquiao has been busy enough to where his body has taken a lot of wear and tear and he’s already starting to slow down a little bit.”
Disappointment if Lamont Peterson lands the Pacquiao fight…
“Definitely. I heard about it not too long ago and it’s a little upsetting. Lamont Peterson lost to Timothy Bradley when he was undefeated; his first defeat was Bradley. It was a great fight, those guys were at the top of their game. He’s a free agent and Timothy signed with Bob Arum and that’s the reason it would be upsetting for the whole team.”
Working with Tim Bradley…
“When Bradley finished his amateur career, his last amateur tournament, he came to me and said ‘I would like you to train me’. He’d seen the work I had done with my brother Julio and Antonio and he really liked it because I was putting in the work as a professional trainer. And he believed in me. I told him ‘I can work with you. I can take you as far as I can and if somebody else can do better, I’ll step aside and be your number one fan and we’ll move on’. After we won the first title he said ‘You know what coach? I don’t think there’s anybody out there that can do more for me than you already have’. It’s been great working with him because he’s a kid that works hard. He makes my job easy. He’s a very disciplined fighter. He trains like there’s no tomorrow. When he’s 100% training for his fights, all I have to do is make sure he’s ok and just guide him right.”
What sets Bradley apart…
“His focus. He’s the type of fighter that, when he’s training, when I’m talking to him, he wouldn’t even answer because he’s focused on his job. He has only one thing in mind and that’s winning. He doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. He’s very determined. When he walks in that gym, once he stars working from the first bell, he don’t talk to nobody, not even me. He just listens and does what I tell him to do. Until he’s done training, he won’t start communicating.”
