By Lem Satterfield
Junior welterweight contender, Lamont Peterson, is picking WBC welterweight king Andre Berto to be successful in Saturday night's defense of his belt against rising, former junior welterweight, Victor Ortiz, adding that he believes the champion will win by knockout.
"If I had to put my money down on that fight, I would go with Andre Berto," said Peterson during an interview with BoxingScene.com on Monday at the Head Bangers' Gym in Peterson's native Southeast, Washington, D.C.
"But knowing both of them and the way that they punch, it's anybody's fight," said Peterson. "But I think that I have to go with Berto, and I don't see it going the distance."
The 27-year-old Peterson (28-1-1, 14 knockouts) is preparing for an April 29 IBF title eliminator bout against 26-year-old Victory Cayo (26-1-1, 18 KOs) of the Dominican Republic that is slated for the Cosmopolitan Resort in Las Vegas.
The Peterson-Cayo winner could earn a title berth as the mandatory challenger for a shot at 33-year-old IBF king Zab Judah (41-6, 28 KOs).
Peterson is coming off of a 10-round, HBO televised, majority draw opposite the 24-year-old southpaw Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., this, after having gotten up from two third-round knockdowns at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.
Peterson was awarded the victory, 95-93, on the card of one judge, while the other two scored the fight at 94-94 draw with Ortiz, who is taking on what may not necessarily be a larger man in Berto (27-0, 21 KOs).
"I don't think that I took too much out of Victory Ortiz. I mean, he's a big guy who could possibly be even better by moving up. I see in the first round, not a lot will be going on," said Peterson.
"But I think that the first guy who lands the hardest shot and hurts the other guy first will start coming forward and will be the first guy to become aggressive," said Peterson. "Whether that plays good for that person or bad, I don't know, because one can run into a shot, or he can just take the other guy out by just putting pressure on him."
Ortiz is 4-0-1, with three knockouts since being stopped by in the sixth round in June of 2009 by WBA interim titlist Marcos Rene Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs) of Argentina, who was floored twice during a bout where Ortiz hit the canvas three times.
Berto is coming off of November's first-round knockout of Freddy Hernandez (29-2, 20 KOs), of Mexico City, whose winning streak of 12 straight fights, including six knockouts, was ended as Hernandez was stopped for the first time and lost for the first time since being beaten by split-decision by Golden Johnson in February of 2005.
In April of 2010, Berto had scored an eighth-round knockout of southpaw former world champion, Carlos Quintana (27-3, 21 KOs), who, at the time of their clash, had been the only man to have beaten southpaw three-time titlist, Paul Williams (39-2, 27 KOs).
"I think that Victor will be even stronger at 147, because Victor is a big, strong kid. I've known him and Berto since the amateurs. But the thing that makes the difference in their fight is that when Victor gets hurt, he tends to start doubting himself. When Berto gets hurt, he starts coming to fight," said Peterson's trainer, Barry Hunter.
"I think that that's the difference in that fight," said Hunter. "They're both capable of winning, but you've got to give Berto the edge because of the fact that he does have the heart and has shown that he can be hurt and can come back and to win. Victor has been hurt, and lost, but he's definitely capable of winning that fight."
