by David P. Greisman
Lightweight contender Anthony Peterson accomplished something on Saturday night that he hadn’t done in four years — he had a second fight in the same calendar year. Peterson scored a first-round stoppage of Edgar Riovalle on the undercard at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. This past March, he earned a decision win over Marcos Jimenez.
After being disqualified for repeated low blows against Brandon Rios in September 2010, Peterson had been out of the ring for 15 months. He had returned in December 2011 on the undercard of Lamont Peterson’s win over Amir Khan, then was out of the ring again until May 2013 on the undercard to Lamont’s loss to Lucas Matthysse. That was his only fight last year.
Part of the difference, he said, is he’s now working with powerful boxing adviser Al Haymon. But the other major thing is that he’s no longer dealing with injuries.
“I couldn’t really do nothing,” Peterson told reporters Saturday night. “My knee blew out. I tore something in my shoulder, so I couldn’t be the Anthony Peterson I wanted to be, so I had to take the time off. Now I’m back.”
The 29-year-old from Washington, D.C., is now 34-1 with 22 KOs. Riovalle, 27, of Mexico City, is now 37-19-2 with 26 KOs.
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