Garcia-Peterson: BoxingScene.com's Staff Predictions

By Jake Donovan

For as hard as Danny Garcia had to work to claim 140 lb. supremacy and as much as Lamont Peterson has been through just to remain an alphabet titlist, it’s a shame that their long-sought head-on collision takes place just north of the junior welterweight division.

Nevertheless, boxing fans get the matchup they wanted, as the two meet Saturday evening at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The bout headlines live in primetime on free-to-air NBC, as part of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions series.

Garcia (29-0, 17KOs) emerged as one of the best fighters in the world—as well as the lineal junior welterweight king—following his career-best win over Lucas Matthysse in their Sept. ’13 clash. The victory was added to a collection of scalps that includes Amir Khan, former two-division champ Zab Judah and twice beating faded ring legend Erik Morales, all coming within a span of 18 months.

2014 wasn’t anywhere nearly as kind to Garcia, however. The unbeaten Philly product struggled mightily in a debatable 12-round points win over Mauricio Herrera last March—his last official bout at 140 lbs., although he has yet to sever ties from the division.

His follow-up performance served as the butt of an industry-wide joke, as he and adviser Al Haymon were vilified for his facing blown-up journeyman Rod Salka, who was asked to move up more than two full divisions in their 142 lb. catchweight bout last August. Garcia scored a 2nd round knockout on the same show that hosted Peterson’s last fight, a 10th round knockout of brave but overmatched Edgar Santana on a night of mismatches at Barclays Center.

The hope at the time was that the next step would be a meeting between winners. That eventually came about, but first with both sitting out the rest of 2014 while Haymon pieced together his PBC puzzle.

Peterson (33-2-1, 17KOs) has overcome losses and scandals to emerge as one of the best junior welterweights in the world. His title win over Amir Khan in Dec. ’11 remains in the books as a victory and one title still around his waist, despite it coming out after the fact that he was already undergoing treatment for synthetic testosterone.

That part came up in pre-fight drug-testing prior to their planned May ’12 rematch, which was eventually canceled and the test results prompting a one-year ban for Peterson dating back to his last ring appearance.

A loss to Matthysse came just enough outside the junior welterweight division—one pound, to be exact—for Peterson to remain a titlist, having made three defenses of his belt. Wins over Kendall Holt and Dierry Jean serve as the highlights of a reign that has otherwise made headlines for the wrong reasons.

While Saturday’s bout takes place at a catchweight of 143 lbs.—a weight Peterson had to strip down to his bare essentials in order to make—a loss will actually result in the end of his title reign. The International Boxing Federation (IBF) has stood through quite a bit in Peterson’s run, but never gave its blessing for a non-title fight and will begin the hunt for a new claimant to the crown should Peterson come up short on Saturday.

Read on to see how the staff at BoxingScene.com believes the signature bout of this loaded boxing weekend will go down.

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: DANNY GARCIA vs. LAMONT PETERSON

Ryan Burton (Garcia UD): “Danny Garcia is simply the better fighter and will outclass Peterson. Hopefully he moves up to 147 pounds after this fight.”

Jake Donovan (Garcia TKO10): “Three pounds are the difference between this being a 140 lb. championship fight and “just” another very good matchup. Those three pounds are also the difference in what could’ve been a competitive fight, and what should prove advantageous to Garcia, who—at full strength—will wear down Peterson for a late stoppage via attrition.”

Lyle Fitzsimmons (Garcia TKO7): “I love this fight because I can see Garcia blasting him out of there Matthysse style, but I can also envision Lamont standing up to his best shots and frustrating the beejesus out of him for 12 rounds. Because it feels like it's been such a long time since Garcia looked stellar against a stellar foe, I'm thinking he's about due.  He'll land a flurry and follow up for a win in the mid-rounds.”

David Greisman (Garcia TKO): “It wasn't long after Garcia's big win over Lucas Matthysse that he was humanized in a struggle with Mauricio Herrera. While that suggests Peterson's pressure and diverse arsenal could give Garcia trouble, I believe Garcia's hand speed and power will end up catching Peterson, who'll get up from the first knockdown or two but will break down as the fight goes on.”

Peter Lim (Garcia UD): “Garcia wins this one courtesy of his sturdier chin and superior punching power. The bout will be evenly fought mostly at center ring with Garcia landing the harder shots and Peterson connecting at a slightly higher rate. But Peterson has been dropped many a time before and Garcia will score a knockdown or two during the course of the bout, tipping the scores in his favor when all is said and done.”

John MacDonald (Garcia mid TKO): “I'd be far more interested in this fight if it was made at 140lbs for the their respective versions of light welterweight titles. Either way, Garcia's power and timing should see him catch Peterson sooner rather than later.”

Takahiro Onaga (Garcia TKO7): “Danny wins over Peterson who is very lucky to even be regarded as one of top fighter in division.”

Cliff Rold (Garcia Dec.): “Garcia has the more reliable chin and the more varied offense. That doesn't mean Peterson won't press him into tight spots along the way.”

Victor Salazar (Garcia late TKO): “Lucas Matthysse dominated Lamont Peterson while Danny Garcia won a decisive decision over Matthysse; advantage Garcia right? It should be but in boxing styles makes fights as they say and you just never know what will happen. I think we see a very competitive fight with both fighters having very good moments. Peterson is good on the inside and Garcia great at his timing. One of the two qualities will prevail in the end. I see it being Garcia big timely shots in a late round stoppage of Peterson.”

Reynaldo Sanchez (Garcia TKO7): “Lamont Peterson has the skills and the speed but not the jaw. at this level and weight I don’t see how Peterson can stop a fighters like Garcia.”

Alexey Sukachev (Garcia UD): “I still cannot get why this fight is not a unification. Anyway, Garcia, with all his misgivings, has one extra valuable feature - he is a winner. He will prove it against Peterson, but Danny is no Lucas, so the fight will go the distance.”

Stacey Verbeek (Garcia late TKO): “After his last few underwhelming performances, I see Danny Garcia looking to make a statement here. He will use his speed, power to cancel out Peterson's reach and height advantage in the early rounds and wear him down then tap into his brawler style to put the chinny Peterson down once before winning by late stoppage.”

Totals:
Garcia–12
Peterson–0

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox