By Rick Reeno
Junior welterweight contender Lamont Peterson (29-1, 15KOs) is picking Floyd Mayweather Jr. to unseat WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on Spetember 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Back in December, Peterson survived two knockdowns in the third round to battle Ortiz (29-2, 22KOs) to a ten round majority draw. Back in 2009, Peterson and Mayweather (41-0, 25KOs) had their infamous sparring session in Las Vegas, which BoxingScene.com documented heavily .
Peterson is giving Ortiz's a puncher's chance - if the welterweight champ can catch Mayweather in the early rounds. But, he expects Ortiz's lack of a jab to be the biggest factor in Mayweather's ability to win, even with 16 months of inactivity.
"With Victor, anyone that hits with hands that are that heavy, they can hurt you. It would have to be Victor catching him early and really hurting him to put him on the defensive. He would have to get out there early. Overall, I would have to go with Mayweather because Victor doesn't really put a real jab out there. And to beat Mayweather, who counter-punches so much, is that you have to have a really good jab. And the fact that Victor don't jab, I think he loses," Peterson told BoxingScene.com.
