By Tom Donelson
Friday Night Fights featured an opening brawl with Lamont Peterson putting his undefeated record on the line against rugged Joe Moreno. This fight saw both fighters throw over 2000 punches through 10 rounds. Moreno knew that the only way that he could win was to force Peterson to stand and fight. Fighting out of desperation, Moreno kept up the pressure and like a windmill, threw punches from every imaginable angle.
Throughout the fight, Peterson punches found its way through Moreno's gloves and Moreno’s head occasionally spin around from a Peterson uppercut. However, Moreno forced Peterson to fight his fight as Peterson spent much of the second half of fight in front of Moreno.
On occasion, Peterson danced and moved, but as the fight progressed toward the end, Peterson exchanged punches in close quarters with Moreno. There was no doubt who was the better fighter as Peterson's punches were the more accurate and had the more impact.
Moreno forced a fast hard pace and Peterson acquiesced. The tenth round started as both men laid leather on each other. As the round moved forward, Peterson took control of the round as he did in the previous rounds. Peterson showed that he could fight a fast tough pace and seemed on route towards the upper elites of the junior welterweights.
This is a division is loaded many young prospects, including Paul Maglignaggi, ready to challenge for the top. Lamont Peterson wants his name with this elite list by years' end. What Peterson failed to do was use his jab effectively. Instead of jabbing and keeping Moreno at the end of his punches, he chose to throw power punches and fight Moreno's fight. With just seven knockouts in 16 wins, Peterson is not a power puncher and to engage in toe to toe action will only get him defeated as he moves up the junior welterweight ladder.
Welterweight prospect Delvin Rodriquez began his fight relaxed as he moved forward. The favorite over Alexis Divison, he managed to walk into a Divison looping right that wobbled Rodriquez. Divison won the first round and Rodriquez did what he always does in fights, start slow. As the second round progressed, Rodriquez started putting his punches together and at the end of the third round, he nailed Divison with a beautiful right that shook the underdog.
Divison proved to a rough fighter as he threw low blows consistently as well as punches behind the heads. Divison gave up his height advantage and threw wild, looping punches. Many of these blows often missed their targets and the referee warned Divison constantly about the location of those that did manage to land.
For three rounds, his opponent challenged Rodriquez as both fighters threw many haymakers. Divison's lack of discipline was his undoing as the referee disqualified the Puerto Rican fighter in the fourth. This ending proved unsatisfactory, but Rodriquez showed his potential with technically sound boxing skills. His weakness is his defense, especially in the early rounds. A looping right nailed him in the first and this was due as much to lack of attention as to lack of defense. Rodriquez was beginning to take control of the fight, but the foul fest ended the fight a bit too short.
The concluding fight featured Heavyweight prospect Alonzo Butler versus trail horse Terry Porter. The southpaw Porter was the biggest challenge for the undefeated Butler, which speaks volume for Butler's previous opponents. Porter came in the fight with more losses than wins, but he had fought some top cruiserweight and heavyweight over the past few years.
Butler outworked Porter by 56 punches and in the second round, he started to take control of the fight as his right cross found a target on Porter’s face. The third round saw one of those unusual ending. Butler crashed a right and sent Porter spinning across the ring. Butler nailed Porter with one more right and the rope stopped Porter. Butler ran into Porter and butted him out of the ring as he lost control in pursuit. Porter fell on the table by the ring and hit his head. As guest host Ricky Hatton observed, “Butler butted him out of the ring.” The referee declared that Porter was knocked out but what sent Porter out of the ring was Butler backside. It was not like Porter was going to win but it would have been nice to see Butler work some more rounds.
Butler has now won 21 fights without a loss, but his many of victims are of the unknown quality and likely to stay that way. Butler is at that crossroads where he can't just feast on the barley living or old veterans on their last leg. No one knows how good Butler is nor do I suspect Butler knows either. He is going to take it to the next level or he is going to crash quickly. He needs to take that next step to increase the quality of his opponents or be mired in the purgatory of boxing junior circuit.
Memphis is becoming a boxing center in the South. Since 2002 when Lennox Lewis stopped Mike Tyson in their classic match, Memphis has featured many big fights including Glen Johnson knocking out Roy Jones. And Memphis is the present home of the Peterson brothers, who are top prospects in the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions. Memphis is slowly becoming the Southern center of boxing excellence.
