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by David P. Greisman - You can forgive a boxer’s fans if they hope for a great one-sided victory instead of a great two-sided battle.
The rest of us are without any allegiance except to action and drama. We want sustained exchanges of heavy blows, multiple shifts in momentum, and anything else that will make the evening incredibly memorable, which will make it worthy of watching again and sharing with anyone else who may not yet have experienced the pleasure of seeing it.
That’s what we were hoping for with this past Saturday’s fight between Lamont Peterson and Lucas Matthysse — or at least that was the hope for those of us not emotionally invested in either of these top-rated junior welterweights.
Peterson’s recent run has brought both action and drama. He has struggled at times, suffering knockdowns in fights with Timothy Bradley, Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan, and he has risen from the canvas with his determination to win only heightened instead of lessened.
That has made for good viewing. We looked on while Peterson forced Bradley to put forth one of the best performance of his career en route to a clear decision win, as we watched Peterson come back to keep the Ortiz bout to a draw, and as we saw him trouble Khan and grind his way a close and controversial split decision.
Matthysse, too, has made for destination television. Though his initial introduction to American fight fans came with losses to Zab Judah in 2010 and Devon Alexander in 2011, both defeats were controversial split decisions. We wanted to see more of him, to see what he could do if given another chance against the contenders and titleholders in the 140-pound division.
He has built a cult following while building a strong case for a third chance, blasting through his opposition in a manner that has been the norm for him throughout his career. Only twice has he come out with a victory that wasn’t via knockout; once was a disqualification win very early in his career, the other was a unanimous decision all the way back in 2008. [Click Here To Read More]
The rest of us are without any allegiance except to action and drama. We want sustained exchanges of heavy blows, multiple shifts in momentum, and anything else that will make the evening incredibly memorable, which will make it worthy of watching again and sharing with anyone else who may not yet have experienced the pleasure of seeing it.
That’s what we were hoping for with this past Saturday’s fight between Lamont Peterson and Lucas Matthysse — or at least that was the hope for those of us not emotionally invested in either of these top-rated junior welterweights.
Peterson’s recent run has brought both action and drama. He has struggled at times, suffering knockdowns in fights with Timothy Bradley, Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan, and he has risen from the canvas with his determination to win only heightened instead of lessened.
That has made for good viewing. We looked on while Peterson forced Bradley to put forth one of the best performance of his career en route to a clear decision win, as we watched Peterson come back to keep the Ortiz bout to a draw, and as we saw him trouble Khan and grind his way a close and controversial split decision.
Matthysse, too, has made for destination television. Though his initial introduction to American fight fans came with losses to Zab Judah in 2010 and Devon Alexander in 2011, both defeats were controversial split decisions. We wanted to see more of him, to see what he could do if given another chance against the contenders and titleholders in the 140-pound division.
He has built a cult following while building a strong case for a third chance, blasting through his opposition in a manner that has been the norm for him throughout his career. Only twice has he come out with a victory that wasn’t via knockout; once was a disqualification win very early in his career, the other was a unanimous decision all the way back in 2008. [Click Here To Read More]
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