By Ian S Palmer
Lamont Peterson will finally be entering the ring again on Friday Feb. 22 when he will be trying to defend his IBF Junior Welterweight Title against former champion and fellow American Kendall Holt at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C.
This is Peterson’s first bout since December of 2011 when he upset England’s Amir Khan for the WBA and IBF crowns. However, Peterson failed a drug test after the controversial split decision over Khan when traces of synthetic testosterone were found in his system. He was stripped of the WBA belt, but managed to hang onto the IBF version. A proposed rematch with Khan also fell through and his reputation has come under fire.
Like the Khan bout, Peterson will be fighting in his hometown, so he knows he’ll have the majority of fans on his side. He’ll climb into the ring with a record of 30-1-1 with 15 Kos while Holt, who hails from Paterson, New Jersey, carries a record of 28-5 with 16 Kos. Peterson may be one of the lesser known world champions, but he proved his worth in the bout against Khan as it was one of the best of 2011.
The 29-year-old Peterson showed he could go to-to-toe in that bout and that he has decent power as well as a pretty good chin. These traits were there for all to see even if he had lost the bout, like many people feel he should have. However, the question remains, did the banned substances actually have anything to do with his performance that night? We might get an answer to this when he takes on Holt. Peterson has been beaten just once since turning pro back in and that came to current welterweight champion Timothy Bradley who beat him by a 12-round unanimous decision in 2009.
The 31-year-old Holt is known to carry heavy fists with him, but his power hasn’t always carried him to victory since turning pro in 2001. He’s lost three out of his past six fights, two of them to current champions Timothy Bradley and Danny Garcia, and seems to be on the downhill slide of his career. He hasn’t been consistent enough throughout his career. But while Holt has considerable power, he doesn’t have a strong enough chin to go with it and has been on the end of three stoppages.
Holt seems to have a problem when facing elite boxers, but it’s hard to tell if Peterson could be called elite at this stage in his career. Peterson showed a good chin against Khan, but he was still dropped once in that fight and he’s also hit the deck in bouts against Victor Ortiz and Bradley. This should give Holt some hope since he knows Peterson isn’t invincible or immune to being decked.
Holt can’t just go for a knockout from round one though because if it doesn’t come he’ll find himself too far behind on points. Peterson likes to keep busy and throws a lot of punches. He’s a better boxer than Holt, but if he makes a mistake and leaves himself open Holt could easily make him pay for it with his power.
Holt should realize that this could be his last chance at a world title and it might actually be his best chance too. Peterson has been out of action for 14 months and Holt hasn’t fought in about a year, so there’s likely to be some ring rust. If Holt can bring his A game against Peterson he should be able to do enough to take his title. However, anything less than his best will see Peterson retain the belt by a decision. I can see Holt giving Peterson all sorts of trouble, but not being able to stop him. Peterson will just hang onto his belt, but barely.
