Welterweight has always been a division stacked with top class fighters and often are the superstars of the sport, from Tommy Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard to the modern crop of fighters with Mayweather and Pacquiao the boxing and general audience has always seemed to be captivated to the 147 pound division. However, in recent years a passing of the torch has seemed to take place as the old guard gives way to the new, and this youthful spirit is no better exemplified in the unbeaten Texan Errol Spence 22 (19 KO’s)-0-0.
Being pointed out as a top prospect alongside Anthony Joshua and Gervonta Davis, Spence has stood up to the immense pressure he faced on the way up, winning all his fights and picking up a world title in a hard fought contest against Kell Brook in Sheffield. Though Brook did pose questions, and was up on the cards at the midway point no one has yet seemed to have found an answer for the murderous body punches combined with the underrated boxing intelligence and the sheer physical size for the full distance. These questions are the ones to be going through Spence’s latest opponent, Washington’s Lamont Peterson 35 (17 KO’s)-3 (1 KO)-1.
Peterson, 33 is a bit of a veteran of the game, and truly hasn’t done much at welterweight so far, picking up two hard fought and close decisions against Felix Diaz and David Avanesyan and is best known for his fights at lower weights against the likes of Amir Khan, Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthysse and Timothy Bradley. However you will not often come across a fighter as versatile as Peterson in the ring. Often starting off as a pure boxer, Peterson will aim to establish a jab, and keep range from his opponent, before starting to up the gears and often looking more like a pressure fighter come the end of the fight. This style caused havoc for Amir Khan and Danny Garcia in their fights as they were unable to deal with the overall pressure and physical strength that Peterson brought. However, it will be interesting to see what sort of style he decides to employ against Spence.
Spence, while not a one punch knockout artist can certainly punch, and while he often takes a few rounds to measure the range, once the body shots land the movement of the opponent slows, and Spence is a master on the inside switching from body to head. Spence is clearly no fraud in the division as not only did he stop Kell Brook, he apparently gave Floyd Mayweather no respect as they sparred early on his career. Though Peterson is one of boxing’s most underrated fighters there seems to be too many factors against him in this fight. Physical size, activity, punching power and youth are all things to be overcome if Peterson wants to pull off an upset. Most probably Peterson will look to move early on and could make the opening rounds frustrating, but from round three onwards Spence will have found his range and from then it should only be a matter of time before Peterson succumbs to the body attack, most likely in the mid rounds.
Though Peterson is a very well rounded fighter, and can be a tough night for anyone, this looks to be a horrible stylistic match for the Washington native, but if Spence makes this look as easy as I predict it only adds further weight that we could be looking at a future top five pound for pound star.
On the undercard unbeaten American lightweight Robert Easter Jnr 20 (14 KO’s)-0-0 faces Javier Fortuna 33 (23 KO’s)-1 (1KO)-1 for the IBF lightweight title.