Tim Bradley continues his meteoric rise up the light welterweight ranks this Saturday as he defends his title against undefeated challenger Lamont Peterson. The fight will be televised on Showtime with the action kicking off at 9 pm ET. The undercard features a WBC Super Flyweight title bout between Vic Darchinyan and Tomas Rojas.
Tim Bradley vs. Lamont Peterson (WBO Light Welterweight Title)
Money Line: Bradley -250; Peterson +190
Tim Bradley, 24-0 (11 KOs), burst onto the scene in 2008 when he defeated Junior Witter on Witter’s home turf to capture a title in the light welterweight division. A win over Kendall Holt and an impressive performance over Nate Campbell that was ruled a no contest cemented Bradley’s spot in the 140 pound division in 2009. Bradley relies on a high volume of punches, many of which are concentrated to his opponent’s body, to win his bouts. At 5’6″, Bradley isn’t a very tall light welterweight so the body punches are right in his wheelhouse. He uses aggression to his advantage and had shown a good chin up until his fight with Kendall Holt. Bradley is piling up an impressive resume and at just 26 years old, Bradley should be a stalwart of the division for years to come.
Lamont Peterson, 27-0 (13 KOs), also figures to play a heavy role in the foreseeable future of the light welterweight division. Peterson is 25 years old but lacks the big-fight experience that Bradley possesses. That could be the difference in this fight, although Peterson has all the physical tools to be a world champion. Peterson will have a 5-inch reach advantage over Bradley. Peterson also has shown a knack for landing accurate punches while exhibiting a good defense. Bradley is a major step up in class, however, but it will be interesting to see how this fight plays out and just where Peterson ranks in the 140-pound hierarchy.
Staff Predictions
Trent: Both men are undefeated, making this an intriguing light welterweight matchup. But Tim Bradley comes into this fight with the experience, making it difficult to pick against him in this one. Peterson has what it takes, but not having seen him do it against a quality opponent makes him hard to back. I could certainly see Peterson winning this fight, I’m just not going to go on the record predicting it. Body punching is perhaps the most underrated weapon in boxing and Tim Bradley does it as well as anyone at 140. Bradley also has somewhat of a hometown advantage with the fight being in his home state of California. Call it a decision in this one and I’ll go with 117-111 as the final score.
Corey: Even if there’s any truth to the rumors that Peterson more than held his own sparring with Floyd Mayweather Jr., it doesn’t give any indication of how he will fare against Bradley. Unlike Mayweather, Bradley’s game revolves around a high punch output – he wants to hit anything, be it shoulders, arms or kidneys. Peterson, on the other hand, selects his punches much more carefully, leaving him susceptible to being outworked. Though he hasn’t been tested yet at the professional level, Peterson is by all appearances a very skilled and smart fighter, with a disciplined jab that could pose Bradley a lot of problems. It’s a close fight to call, but, ultimately, I think Peterson is going to overcome Bradley’s work rate and pull out a close 115-113 decision on Bradley’s home turf.
