Peterson – Matthyse Finalized for May 18, 2013

News

Perhaps in response to being banned from HBO, Golden Boy Promotions has finalized a terrific main event to headline a very strong May 18, 2013 card airing on Showtime from Boardwalk Hall (‘”The House that Thunder Built”) in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  As first reported by ESPN’s Dan Rafael, IBF junior welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson (31-1-1) will defend his title against WBC interim junior welterweight titlist Lucas Matthyse (33-2).  On paper, this fight looks like a tremendous bout.  If you look at their records, one may think it is a boxer against puncher match and there is some truth to that.  Peterson is the boxer but he is also an aggressive pressure fighter who can break his opponents down with an excellent body attack and good combination punching.  Matthyse is the puncher with 31 knockouts in his 33 fights and is coming off a first round knock out victory over Mike Dallas but he also possesses good boxing technique.  Their styles should mesh together very well.

One of the issues in negotiating the fight was where it would take place.  Peterson wanted the fight in his hometown of Washington, DC where he fought his last two fights, a controversial December 2011 victory over Amir Khan and a knock out victory over Kendall Holt last month.  Matthyse, however, did not want to fight in Peterson’s hometown because he feels he lost decisions he deserved in the hometowns of Zab Judah and Devon Alexander (this writer agrees that Matthyse won both of those close fights).  As such, they compromised on a site close to Peterson’s home but not quite there.

An issue with the bout that has not been publicly revealed is whether the fighters have agreed to random drug testing.  Peterson tested positive for testosterone in the lead up to the aborted Khan rematch and admitted to taking testosterone prior to the Khan victory.  Before the Holt fight, Peterson said that he would be willing to take random drug testing as long as the purse for the fight was sufficient to cover the expense of the testing (the Holt fight purse was not and the DC commission’s testing did not pick up Peterson’s elevated testosterone level as VADA testing was able to).  The promoters have not indicated if VADA or USADA testing will be done.  It will be worth monitoring to see if it is used given Peterson’s history.  If not, it will be interesting to see if New Jersey’s testing finds anything.

The rest of the card is shaping up to look good as well.  IBF welterweight titlist Devon Alexander (24-1) will defend against the undefeated mandatory challenger, Kell Brook (29-0) of Britain.  Alexander is usually not in exciting fights but perhaps Brook can force one.  Also in welterweight action, undefeated prospects Shawn Porter (20-0-1) and Phil Lo Greco (25-0) will square off in what should be a good fight that will produce a future welterweight title challenger.

Please feel free to email Mike at mpg4321@aol.com and follow him on Twitter at @mikeyg4321.