Peterson: 141 lbs.
Matthysse: 140 lbs.
Prediction: Like most people, I’ve spent weeks flip-flopping on who’s going to win this bout. Both guys have tested the waters at the highest levels on the sport, but still have question marks surrounding them. Peterson was outskilled years ago in his first step up against Timothy Bradley, and later could only manage a draw against Victor Ortiz after nearly being KO’d early. He then rebounded with his “signature win” in late 2011 against Amir Khan, only for that fight to be mired in referee, scoring and synthetic testosterone controversy. The best opponents on Lucas Matthysse’s resume are Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, two fights the Argentinian slugger lost via controversial decisions despite scoring knockdowns and strong finishes.
Tonight, Peterson and Matthysse meet as wiser fighters primed for bigger opportunities should they win. In Peterson’s return bout, he took Kendall Holt’s best punches and delivered a devastating beatdown. Matthysse has put together three crushing KOs of his own in taking out Humberto Soto, Ajose Olusegun and Mike Dallas Jr. Each man are experts at body-punching and coming on after slow starts (although Matthysse has brought the pain early in recent bouts).
Something has to give. Someone has to fold, right? At the end, I expect Lucas Matthysse to emerge with the win via a late knockout. The difference for me will be the Matthysse’s body-punching, which I believe will have more of an impact in the earlier rounds due to Peterson’s slow starts. When Lamont attempts to come on later, I don’t think he’ll be able to surge as strongly as we’ve seen him do against Khan and Ortiz. Based on what Peterson’s brother Anthony has said in the media, it sounds like Peterson plans to muscle Matthysse inside and get him moving backwards. It’s true, Matthysse has really shown the ability to box going in that direction, but Peterson will be putting himself in the danger zone to do it as he’s not the most slickest guy inside, nor does he clinch much.
In other words, Peterson will get hit and often. So will Matthysse, for that matter. In a situation where both guys will be sent to hell and back, I’m going to go with the guy that holds a more powerful punch. Prediction is Lucas Matthysse TKO10
******************************************
