Two divisional champion Lamont Peterson who for the past three years has been struggling to make decision to quit boxing, took his time to think through and finally decided that he is not quiet done with boxing yet.
After Peterson fought Felix Diaz in 2015 in a welterweight contest which he won on a majority decision, Peterson breaks the odds and won a one sided unanimous decision against David Avanesyan to annex the WBA welterweight regular title.
He vacated the title and suffered a round eight TKO while challenging Errol Spence for the IBF welterweight strap. After the fight, which was one of Peterson’s worst, he said he would seriously consider retirement from the sport.
“I wanted to rest the body,” he said. “It’s been a long career. I’ve been boxing for 25 years, doing it professionally for 15 years, pretty much straight through. Only injuries have held me back. I just wanted to take some time to relax, and if my body was able to recover and come back close to what I was or better, then I was going to go on”. Peterson said.
Peterson 35, (35-4-1, 17KO) will face Seigey Lipinets on Sunday the 24 of March 2019 at the MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland in a 12 round welterweight contest. Peterson after coming off that power packed crashing defeat he suffered at the hands of Spence is not going for any warm up fight but taking a fight with a tune-up opponent.
“I feel rested and good now and just took some time to learn my body more. I want to get better, though. If I lose, then that means the game is asking more from me. So, I have to give it more if I say I want to be at the top and one of the best fighters”, Peterson added.
” I always have an idea how it’s going for to go, but we’re prepared for whatever. I think the overall it should be a fun fight” Peterson quickly added.
“I’m ready for the intensity of this fight with a great (former) champion like Lamont Peterson. “I’m very humbled and honored to be in this position. I’m pushing myself to bring my A-game, because in a fight like this, there is no room for mistakes. I promise that I’m going to give a great performance and leave my fans happy”, Lipinets said.
Lipinets 30, (14-1, 10KO) has come from a majority decision win over Erick Bone, having lost a one sided unanimous decision fight against Mikey Garcia in March 2018 in a defence for the IBF super lightweight strap.
The fight promoted by Dibella Entertainment will also see Anthony Peterson take on Argenis Mendez in a super lightweight contest over 10 rounds.