Peterson dethrones Khan; wins split decision

By Billy “Loops” Luppert at ringside
Photos: Mike Greenhill

It’s a candidate for fight of the year, one that will certainly be upset of the year. Lamont Peterson scored a majority 12 round decision over Amir Khan in an all out slugfest. Scores of the bout were 113-112 twice, and 111-114. Khan knocked Peterson down in the first round, but was deducted a point in the 7th for pushing, and the 12th for hitting on the break, which ultimately cost him the fight. Both fighters gave as much as they took, with the crowd in the Washington DC Convention Center on their feet for the duration of the fight. Peterson was the aggressor during the bout, and didn’t back down to the speed and power of Khan. With the hometown crowd cheering him on every round, Peterson came into the fight as an 11/1 underdog, and refused to back down, as his hometown fans cheered as loud as they could with every punch landed. Both fighters were hurt in the fight, but both fighters refused to back down, almost as if they were feeding off the crowds energy. Khan and Peterson put their heart and soul into the 12 rounds and left all they had in the ring, and despite the decision, it’s a fight that will be remembered more for the action, than who won the fight. Nobody, outside those in his corner, expected Peterson to give the performance he gave, and it left all those in attendance clamoring for a rematch. With the win, Peterson claims the WBA and IBF 140lb titles, and improves to 30-1-1 (15), while Khan drops to 26-2 (18).

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya called Seth Mitchell the future of the American heavyweights, and Mitchell did his part to back up the talk by scoring the biggest win of his career by being the first man to stop former Olympian Timur Ibragimov. Mitchell was in control the whole fight as Ibragimov had no answer for the right hand of the former Michigan State Linebacker. With the hometown crowd cheering on every big punch landed, Ibragimov simply couldn’t get anything off, while Mitchell launched his attack, battering Ibragimov against the ropes until the referee stepped in and stopped the fight at 2:48 of Round 2. With the win Mitchell of nearby Brandywine, MD improves to 24-0-1 (17), while Ibragimov, whose status as a middle of the road contender may be over, drops to 30-4-1 (16).

Lamont Peterson’s brother Anthony (31-1, 20KO’s) scored a one-sided decision over faded former title challenger Daniel Attah (26-9-1, 9KO’s) over 8 rounds. All 3 judges scored the bout a shutout for Peterson at 80-72. Attah had no answer for the crisp combinations that Peterson unloaded on him over the duration of the fight, but showed a lot of heart as he was able to hang in for 8 rounds, but had no answer for anything Peterson threw at him.

Undefeated lightweight Jaime Kavanagh and Ramesis Gil fought to a 6 round draw. In a fight that most thought Kavanagh would win, Gil gave Kavanagh all he could handle for 6 rounds, and traded equal bombs with Kavanagh who had to deal with a cut in the corner of his right eye that bled for most of the fight. Scores of the bout were 58-56 for Kavanagh, and 57-57 on the other 2 cards. With the draw, Kavanagh stays undefeated at 8-0-1 (3), while Gil now has 1 less draw than he does wins, at 6-3-5 (5).

Light Heavyweight Thomas Williams destroyed Reynaldo Rodriguez inside 2 rounds to improve to 6-0 (4). The end came 56 seconds into the second round with a straight left hand that put Rodriguez out cold on the deck. Rodriguez drops to 6-3-1 (4).

Fresh off his upset loss to Grady Brewer, Fernando Guerrero put himself back in the win column with an impressive 5th round TKO over a very game Robert Kliewer. Guerrero was in control of the entire bout, scoring with combinations throughout. Guerrero knocked Kliewer down in the 4th round, and twice in the 5th. The final knockdown came as both fighters threw at the same time, but it was the left hand of Guerrero that got there first, knocking Kliewer out cold 45 seconds into the round. Guerrero improves to 22-2 (17), while Kliewer drops to 11-14-2 (5).

17 year old Dusty Harrison improved to 3-0 (1) with a first round TKO of Terrell Davis (0-5). The welterweight dropped Davis 3 times in route to the stoppage. Time was 2:46.

Lightweight Joshua Davis improved to 2-0 (1) with a 4 round unanimous decision over Chris Russell (2-7-1 1KO). All 3 judges scored the bout 40-36.

In a fight that went on about 20 seconds longer than it needed to, Lightweight Terron Grant improved to 2-0 (1) as he pummeled Dashawn Autry (0-2) into submission at 1:10 of the first round.

December 11th, 2011

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