By Tyson Bruce
The question on the minds of the boxing world was whether Lamont Peterson would be the same fighter after his destructive knockout loss against Lucas Matthysse. Peterson certainly answered the critics tonight, by putting on a boxing clinic against the game but limited Canadian contender Dierry Jean.
The first round began cautiously as Peterson began to assert his jab and body work, which have traditionally been the foundations of his game. The action picked up significantly in the proceeding few rounds, as Jean showed an explosive right hand and fierce aggression. Peterson answered Jean’s aggression with solid bodywork and counter shots—especially with the left hook and right cross.
In the fifth stanza Peterson really began to show his experience and separate himself from Jean by blunting the Canadian’s attack with flashy combinations. Jean began to noticeably slow the pace, largely the result of Peterson’s tremendous body punching. Once Peterson began to anticipate Jean’s quick overhand right the fight dramatically turned in Peterson’s favor, as he tamed Jean with multi-punch combinations and whistling left hooks.
Although very little was known about Jean going into the fight, he proved to be game a challenger with a great chin, as he never let Peterson completely take the play away from him. Jean rebounded to have a decent eighth round, when his right hand and aggression resurfaced. Peterson, however, would not be denied as he continued to pretty much dominate the high contact bout with superior skills and experience.
In the end this bout was a victory for professionalism, as Peterson showed that there is no substitute for experience against top-level competition. Jean, who put forth a very commendable effort, will certainly be back again and should profit from such an invaluable learning experience. Although this fight didn’t provide answers to how Peterson will do when he fights another knockout artist, it showed that he is still amongst the very best in the 140-weight class.
The final scores were 118-111, 116-112, and much too close 115-113. Boxing insider scored the bout 119-110. Peterson improved his record to 32-2-1-(16) and Jean slipped to 25-1-0-(17).
Co-Feature:
In what was supposed to be a dead even, crossroads match-up between the rebounding, veteran contender Gabriel Rosado (21-7) and prospect Jermell Charlo (23-0), turned out to be an entertaining but one-sided route on the part of Charlo.
Jermell Charlo, not to be confused with his twin brother Jermall, was regarded as talented but a thoroughly untested prospect. His most notable win up to this point had come against the chronically inactive and lightly regarded Demetrius Hopkins. So, it came as a big surprise that Golden Boy chose to match their potential star against the highly respected Philly brawler Gabriel Rosado, who had been in the ring with the likes of Gennady Golovkin and Peter Quillin.
It turned out to be a gamble worth taking, as Charlo displayed a sublime range of skills and athleticism to thoroughly dominate Rosado.
As quickly as the first round it was obvious that Charlo’s speed and movement were going to be a big mountain for Rosado to climb. Charlo, who had been known going into the bout for his dominating jab, showed a diverse offence by landing a series of pinpoint left hooks that caused visible swelling on both of Rosado’s eyes—a signature punch throughout.
In the fourth round Rosado suffered a nasty gash over his left eye that was ruled to be caused by a punch, but was actually revealed to be a head butt through instant replay. Charlo, however, certainly made the cut worse through legal punching, as blood poured precipitously from Rosado’s eye throughout.
Although Rosado was game and aggressive throughout, Charlo showed impressive defensive skills—often standing in front of Rosado and making him catch air with deft head movement. Rosado may have stole a couple of late rounds with a desperate surge of aggression, but it was much too late. Charlo punctuated his effort by clearly winning the final round, blunting any chances of Rosado scoring a comeback knockout.
The final scores were academic: 97-93, 99-91, 100-90. Boxing Insider scored the bout 98-92.