SCARY POWER Matthysse Stops Peterson in Round 3

Lucas Matthysse proved the point that he has dangerous hands, for those who needed it, as he stopped Lamont Peterson in the third round in the main event at Boardwalk Hall in AC on Saturday night, and on Showtime. Peterson tried to box slick early, but a left hook put him down in the second. With his legs compromised, as he tried to regain his full faculties, Peterson had to fight in the third, and it didn’t work; a left hook sent him down, he got up, and ref Steve Smoger looked hard at him. Smoger let him continue, but another left hook ended it. The end came at 2:14 of the third, via TKO.

Jim Gray spoke to Peterson after. He said he felt OK physically. He said he got lazy with the jab, and got caught. He noted that he was hit behind the head. Did he recover from the first knockdown? Yes, he said. He felt he could have fought through it, but said Smoger did the right thing. “He’s a good fighter,” Peterson said.

To Gray, Matthysse said he saw what Peterson had in the first and started connecting in the second. He said he prepped for 2 1/2 months for the fight and that was the difference. Now, he said, he knows he is the best at 140. Danny Garcia next? Yes, he’s ready for it, and thinks Al Haymon and Golden Boy will make it happen.

Peterson (31-1-1; DC resident) was 141 pounds, while Matthysse (33-2 1 ND; from Argentina) was 140 on Friday. The fight was billed as a “welterweight special attraction” though both men hold belts.

In the first, Peterson maintained the distance he desired. He jabbed and moved and Lucas wasn’t able to shrink the ring on him.

In the second, Pete went down, and Smoger called it a knockdown. A left hook did it, I saw on replay.

In the third, a left hook counter put Pete down. He was wobbly, and went down again right after. Smoger gave him a chance but wouldn’t chance yet another.