Garcia Edges Defensive Peterson at Barclays

Lamont Peterson had a plan to fight Danny Garcia in the main event at Barclays Center on Saturday night. He wanted to move, protect the chin, move some more, and move some more. But that isn’t usually a recipe for a win…so he turned it up late…too late, however. Peterson’s right hand and effective aggression down the stretch marked up the Philly boxer, but the judges saw it 114-114 (Ackerman), 115-113, 115-113, for Garcia. I concurred.

The crowd was 12,300 at Barclays.

Both men hold titles at 140 but a decision was made to have this be a 143 pounds or less bout, because Garcia is not feeling 140 right now.

In the first, Garcia stalked. LP popped a jab low and high, moved away from left hooks, looked to be more mobile. In round two, LP tightened the distance, then scooted again. Neither was dialed in…

In the third, the Philly fighter Danny pressed more. But effectively? In round four, Garcia told LP to stop the track meet. Pete went down, but not a knockdown. The crowd booed Pete a few times. In the fifth, a right tagged LP. He was moving, moving, not taking it to DSG. In the sixth, Garcia stayed flat-footed as he tossed and the mover Peterson was often too fast for that. In the seventh, they fought in tighter. Then LP ran out the round…

In the eighth, they got closer, and Pete used a tight guard, and went to work. The crowd and I bet the judges dug his work. In the ninth, LP again looked to be first more. He ate a lead right late, as he was backing up, something he did too much of early. DSG I think stole the round with more effective aggression down the stretch.

In the tenth, LP ran too much. But Danny’s counters were a shade slow. In the 11th, down went LP, bit not a knock. They were trading some, but more came from DSG. Right hands to the body scored, then Pete had luck with the right. It was a tight and fun round. In the 12th, LP stalked. DSG worked off the back foot, and ate rights. Pete won the round. To the cards..

After, LP said, “My gameplan all along was to slow it down, make him miss, figure out where I could take my chances, and capitalize.” He said he tried to target the puffing eye. He will rest and talk about next, and maybe will move up in weight. A rematch? Yes, he’d be open to it, but he said it was hard to get DSG in there, so he’s not holding breathe. He’s not calling it a robbery, he’s OK with the decision, he said. “I feel good, that was probably the least contact I’ve had in a fight,” he said. Did he give away the early rounds? No, he said, he was controlling the pace.

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