Boxing Blogging Part IV

I missed most of tonight's Friday Night Fights card the first time around. My loss--I sat down just as Anthony Peterson (22-0, 16 KOs) was putting the finishing touches on a knockout win over Luis Ernesto Jose (27-4-2, 24 KOs). And when I watched the encore presentation, I got to see Peterson's older brother, Lamont (20-0, 8 KOs) get a relatively rare (and impressive) knockout win over 4-time title challenger John Brown (22-13-2, 11 KOs).

The Peterson brothers hail from D.C., and were fighting on their home turf tonight. The local factor definitely plays into their status as two of my favorite fighters. Another part is their incredible back story--abandoned and homeless as children, they survived on the streets before being discovered by a boxing trainer. They rapidly rose in the amateur ranks, both winning several national titles (Anthony fights at lightweight, Lamont at junior welterweight).

But far and away, the reason I like these two guys is because they can fight. Anthony has devastating power and fights to impress. Lamont is a slick and confident boxer who, as he showed tonight, can unleash some pretty vicious shots of his own (he was hitting an astounding 75% of his shots to the body against Brown). Lamont Peterson, by the way, is proof that one can have an exciting fight that doesn't end in a knockout, though he got one here tonight. He has extremely fast handspeed, stellar reflexes, and comes to fight.

Both Peterson brothers are setting themselves up for title runs, and I for one can't wait to see them against the elite of the division (though both could use a fight against at least one fringe contender type foe before really jumping to the big time).

Overall, I give them stellar marks for their performance tonight. Way to represent D.C.!