Team Peterson Doesn’t Believe in Boogeymen but Expect a Great Fight with Matthysse May 18th

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    Golden Boy and Showtime have been on a recent good run of good fights and good matchmaking in the past few weeks. It first started with Canelo-Trout on April 20th, followed by Garcia-Judah last weekend. This week the network and promoter give us ‘May Day’, the pay-per-view extravaganza between Mayweather-Guerrero plus a solid undercard that includes Mares-Ponce De Leon. But if you ask the hardcore fight fan which Golden Boy/Showtime fight they may have been salivating the most for, they would probably say Lamont Peterson vs. Lucas Matthysse on May 18t,h in Atlantic City.

    Lucas Matthysse has been searching for a big fight against one of the top 140lbers in the world. Because he is the interim WBC champion, he is the mandatory to Danny Garcia; a fighter who he and some fans believe is avoiding him. However, Golden Boy has stated on numerous occasions that they have an unofficial tournament in place with the winner of Peterson-Matthysse facing the winner facing the winner of Garcia-Judah, with the winner of that facing Amir Khan. Garcia beat Judah in an exciting fight this past weekend in Brooklyn, so one piece of the puzzle is set. Because of the way Matthysse has ended his last few fights and the fact that most fans think he is avoided, he has become a favorite of the hardcore fan.

    Lamont Peterson however, has stepped up to the plate and is ready to see what all the fuss is really about. Coming off the destruction of Kendall Holt in the first quarter of the boxing year, he has put the controversy over a positive test for a banned substance before his rematch with Amir Khan in his rear view mirror and Team Peterson is ready and excited for the battle that lies ahead of them on May 18th.

    Barry Hunter, the head trainer of Lamont and his brother Anthony, expressed those same sentiments.

    “This is a fight Lamont always wanted; he wants to fight the best. My opinion is that he (Matthysse) poses a bigger threat than the other 140lbers, no disrespect. He’s definitely a dangerous opponent. Him and Lamont are the two best to me at the moment. So what better way to do it then start at the top, get him out the way than go after everyone else,” Hunter told ThaBoxingVoice.com.

    Hunter was at the Garcia-Judah fight this past weekend because he was in the corner of Fernando Guerrero, who was fighting Peter Quillin for the WBO middleweight title. Coincidentally enough, it was the fight between Zab Judah and Lucas Matthysse in 2010, where the boxing world got its first real glimpse of Lucas Matthysse. Judah won a close decision against Matthysse that night.

    Hunter sees some things in that fight which he wants Lamont to do. “I thought he (Judah) boxed beautifully through the clips I’ve seen. He worked off his jab nicely and that’s one of the things I want Lamont to do. Lamont can box just as good as anyone out there but he will go to war with you. As of late, we had to go get fighters but I think this fight we going to do a little bit of everything,” explained Hunter.

    With not many of the ‘name’ fighters eager to get in the ring with Matthysse, Hunter explained why they jumped at the opportunity. “Like Lamont said, we don’t believe in boogeyman. You got to bring that behind to get one. It’s going to be a great fight, especially for the boxing fans,” stated Hunter. When asked if there was something in particular that he’s seen in Matthysse, that Peterson can capitalize on, Hunter said, “That’s a secret (laughing), I’m a hold that.”