WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 9) – IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Lamont Peterson held an open workout in Washington, D.C. in preparation for his May 18 fight against WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey which will be televised live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®. Lightweight contender and Lamont’s brother Anthony Peterson as well as Three-Time U.S. Olympian Rau’shee Warren and lightweight prospects Robert Easter and Jamel Herring joined Lamont at the Bald Eagle Recreation Center as they finalize preparations for their non-televised undercard bouts.

Here’s what the fighters and Lamont and Anthony’s trainer Barry Hunter had to say on Wendesday.

LAMONT PETERSON, IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion

“I’m not worried about Matthysse. I’ve known him for a while. He’s a strong guy. He’s going to bring it all night. Pretty much the way I like it to be and it’s going to be a great fight.

“Everyone keeps asking me about his [Matthysse] punching power. I know what I signed up for. I realize I’m going to get hit in the face, but I will be hitting him back. I’m not worried about taking a few punches. I’m prepared to go 12 rounds.

“I believe I’m at the top level, but at this point a win over Lucas [Matthysse] solidifies me as a top guy not only in the weight class, but a top 15 pound-for-pound guy in the game. It would lead to bigger fights. That’s where I want to land. If I were climbing a ladder, a win over Matthysse would be a big jump up to the top.

“I’ll feel my way through the fight in the first few rounds. We have game plans and will work through all of them, pick the best one and go from there.

“There is a lot of energy in the gym. The intensity is high. Everyday we train; everyone is encouraging each other inside and outside of the ring. We’re pushing each other and having fun at the same time. It’s always good to have fun while you’re working.

“I definitely wanted to get right back in the ring and capitalize on the performance I had in February. I’ve had a three-month layoff. I didn’t take too much contact in the Kendall Holt fight, so at I can’t wait to get out there and give a great performance.

“I think it will be a hard fought fight. We’re both going to be matching each other punch for punch. I’m not going to let him get an inch on me. I’m sure he is thinking the same thing.

“At the end of the day, I’m preparing for a hard fought 12 round fight. I’ll be there every step of the way. May the best man win, but I have more to my game and more strategies to work with.”

ANTHONY PETERSON, Lightweight Contender & Lamont’s Brother

“I’m preparing for a championship. That’s the ultimate goal. I want to be one of the top 10 in my division.

“I never want to fight my brother. There is always competition between us, but brotherly competition.

“I’ve been fighting forever. A long layoff isn’t a problem for me. I’m in the gym everyday preparing for this.

“I haven’t fought in 17 months and I’m itching to get back in the ring, but I’m not going to rush it. I’m not going to go in there looking for the knockout. I’m going to go in there and take my time.

RAU’SHEE WARREN, Three-Time U.S. Olympian

“I’ve been thinking about training with these guys since I found out I was fighting on a card with Lamont. This is like family. We are all training with each other. We’re all pushing each other and we’re going to give the crowd a show from the beginning to the end.

“This is going to be a crazy show. I know I’ve got the best outfit for my ring walk, but everyone else here is telling me they have something in mind and that’s how we do it here. Friendly competition all day.

“This training camp has been looser and different. The talent here isn’t half stepping it. We’re pushing each other to the next level and I’m loving it. I can’t wait for fight night.”

ROBERT EASTER, Lightweight Prospect

“Training with Lamont is great motivation because he’s a real champion. It motivates me and makes me train harder so I can get to where he is.

“I’ve been focusing on a lot of cardio to build stamina and strength. I need to get stronger in my weight division.

“My coaches [Mike Stafford and Barry Hunter] have been helping me a lot with my strength.

“I think it is going to be a quick fight because I have been preparing really well for this one. It should be a good fight for me.”

JAMEL HERRING, Lightweight Prospect

“The last time I fought in Atlantic City, I opened the show so I’m getting used to it. I just want to get everyone hyped up and start the night off right.

“Working along side Barry Hunter and Lamont Peterson has been so intense, but we’ve had fun overall.

“This camp has been a chance for me to learn and get great advice. Barry’s a great trainer and Lamont is a world champion. I’ve gotten a lot of experience in this camp. It’s a great atmosphere.”

BARRY HUNTER, Lamont & Anthony Petersons’ Trainer

“Lamont is a fighter that can make all kinds of adjustments in the ring. There are a lot of fighters that can’t go toe to toe [like he can].

“Lamont is a little more versatile than other fighters that I have seen and definitely more versatile than other fighters Matthysse has faced in the past.

“This fight ends with us raising our hands and going on to the next one.

“We’re approaching this fight differently than fights in the past. If you look around in the gym, there are a lot of people that Lamont has been sparring with – junior middleweights, middleweights and even light heavyweights.

“This isn’t anything that we can’t handle.

“All of Lamont’s other fights leading up to this point have been very good fights, some of them even great fights, but I believe this is the fight that can totally take him over the top and put him in the lotto for a fight with someone like a Floyd Mayweather.

“Lamont has had to deal with pressure his whole life. This fight, as opposed to some of the things he’s gone through as a kid, won’t get to him or shake his confidence.”

# # #

Peterson vs. Matthysse, a 12-round 141 pound catch-weight fight, will take place Saturday, May 18 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City, Corona and AT&T and will be televised live on SHOWTIME® at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) immediately following ALL ACCESS: MAYWEATHER vs. GUERRERO Epilogue. In the co-main event, IBF Welterweight World Champion Devon Alexander defends his title against IBF number four rated welterweight contender Lee Purdy. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, are available for purchase at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C – British sensation Amir Khan (26-2, 18KOs) made his debut at the Nation’s Capital of United States in hopes to successfully defend his unified WBA/IBF jr. welterweight championship against D.C’s own Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15KOs). The pro-Peterson crowd backed their fighter feverishly, as their man fought the fight of his life to dethrone King Khan, who was touted to be too fast, too powerful, and simply just too good for the D.C. native.

From the opening seconds, Khan was quickly on the offensive, throwing a fast one-two and connecting with a right cross. Peterson did his best remain composed, but ate a left hook that sent him to the canvas for a quick eight count towards the end of the round. Peterson focused to the body and stalked his moving target in round two, but Khan’s versatility and quick hands were a bit superior. Peterson assaulted Khan with hard body shots in round three that had the Brit in serious trouble. Khan was hurt after taking a hard right and combinations against the ropes, but held on to finish the round. Body attack resumed in the fourth, but Khan returned with combinations of his own. Again, Peterson got the better of the exchanges and his tight defense allowed him to slip most of Khan’s punches.

Khan showed resurgence in the fifth. Creating distance to avoid Peterson’s body shots, Khan circled and landed flurries downstairs and also found success with looping uppercuts and well timed lead right hands. From this point on, Khan’s strategy was to box and clinch at close quarters to prevent his opponent from focusing to the midsection. In the seventh, Khan appeared to be in control before Peterson poured on with clubbing right hands. Khan also threw an elbow that cost him a point deduction. Feeling the fatigue from all the circling around, Khan was helpless in the eighth as Peterson punished him around the ring with a variety of shots to the head and body.

The crowd cheered and roared in support of Peterson, but Khan, again, used all the tricks and guile to thwart the finish. Ninth round was a war. Peterson pursued Khan and stunned him again by the ropes, but Khan returned the favor with a left hook and a body shot that briefly had Peterson on wobbly legs. Peterson regrouped in the last thirty seconds and successfully threw right hands, splashing the sweat off Khan’s noggin.

Khan fought with discipline in the tenth, picking his shots and staying elusive for the most part. Peterson kept charging in the eleventh but often got clinched or hit with flurries before getting shoved off. Khan fought well against the ropes and got away with swift one-twos, followed by either a left hook to the body or an uppercut to the chin. Khan was deducted another point in the twelfth for using his elbow, but appear to land more to evade a 10-8 round.

In the end, there was a winner of this seesaw battle as Michael Buffer announced the official scorecards that read (113-112 2x, 111-114) in favor of the new champion, Lamont Peterson. ‘All the hard work paid off. Tough fight. It couldn’t have been a better night. I would definitely give him a rematch’ said the newly crowned jr. welterweight champion. Khan was a bit bitter in defeat, citing the ref’s bias against him in deducting points that cost him his title, ‘It was like I was against two people in there.’ In the post fight interview, Khan also expressed his interest in a rematch.

The co-feature of the evening saw unbeaten heavyweight contender Seth Mitchell (24-0-1, 18KOs) of Brandywine, MD impressively down former contender Timur Ibragimov (30-4-1, 16KOs) of Uzbekistan. Mitchell, a local DC favorite, measured his more experience foe with peppering jabs from the outside and following up with right hands. Ibragimov closed the gap in the second, nailing Mitchell with a hard right, but ran into a hard left hook that wobbled his legs. Mitchell immediately jumped at the opportunity and unleashed a barrage of right hands that sent Ibragimov reeling across the ring. Another right hand connected against the corner and the referee stepped in to stop the bout at the 2:48 mark.

Southeast, Washington, DC’s Anthony Peterson pleased his hometown crowd with a dominant unanimous decision win over the heavily faded former world title challenger Daniel Attah (26-9-1, 9KOs) after eight rounds.

Peterson, holding advantages in multiple facets, controlled the action from round one with attack to the body and backing his smaller foe against the ropes. Attah, a former Olympian, was mostly in retreat mode, unable to put together any offensive output against the naturally bigger Peterson. Peterson rocked Attah in round four, but Attah regrouped and finished the round. Attah, being the wily veteran, tried his best to counter from his southpaw stance and tie up, but to very little effect as Peterson landed the stronger and more telling shots to win rounds. The sixth saw another punishing round by Peterson, sustaining body attack and finding his mark with combinations up top, but Attah landed some of his best shots in retaliation. Peterson unleashed a series of uppercuts and doubled up on his left hooks in round seven. The eighth and final round told a similar story with Peterson easily taking the ‘10’.

Official scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 80-72. This was Peterson’s first fight since his disqualification loss to Brandon Rios in 2010. With the win, Peterson improves to 31-1, 20KOs.

Former highly touted middleweight contender Fernando Guerrero (22-1, 16KOs) of Salisbury, MD made his return to the ring for the first time since his upset loss to spoiler Gary Brewer, defeating St. Paul, MN’s Robert Kliewer (11-14-2, 5KOs) over five one sided rounds. Guerrero dictated the pace throughout, forcing the action with aggressive shots to the body and consecutive one-two combinations. Kliewer retaliated in spurts, but provided very little. Kliewer was dropped near the end of the fourth, but managed to survive. Guerrero resumed attack in the fifth and scored three knockdowns en route to a TKO victory. Kilewer was rendered unconscious after the third knockdown and was carried out on a stretcher. Official time of the stoppage was 0:45 of the fifth round. — Joon Lee

Hollywood, CA’s Jamie Kavanagh (8-0-1, 3KOs) and Puerto Rico’s Ramesis Gil (6-3-5, 5KOs) fought to a draw in a tactical battle over six rounds of lightweight contest. Kavanagh was cut over the right eye from what appeared to be a headbutt in round two. Both guys fought patiently, carefully measuring shots to the head. Ramesis was more of the aggressor, stalking his more mobile opponent and seemingly held the edge in power shots. After three competitive rounds, Kavanagh got his groove going in the fourth and fifth, utilizing his superior footwork to land effective jabs and right hands to scores points. The sixth round was close. Scores were 58-56 (for Kavanagh), 57-57, and 57-57.

Seventeen year old Dusty Harrison took out winless Terrell Davis in round one of a scheduled four round Welterweight bout.

Harrison dropped Davis twice with hard rights to the head and ended the mismatch with crushing right to the body and the bout was stopped at 2:46 of round one.

Harrison, 144 lbs of Washington, DC is now 3-0 with one knockout. Davis of Washington, DC is now 0-5.

In lightweight action, Terron Grant of White Plains, MD improved his mark to 2-0, 1KO with an easy first round stoppage win over Dashawn Autry (0-2) of Garland, NC. It was simply a mismatch in terms of skills and talent as Grant overwhelmed the awkwardly balanced Autry with an onslaught of unanswered array of body shots and hard right hands to the head. Time of the stoppage was 1:10 of the first round. —Joon Lee

In the opening bout of the evening, Joshua Davis scored a four round unanimous decision over Chris Russell in a Lightweight bout.

Davis landed some heavy shots in the fourth round while blood dripped form the nose of Russell.

Davis, 134 lbs of White Plains, MD won by scores of 40-36; 39-37 and 39-37 and is now 2-0. Russell, 134 lbs of Shattuck, OK falls to 2-8-1.

Follow all the action as Yuriorkis Gamboa puts his WBA Featherweight title on the line when he takes on IBF champion Orlando Salido from the Palms in Las Vegas. The action begins at 10pm eastern with an intriguing battle of undefeated Lightweight’s featuring Anthony Peterson and Brandon Rios.

REFRESH AFTER EACH ROUND

12 Rounds WBA/IBF Featherweight championship–Yuriorkis Gamboa (18-0, 15 KO’s) vs. Orlando Salido (34-10-2, 22 KO’s)

Round 1 Good right from Gamboa..Handpeed from Gamboa…right to the body…10-9 Gamboa

Round 2 left from Salido..Gamboa lands a jab..20-19 Gambia

Round 3: Gamboa lands a big flurry..Good right from Salido…30-28 Gamboa

Round 4 Good jab from Gamboa…Lead left..left hook to the body…40-37 Gamboa

Round 5 Good left from Gamboa..Salido lands a sneaky right..50-47 Gamboa

Round 6 Raggedy action with Gamboa getting in a few shots…60-57 Gamboa

Round 7 Lots of holding and clutching..Gamboa lands a shot after the bell..70-67 Gamboa

Round 8 Right from Gamboa…HARD RIGHT FROM SALIDO AND DOWN GOES GAMBOA…Right from Salido…Left From Gamboa…78-77 Gamboa

Round 9 Left from Salido..Guys feet get tangled and both hit the canvas..87-87

Round 10 Combination and good left hurts Salido..97-96 Gamboa

Round 11 Gamboa lands a lead left hook and a right..Salido cut above left eye and doctor looks at it..accidental headbutt ruled..lead uppercut from Gamboa..107-105 Gamboa

Round 12 QUICK LEFT HOOK AND DOWN GOES SALIDO…Good left right combination..Left ..Hard combination and down goes Salido…Cortez saying Saildo was hit while he was down…Cortez deducts 2 points from Gamboa…115-112 Gamboa

12 Rounds Lightweights–Anthony Peterson (30-0, 20 KO’s) vs Brandon Rios (24-0-1, 18 KO’s)

Round 1: Trading body combination..Jab from Rios…good uppercut shakes Peterson..Good right and another from Peterson…10-10

Round 2: Uppercut from Rios..Good combination…right…left..Peterson lands a counter..Right from Rios snaps Peterson;s head back..good left hook to the body from Peterson..20-19 Rios

Round 3: Big uppercut from Rios…left uppercut…right..hook to the head..left..hook to the body..Peterson lands a left, right, counter right and 2 body shots..30-28 Rios

Round 4 Combination hurts Peterson..left hook..uppercut…hard left hurts Peterson..left hurts him again…uppercut inside,,,40-37 Rios

Round 5 Rios lands a good jab..ripping right…Short left…Peterson lands a left..BIG LEFT HOOK AND DOWN GOES PETERSON..50-45 Rios

Round 6 Peterson double jab..Low blow landed by Peterson and is warned..LOW BLOW AND PETERSON IS DEDUCTED A POINT…ANOTHER LOW BLOW AND A 2ND POINT IS DEDUCTED……59-53 Rios

Round 7 Rios lands an uppercut..Peterson lands a body shot..left and right from Peterson..Rios with a right..Peterson with a left..combination..left right staggers Peterson…nice combination..LOW BLOW AT THE BELL AND PETERSON GETS DISQUALIFIED