LONDON (Jan. 22) – Lamont Peterson is adamant he has overcome his devastating knockout loss to Argentine bruiser Lucas Matthysse.

The IBF light-welterweight world champion steps back into the ring this weekend, live on BoxNation, when he goes up against the undefeated and big-hitting Dierry Jean at the DC Armory in Washington DC.

The bout will be Peterson’s first, following his crushing defeat last May when he was stopped inside three rounds by Matthysse – one which he insists he is over, despite the stunning nature of the defeat.

“Getting over the loss, that happened in one day,” said Peterson. “Who cares about the knockout? It’s part of boxing. That’s what happens. You pick yourself up and you move on. At this point, it’s in the past. Who cares? As a fighter, you have to block that out and you keep moving,” he said.

“As far as me moving on, I’m a fighter. At the end of the day, I had to focus on January 25th. I train hard, give it my all, and we go out there and we fight. It’s always going to be the same with me. Who cares about what happened in the last fight?,” Peterson declared.

Due to the fact Peterson faced Matthysse at the somewhat odd catchweight of 141 pounds, his IBF light-welterweight crown, which is up for grabs this weekend, was not on the line.

Some have called into question the fact Peterson has remained the IBF champion, though the Washington DC native appears unaffected and has called on his upcoming opponent, Jean, to back up his big talking in the ring.

“Who cares about what he thinks, what he says? At the end of the day I have to get in there and show him. So it’s not going to make me feel no type of way. He can say what he wants. It’s all his perception at this point. He has to go in there and show me,” Peterson said.

“At the end of the day the belts mean nothing. It means a lot to ya’ll, but it means nothing to me. I just love to fight. I go, I bust my ass in the gym, I go and I fight. I give it my all in the ring.

“Who cares about who’s number one, who’s number two, who’s pound for pound, who has this belt, who has that belt? I care less about that. So whether you look at me as a champion or not, it doesn’t make a difference,” he stated.

At 31, the opportunity to capture world title glory appears to have come just at the right time for the Haitian born Jean, who moved to Canada as a 10-year-old with his older brother.

Having blasted his way past 25 opponents, and scoring 17 knockouts, including an impressive stoppage in his last fight over Cleotis Pendarvis in the eliminator for a shot at Peterson’s IBF belt, Jean is sure his time has come.

“I see a better fighter [when compared with Peterson]. I’m more vicious. I can hit harder than him, and I want it more so I give everything to earn that title,” Jean said.

“This fight means everything for me. I’ve been working so hard to get there, and now I’m there. It’s to go conquer the belt. It’s a lot for me. I started at 18 years old, and now I’m 31. I think I deserve it now.

“I worked so hard from the bottom of my heart. So now it’s time to go get that belt. It’s my time now. Lamont did his time. Now it’s my time,” he declared.

Jean is also certain that he can capitalise on the vulnerability of Peterson given his last fight.

“It’s a great opportunity for me because I think in his mind he’s not 100% okay. So it’s going to be a great opportunity for me to strike him again, for me to catch him again, to remind him the nightmare he took last time,” said Jean.

In the co-featured bout, undefeated light-middleweight Jermell Charlo and the unyielding Gabriel Rosado square off in a highly anticipated 10-round fight for the WBC Continental Americas super welterweight title.

Lamont Peterson vs. Dierry Jean is live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch.437/Virgin Ch.546) this Sunday from 1.30am. To subscribe visit www.boxnation.com.

OTTAWA, Canada (January 13, 2014) – International Boxing Federation (IBF) No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger, undefeated Dierry “Dougy Style” Jean (25-0, 17 KOs), will become the first Haitian-born light welterweight champion of the world by upsetting defending champion Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (31-2-1, 16 KOs) on Saturday night, January 25, live on SHOWTIME Championship Boxing from The DC Armory in Washington D.C.

Fighting last May for only the second time outside of Canada, where he moved to from Haiti when he was 10, the slick Montreal boxer stopped then-IBF No.7 ranked Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis (17-3-2) in the fourth round of their IBF Title Eliminator, earning the 31-year-old Jean his first world title shot against Peterson.

“Training camp has been going well,” Jean reported. “My preparation is essentially the same as for any fight, only the strategy and game plan have changed. Winning the world title will be a dream come true. It would also mean a lot to my daughter, brother, coach Mike (Moffa) and my entire team since I would become their first world champ.

“This is a good time for Haitian fighters (including Adonis Stevenson and Jean Pascal). I really believe (his EOTTM stable-mate) Bermane Stiverne will become world champion this year as well. I would be really proud to bring the belt here to Quebec for my fans but also to make Haitians proud of me. It is really important for me to be representing them.”

When Jean steps into the ring to fight Peterson, he will be in the unusual position of not only fighting a world champion coming off a loss, but one who was dropped three times in the process before the action was finally halted in the third round. Peterson’s fight (May 18, 2013() against Lucas Matthysse (33-2), also on SHOWTIME Championship Boxing, was originally supposed to be contested for Peterson’s IBF belt, however, Matthysee refused to relinquish his World Boxing Council (WBC) Interim belt. A unification bout was disallowed and instead they fought a non-title fight.

“I think his (Peterson) state of mind was affected,” Jean noted. “He will be more fearful and less confident in himself. I think Peterson has been lucky in his career. He had controversial fights like the one against (Amir) Khan, where he was able to dethrone the defending champion by split decision. Peterson is a boxer with too much guts for the jaw he has!

“This will undoubtedly be an exciting fight for fans. I intend to dethrone Peterson and bring that title belt back home. I would have preferred to fight him in a neutral zone but, frankly, it doesn’t matter to me that we’re fighting in his hometown. The crowd will be against me but that will give me more rage and energy to perform. This is my second fight on a U.S. network having fought Pendarvis on ShoBox. It won’t be my last time, either. This gives me great visibility in the U.S. People will remember my name after this fight.”

Jean is ranked No. 8 in the world by The Ring Magazine.

“‘Dougy’ will be our (Eye Of The Tiger Management) first world champion,” Jean’s promoter Camille Estephan added. “Winning this title means a lot to all of us because it would reap the fruits of our hard work, dedication and commitment. These are the core values of Team EOTTM, from the athletes to our staff members and coaches. We take a lot of pride in what we do and believe the sky is the limited for us all.

“It is hard to predict which type of fight, style-wise, this will be although we have prepared ‘Dougy’ for all eventualities. There is nothing that Peterson can bring that we can’t handle. I am confident that the outcome of this fight will be in our favor. We have, in ‘Dougy’, an ultimately talented and prepared athlete.”

For further information about Jean or any of his EOTTM stable-mates visit www.eottm.com, or follow on Twitter @eotmvd and @DierryJean.

LAMONT PETERSON, IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion
“I intend to continue to be the champion after my fight on January 25.

“I don’t worry about comments from him [Dierry Jean]. At the end of the day he’s got to get in the ring with me. He can say whatever he wants, but he’ll see when he gets in there that it’s not an easy task.

“It’s always a great thing to fight at home. When the crowd is cheering for you, it gives you the extra energy to pull out the close rounds and close fights. I’m glad to be fighting at home.

“I never really left the gym since my last fight. I’ve been doing a lot of strength and conditioning, although at this point it’s mostly boxing. Right now, I’m working on the game plan and making sure I execute when I get in the ring.

“I try to put that [loss] behind me. Boxing is for a thinking sportsman. [Boxing] It’s not a sport where you should be letting those things get to you. You have to fight smart and the best way to do that is to clear your mind.

“I didn’t know much about Dierry Jean when the fight was announced. He’s a pretty good fighter, but at this level when you fight for championship belts, I’ve done it and he never has. I know my first time fighting for a world title was more difficult than I thought. I’m expecting him to stumble because of the bright lights and the type of pressure. People don’t normally deal with it well.

“It’s scheduled for 12 [rounds] and I’ll be prepared to go that distance. But if it ends before that I’ll be happy.

[On making on weight] “I miss eating pizza and things I like to eat, but for the most part I do pretty well with it.

“I come into the gym at 8:30 in the morning and I don’t leave until 7:00 at night. I probably spend about 4-5 hours a day working out.

“The fact that I’m fighting at home and a majority of the crowd will be cheering for me, that helps me. He’s [Jean] going to have to deal with that crowd too.

“I’ll be 30 the day before the fight. I’m still a kid but the clock is ticking. Eventually the hard exercising will take its toll. So I just have to stay smart and pay attention to my body.

“I appreciate things much more than I did when I was younger. Going through a whole training camp at this point is the happiest time of my life. I know it won’t last forever but I try to enjoy every moment of it and I’m thankful to be in this position. ”

BARRY HUNTER, Petersons’ Trainer
“Lamont may have a slight chip on his shoulder [following his recent loss], but its all business with him.

“A lot of the times even though he’s reserved, when he gets close to a fight he does get anxious. We see it in the gym, and I spoke to him and just told him to never act like anyone but himself.

“This is something that we haven’t seen before but he’s been resilient so I won’t worry about it.

“It bothered me that moment during the last fight. But I said to my wife on the way home, ‘I must have matured a lot because I don’t feel as devastated as I normally do after a loss,’ I understand somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. It’s not about losing; it’s about what you do after the loss.

“I gave the man my word. We’ve been through everything and we never really had the chance to fight at home. I told the Mayor, what would be better than bringing the world title back to DC.

“It’s been a long time since DC had something to shout about and we want to bring it back.

[On Dierry Jean] “I think he’s a good little fighter. I’m not a huge film guy. We usually make adjustments in fights, but based off what I saw he’s not great in one area but he’s good in a lot of areas. He’s hungry and he wants a title so it should make for a good fight.”

# # #

Peterson vs. Jean, a 12-round fight for Peterson’s IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship, will take place Saturday, Jan. 25, at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. The live SHOWTIME telecast begins at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) and will be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP). In the co-featured bout, Junior Middleweights Jermell Charlo and Gabriel Rosado square off in a 10-round fight for the WBC Continental Americas Super Welterweight Title. Preliminary bouts will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets priced at $25, $50, $75, $150 and $250, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are on sale and available online at www.ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations, or by calling (800) 745-3000.

Kelly Swanson
This is a special delight because it’s the first conference call of the New Year, and we’re excited today to talk about the first Golden Boy Promotions show on SHOWTIME of the year, which will take place Saturday, January 25 at the DC Armory in Washington D.C., a big show with Lamont Peterson and Dierry Jean and also with Jermell Charlo and Gabriel Rosado. We have all four guys available today to talk to you, but we will first start with Jermell and Gabe. And in order to make the proper introductions and talk a little bit more about the show I’d like to introduce Richard Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Boy Promotions. Richard?

Richard Schaefer
Thank you, Kelly, and welcome to all the media members to the first Golden Boy call of the year. Happy New Year to all of you and your families, much health and happiness, and I’m excited to work with all of you in 2014, another sensational year for the sport.

What we’ve done in 2013, particularly is two things, we put together evenly matched fights, fights where you don’t know who is going to win, and we put those into places, into venues and cities where they belong, and I think the results were outstanding. I think it was easily the best year in boxing for boxing in many years.

And one big thank you goes to the fighters. They have agreed to fight each other in competitive match ups, and that’s exactly where this card here on January 25 fits in. It’s at the right place in D.C., the Armory in Washington D.C. Washington fight fans are great fight fans. They will come out in large numbers. We already have sold a lot of tickets. So I do anticipate a sell out in Washington on Saturday, January the 25th.

Tickets are still available at $25, $50, $75, $150 and $250. So yes, you heard right, 25 bucks to see this amazing card, which again is SHOWTIME televised fights and the fights which will be televised on Showtime Extreme starting at 7 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. There will be some great undercard fights there like Anthony Peterson will be on there as well, Raynell Williams, Dominic Wade, Rau’Shee Warren, Robert Easter, Jamel Herring. So it’s going to be a great lineup of exciting fights and fighters.

A big thank you to Showtime for agreeing to televise this first card of the year. It’s going to be the first Showtime card as well, and I know it is the first of many, since I am actively discussing with Showtime some future exciting programming. So let’s kick it off here with a fight between two very, very exciting fighters, Jermell Charlo versus Gabriel Rosado.

Gabriel Rosado, “King” Gabriel Rosado with the record of 21-7-13 KOs. He’s certainly one of the entertainers in the sport, always comes to fight, a veteran of nearly eight years on the program, has wins over people like Jesus Soto Karass, Sechew Powell, Kassim Ouma, Charles Whitaker, has been in the ring with Golovkin and Angulo, J’Leon Love, and others, and in his last fight was an incredible effort against Peter Quillin.

I think it was a very close fight. Some people felt that he won the fight. It was certainly a very, very close fight, and it showed that Gabriel really wanted this and he belongs right there at the top, at the top of the Junior Middleweight Division. So on January the 25th he’ll return to the Junior Middleweight Division to 154 pounds, and he is on the road to show that he wants to get another world title opportunity in the near future.

I’m going to hand it over to Gabe now to make some comments, how his camp is going and please welcome “King” Gabriel Rosado.

Gabriel Rosado
Hey, thank you Richard. I’m having a great training camp. I just got to Puerto Rico on Monday for the second part of my training camp, and I’m training in Caguas right now, and I just have great sparring out here and the weather’s great so it’s helping me get down in weight.

I’m just excited for this opportunity at 154 to make a statement. I kind of have unfinished business in this weight class, giving up my number one ranking when I went up to fight Triple G. So I’m just excited to go back down at 154. I think I’m going to be bigger and stronger, and I’m just ready for it.

R. Schaefer
Thank you, Gabe. The man he is going to be facing is somebody who has over the last couple of years made a lot of noise in the pros. He has a very stellar amateur background clearly for an amateur start, 23 years young, 22-0 with 11 knockouts. He’s coming from the great fighting state of Texas, Houston, Texas.

He had an active 2013 where he won three times, defeating Harry Joe Yorgey, Demetrius Hopkins and Jose Angel Rodriguez. So on January the 25th he will put his undefeated record on the line in clearly the biggest and most dangerous fight of his career against Gabriel Rosado. He obviously hopes to make a statement here to the boxing world that he is going to be in line and ready for the world title shot as well.

Please welcome now Jermell “Ironman” Charlo.

Jermell Charlo
I appreciate that, Richard. I’m going to jump right into this. This is a great opportunity for me and Gabe. It’s a good fight. It was well matched, and I appreciate Golden Boy for putting this fight on. This is my time. It’s my season, and in order for me to do what I have to do and make noise or just period be the fighter that I need to be in boxing, I need to stand up and step out and this is what this fight’s going to do for me.

I’m ready at 154. This has been my weight. I’m going to own it. I’m claiming it now. So I appreciate Gabe for coming down from 160. Hopefully he makes weight on time and he makes weight good, that we get this ball rolling.

R. Schaefer
Thank you very much to Gabe and to Jermell. We’re going to open it up now to the media for questions.

Q
Hey, Gabe, how you doing? Since this is your fourth straight fight on premium television, what do you think makes you so attractive to be on TV so much?

G. Rosado
I think that boxing is a sport but it’s also entertainment, and at the end of the day it’s about being an entertainer and I think the type of fights that I bring to the table are entertaining to the fans. You see knockdowns. You see blood. You see controversy, of course in my last two fights.

I think the fans are just-they respond to the controversy and they voice their opinion. I think Gordon Blake acknowledges that and Showtime. When you’re putting it all on the table and you’re just fighting, I think that’s what people want to see. So I think that’s why I’m back on Showtime. I appreciate it, the opportunity that Showtime and Golden Boy’s given me to be back on Showtime again.

Q
And how much have you benefited from being on TV?

G. Rosado
A lot, man. The love and the support is great. People are knowing me everywhere I go and things like that. So a lot of times when I run into people a lot of people feel like I’m kind of like the modern day Gatti in a way. It’s exciting. I’m having a good time right now.

Even though in 2013 I officially didn’t have a win, it kind of was a good year for me in a way. I took the positive out of it. Even though I didn’t get to win a fight I took the positive out of it, and it’s 2014 so I feel like this is a fresh start for me as a new weight class. So I know what I got to do in this fight. It’s no secret. I have to knock Charlo out, and this is going to happen.

Q
Thank you. Hello, everybody. My first question for you is for Gabe. Gabe, because you’re coming back down to junior middleweight for this fight after the fights you’ve had recently in middleweight, looking back do you at all regret the fact that you did give up that mandatory position to go and fight Golovkin, which then you had those other fights that didn’t go your way in the middleweight division or are you happy you made the move and now you’re comfortable coming back down?

G. Rosado
It’s funny how things play out. I think everything happens for a reason. I really don’t regret going up and giving up my number one spot in the IBF. I think when I went to middleweight to fight Triple G I wasn’t naturally a middleweight. I think I was still a small guy, and then I kind of grew into the middleweight division once I fought Kid Chocolate and I felt real comfortable at middleweight. But I could still make junior middleweight. I’m a big guy, but I could still make junior middleweight.

So I don’t regret it, man. I think everything happens for a reason. Like I said, even though I didn’t get a win on my record for 2013, I won the fans over and the fans got my back and I’m getting a lot of support and they’re backing me up. So in a way it was a great year, and I just plan on 2014, I just plan to being a world champion in 2014.

Q
My other question for you, Gabe, is about the cuts that you’ve suffered, the fight with Quillin ended on a cut and the Golovkin fight ended because of a cut. I don’t know if they were the exact same place, but they seemed to me that they were in similar areas. Can you tell me; first of all, were they in the same basic spot where the two cuts occurred? And secondly, because they seemed to cut fairly easily are you at all concerned that even though you can hang with these guys, obviously, that’s going to be become a problem, that’s not going to let you get to those goals because your skin is just not going to hold up for you?

G. Rosado
It’s a different cut. It wasn’t the same cut from the Triple G fight. And in the Triple G fight I felt that those cuts were a lot worse than the Kid Chocolate fight. I felt that the cuts early in the Triple G fight made it difficult for me to fight, but I just felt that the stoppage with Kid Chocolate was a premature stoppage. I felt that I was the one coming on. I had some momentum. I was applying the pressure. I felt that I could’ve knocked Kid out in that round or in the next round.

So I just felt like it was something-cuts are a part of the game. It’s a part of boxing. Miguel Cotto, he’s been cut multiple times. Manny Pacquiao’s been cut multiple times. You got guys like Marquez. In the last card on Showtime, I believe it was the last card; all the guys got cut. Alexander got cut. Cotto got cut. You just go on and on. So it’s a part of boxing. I think a fight needs to be stopped when it’s affecting a fighter. When a fighter’s taking punishment from a cut, I think that’s when it should be stopped. So I felt that my stoppage was just premature. I’m not focusing on that, because when you focus on something like that it becomes a problem. I’m not thinking about it. I’m going into this fight with a lot of confidence. I went to a surgeon to get my eye checked, and he looked at it and he said it’s healing really great and everything should be great. So right now it’s not in my head.

Q
Okay, thank you for that, Gabe. I have two questions for Jermell. You mentioned in your opening comments this is obviously an important fight for you, your first time being on a main Showtime card, taking on an experienced veteran opponent who’s fought for world titles in the past. Do you feel like-you are undefeated, you are considered one of the prospects, rising contenders, however you want to phrase it, in the division, but do you view beating an opponent like Gabe Rosado, who has had experience, as the last hurdle you need to clear before you can get a potential world championship fight?

J. Charlo
Yes, absolutely. Defeating Gabriel Rosado will be, I want to say, the ladder that you finish climbing. I want to get to that point where you compare me to the greats and you compare me to the best in the weight division.

Right now with this fight in place this is, like I said earlier, my time and timing is everything. I want to say would’ve, could’ve, should’ve, that’s for the birds. Everything that could’ve happened before, I’m a different fighter. I’m thorough.

I’m going to come through this fight. I’m going to make it happen. We’ve got multiple game plans. We can handle adversity. We just haven’t been able to show much in these last recent fights because the fights is only been to where it’s been. So I’m here to get it on and do what I do best and that’s win.

Q
Regarding getting the cuts that Gabe suffered that ended two of his last three fights, is that something that you talk about in camp, that you may target that eye because it seemed a little soft in those two fights and it did cut open somewhat easily even though Gabe talked about how he felt it wasn’t that bad in the last fight?

J. Charlo
I’m hitting everything. I’m not focused on just hitting just the eye. We come to destroy. It’s not about hitting an eye and busting an eye open. We come to demolish.

Q
My first question is for you, Gabe. Could you talk a little bit more about the dropping of your weight, because you did say, I think, after the last weigh-in for the Quillin fight that you were done at 154? Could you talk about, and Jermell asked if you were going to make the weight comfortably-could you elaborate on why you feel comfortable coming back down in weight?

G. Rosado
Well, I talked about coming down to 154 thinking that I would beat Kid Chocolate, and which I felt like I was leading to that, but it’s all about opportunities and situations. Obviously I didn’t get the call for Kid Chocolate. So now I’m just in a situation where I was just waiting for an opportunity to come my way, and 154, I look at this as a great opportunity being so many names in the weight class, Angulo, Canelo, Lara, Trout. You name it. It’s a lot of talent in the division. So I just looked at it like an opportunity.

I don’t know what’s going on right now as far as the titles that Charlo’s holding on to because he has a WBC Americas and then he has the USBA, and the USBA didn’t approve me, which to me was a joke and then now we’re waiting on the WBC. My thing was I’m dropping to 154 thinking this is a championship fight. When I signed the contract I signed the contract for a 12-round fight.

So I don’t know what’s going on right now. The USBA didn’t approve of me because I’m not coming off a win, but the main event, no disrespect to Lamont Peterson, it was Lamont Peterson who lost that fight, and even though it was at a catchweight he still lost, but he gets to defend his world title and I don’t get a shot to get in the rankings. So I just don’t understand that.
NOTE: Charlo vs. Rosado is now a 10-round fight for the WBC Continental Americas Super Welterweight Title.

Q
Richard, can you elaborate on that, what this win could do for Gabriel given the fact that he’s been in so many high profile, exciting fights?

R. Schaefer
Well, I would certainly think that the winner of this fight has a strong case and a strong possibility to fight for one of the world titles. The fact is that we are promoting most of the world champions at 154 within Golden Boy. So I think the winner of this fight definitely has a shot at one of the world titles. That’s the idea.

So there is much, much at stake. Both fighters know that, and I think that is one of the reasons why Gabriel Rosado decided to move down to 154 as well. And as I said in my opening remarks, he is returning to the 154 pound obviously with the idea to take another world title opportunity. That’s the whole idea here. And that’s going to be up to me to secure that, and I feel confident that I can and I will.

The same is true for Charlo, for Jermell; that he knows that he has diligently worked towards that title opportunity. There is this one big hurdle ahead of him, in front of him. His name is Gabriel Rosado, but he knows that if he is able to beat Gabriel Rosado that he is in line for a world title shot. So there’s no question about that, and I think that’s one of the reasons why this makes this fight so intriguing.

Q
Jermell, when you hear Richard, it’s one thing to know that but to hear him say that right now, what does that mean to you, that this win right here could put you right there on the doorstep to be with those other guys that have been fighting for those titles?

J. Charlo
It’s a great thing, but I believe in one man and he works through R. Schaefer to put me in a fight that I need to be in. So as of right now, my focus in on January 25th, this win, and go from there.

Q
My last question for you, how does Gabriel stack up against the guys that you’ve faced? Obviously he’s been in some big fights, but he’s very resourceful and he was in all three of his last three fights. Is he the toughest guy you’ve faced? Is he possibly the most resourceful? Kind of characterize the challenge that’s in front of you.

J. Charlo
That’s a question I’ll have to answer after the fight. I don’t know if he’s the toughest guy I’ve faced. With his resume and his background he has put up something. He has put up and shut up a little bit. So right now I can’t just say, “He’s the toughest guy,” but I know comparing him to the other fighters that I’ve fought I know that this is a fight that I have to be on all Ps and Qs and be triple eight. So that’s it.

Q
This question is for Gabriel. Can you please explain the reason why you decided to do the second part of training in Puerto Rico? Have you done it before? Will you continue to do it in the future?

G. Rosado
I’ve done training camps in various places like Phoenix, New Mexico, Florida. The plan on going to Puerto Rico and training in Caguas is because in Philadelphia we got hit with a major snow storm, which was making it difficult for me to do road work and things like that. The temperature just dropped extremely low. It was like ten degrees. So I just needed to go somewhere where the climate was hotter and where I was able to focus a lot better.

So we came to Puerto Rico and everything’s great. Within the couple of days that I’ve been here I’ve already dropped six pounds. So the weight’s coming off quick, and there’s a lot of great talent in the gym. I’m getting great sparring. So it’s just kind of like just a boost. It’s playing out great, and I’m having a great camp out here.

Q
Now you spoke about staying at 154. What do you see in your immediate future after this fight?

G. Rosado
This is a fight that I’m looking at that I have to really be impressive, make a statement and go for the knockout. The old timers say, “Don’t ever go for the knockout,” and I understand that, but I think when you look at my last two fights I pretty much had no choice but to go for a knockout. This is not a fight where I can go there and be confident in boxing or doing things that I could do. I just got to be a killer. I got to be a beast. I got to go for the kill.

I’m not happy with my last two fights, as far as the outcome of them, so I’m kind of going to take it all out on Charlo on the 25th. I’m on a mission to knock him out. That’s my mission. That’s all that’s on my mind. There’s no game plan. There’s no nothing. It’s just go in there and knock him out. That’s my attitude. And from there, I plan on hopefully getting a fight with either Lara or Canelo. I would love to fight either of those guys.

Q
Okay. And, Jermell, how are you? Thank you for this opportunity. Gabe is mentioning that he wants to win by knockout. How do you respond to that?

J. Charlo
Just go and knock him out. He can’t knock me out. I’m going to do what I got to do in the ring, and that’s all I’m going to say. I’m not going to do all the little trash talking, like the little Twitter trash talking. I’m training right now. I’ve been training for about a week and a half and I’m ready to fight. I’ve been ready to fight.

Q
One question for both of you guys, since this will be the first fight of 2014 for you guys, how aggressive are you going to be this year to get the world title shot that you both deserve, that you feel that you deserve?

G. Rosado
I’m going to be extremely aggressive in this fight, and I’m going to be smart. It’s not going to be reckless pressure. It’s not going to be taking four shots and laying one type of pressure. It’s going to be smart pressure. Charlo says that he can face adversity, but you really can’t say that when you haven’t been there. It’s a whole different story when you’re in a fight and you’re cut and you have to fight through a cut and you’ve been down and you got to get up and fight through it. He hasn’t been through that. He really doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and by him saying that is-

J. Charlo
I’ve been through a whole fight with my eye completely shut. There’s no way you could say that.

G. Rosado
I’ll test Charlo, and we’ll see if Charlo’s really built for that. But he’s saying that he can go through adversity, but he really don’t know that. He’ll find that out himself on the 25th. He’s not sure of it. He’ll find out. Just like everybody else is going to find out, he’ll find out the 25th if he’s really built for that.

So he really is not sure of it. He can say he is, but you can’t say you could do something when you’ve really never been through it. So he has to experience it first before he can say he’s going to face adversity on the 25th.

Q
Charlo, for you a spin off of the same question, the talent level Gabriel fought his last three fights with were three undefeated fighters, world champion fighters. How aggressive are you going to be, since the talent that you-you’ve fought some good fights, but coming into this fight you haven’t fought the title fights that Gabriel has fought. So its 2014 and this fight in the ring on January 25th, how about that fight for you?

J. Charlo
I’m going to be aggressive of course. That’s the thing. You never go into a fight not being aggressive. You come to kill. That’s what every boxer should want to do, but I’m going to outsmart him. My skills are way better than his. So I’m going to beat him at whatever he’s trying to do. So if he’s trying to come in aggressive, I’m going to beat him at being aggressive. I’m going to take his game plan away from him, and that’s what’s going to make me victorious on the 25th.

Gabe talked about me not being tested, it’s just obvious. It’s obvious that he gets cuts and he bleeds and all of that. He don’t know what I went through and he don’t know the issues and the situations that other fighters went through when they was fighting. Everybody has problems. You don’t know until somebody goes out and lashes out and say it or complains about it. That’s when you actually say, “Oh, this was the issue.” You don’t what adversity they fought through.

So just to put that out there, I had surgery on my eyes in March and fought in June. Who says that I complained and said, “Oh, this was an issue.” No, bro, I fought through that, and that’s when I fought Demetrius Hopkins and that’s the same fight that you’re studying. So you’re studying the wrong game plan anyways.

R. Schaefer
All right, I’d like to thank both Gabe Rosado and Jermell Charlo for being available on this call. I know they’re in the middle of their training and training camps. I think one thing which came clearly across in this call is how excited and fired up these two guys are. It’s going to come down to desire and will to win. Both of them, I think, demonstrated very well on this call today what this fight means for them and to them. I can’t wait to watch this fight and good luck to both guys.

R. Schaefer
Thank you. Well, talking about will and desire and entertaining, I this next fight, the main event of that Showtime doubleheader, the Junior Welterweight World Championship between World Champion Lamont Peterson and Dierry Jean, I think, has a bit of all of that sprinkled in as well.

With Dierry Jean we have an undefeated fighter with 25-0, with 17 knockouts. He is an exciting fighter, a smart fighter, a very dangerous fighter and certainly is not one, as we often see of these mandatories, which somehow have become mandatories and people have to scratch their head, “How does this guy deserve to be a mandatory to a world title?” Dierry Jean is certainly one of the best junior welterweights out there, and just because maybe he’s not that well known here in the United States doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong there.

He’s a native of Haiti, who moved with his family to Montreal and Quebec in Canada as a child. He is obviously ranked the number one and is the mandatory for the world title. He’s probably representing his adopted home country of Canada. Winning a national amateur championship before turning pro back in 2006, he has been waiting for this world title shot. I know he will be ready, and I’d like to introduce to you now Dierry Jean.

Dierry Jean
Hello. How is everyone? My training camp is very good, so far so good. We’re in the best shape of my life. We’re going to go out there to do the job. Our mission is to go out there and win the belt.

R. Schaefer
Thank you, Dierry. Now Lamont Peterson is certainly a fighter who always comes to entertain, who always comes to fight, will to win, I think, is right there next to his name. He is an exciting fighter and has a lot of fans, has a big fan base in Washington D.C. as well. We saw that when he fought Amir Kahn back in December 2011, which was a great night of boxing in Washington D.C., and for him to be fighting in front of his home crowd I think is just added incentive.

We all know he got caught in his last fight when he fought Lucas Matthysse back in May 2013, but real champions, big champions, real fighters, they come back from this and they are ready, and I know that Peterson is ready. He has a great team with Barry Hunter and everyone behind him. I think he’s going to show the world what he is all about and that the May fight with Matthysse was what I just said, he got caught and that happens and that happens to the best. He is very charismatic and always fun to watch. So I can’t wait for this fight as well, for the Junior Welterweight World Championship, and it’s a pleasure for me now to introduce to you the World Champion, Lamont Peterson.

Lamont Peterson
Hey, how everybody doing? Pretty much don’t have to say much about my background or how I train. Everybody know I come to fight. I come in shape, and I’m just looking forward to January 25th.

Q
Thank you, hello, everybody, once again, my first question is for Dierry. It’s good to talk to you. My question for you is you got this title shot by scoring a pretty big knockout against Pendarvis in your eliminator, and now you’ve come into this fight against an opponent in Lamont who got knocked out in his last fight even though it wasn’t a world title fight. Do you feel like the best case of action for you is to sort of try to jump on him to make him remember the way it was when he fighting Matthysse in his last fight?

D. Jean
Yes, it’s a great opportunity for me because I think in his mind he’s not 100% okay. So it’s going to be a great opportunity for me to strike him again, for me to catch him again, to remind him the nightmare he took last time.

Q
And can you also talk a little bit about your boxing background? Richard mentioned in his introductory remarks you came from Haiti. I don’t know how old you were when you moved from Haiti to Canada, but what was it like for you growing up there and how did you get involved in boxing?

D. Jean
I came at like ten years old with my big brother. We grew up there. I started boxing at 18 years old, with an ex-boxer who brought me there, and then since that day I’m still boxing. I dreamed that I was a boxer, and then the next day he came to me and asked me if I want to box. I said, “Yes, for sure, I dreamed that I was a boxer so why not?” It’s a dream come true.

Q
What are your thoughts, very quickly, as far as this fight being that you’re going to travel to Lamont’s hometown where he enjoys good support, he’s been successful in the past and has fought a couple of his last two or three fights in Washington D.C.? You’re going to be the guy on the road in this one.

D. Jean
For sure. It’s okay. It doesn’t matter. For sure I would prefer to be in my crowd, but it’s going to be okay. I can deal with pressure, and he’s going to be the only one guy in the ring with me. I’m not going to be against the fans. So I’m very good to deal with pressure.

Q
All right, very good, thank you for your answers. I appreciate it. My question for you, Lamont, is we know what happened in the fight against Lucas Matthysse. I’m wondering, from your point of view, how difficult is it to overcome that loss?

Some guys, they come back off of a fight like that, they may go into a smaller fight, an eight-rounder, maybe not a TV fight. You’re jumping right back in against your number one challenger in the main event in front of the home crowd. How was it like for you to get over that knockout loss and to be right back into a somewhat significant fight in the next match?

L. Peterson
Getting over the loss, that happened in one day. Who cares about the knockout? It’s part of boxing. That’s what happens. You pick yourself up and you move on. At this point, it’s in the past. Who cares? As a fighter, you have to block that out and you keep moving. As far as me moving on, I’m a fighter. At the end of the day, I had to focus on January 25th. I train hard, give it my all, and we go out there and we fight. It’s always going to be the same with me. Who cares about what happened in last fight?

Q
So does that mean, Lamont, that even though you got beat in the last fight, but you still have the title because-

L. Peterson
Who cares?

Q
No, no, I understand that. I understand that, but you were at the catch weight. Do you still feel like a champion even though the last fight was a defeat?

L. Peterson
At the end of the day the belts mean nothing. It means a lot to ya’ll, but it means nothing to me. I just love to fight. I go, I bust my ass in the gym, I go and I fight. I give it my all in the ring. Who cares about who’s number one, who’s number two, who’s pound for pound, who has this belt, who has that belt? I care less about that. So whether you look at me as a champion or not, it doesn’t make a difference. The only thing it was is we fought at a catch weight, and me having a belt allows me to have this opportunity to fight Dierry Jean. That’s it. That’s all that belt means.

Q
I understand that. The one other question that would be, you said who cares about a loss and I can certainly appreciate that mentality of just moving on to the next thing, but I’m sure you realize that when you lose it has a tremendous and dramatic impact on the money that you can earn. Isn’t that right? Do you ever think about that?

L. Peterson
Yeah, of course of know that. It’s not my first loss so I know that. It has happened before, but at the end of the day, as a fighter, my mentality has to be who cares? Who’s going to sit around thinking about their last fight, if it didn’t go the way they wanted it to go?

Q
All right, fair enough.

L. Peterson
The best thing to do is to pick you up, forget about it, move on. I know I can still fight. I’m still a good fighter. I have to forget about it.

Q
Happy New Year. A question first to Mr. Jean, what do you see in Lamont Peterson that you feel that you can, without giving your game plan, but what do you see that says you will win this fight and win the title on the 25th?

D. Jean
I see a better fighter. I’m more vicious. I can hit harder than him, and I want it more so I own everything to earn that title.

Q
Okay, good enough. And for Lamont, my question also, fighting in your hometown again and one of the things that I’ve noticed in the fights you’ve had here, I should say, you have gotten off to a little bit of a slow start against Khan, against Holt especially, how important is it for you to get off to a real fast start on the 25th?

L. Peterson
Whether I start off slow or fast it doesn’t make a difference. At the end of the day, my job is to win the fight and that’s what I’m focusing on. If I want to start off slow, then let me start off slow. If I want to start off fast, then I’ll start off fast, but at the end of the day it’s all about a 12-round fight and winning that contest. So that’s what I’m focused on.

Q
Okay, good enough. And a quick question for Mr. Schaefer if he’s there, when we will know the match ups from the under cards, speaking particularly about the fighters from the Washington D.C. area, Dominic Wade and D’Mitrius Ballard? When will we know the match ups for those particular bouts?

R. Schaefer
Well, with for Anthony Peterson, Lamont’s brother, we are working on finalizing that. Dominic Wade, I believe is fighting Deshawn Johnson, and D’Mitrius Ballard, my match makers are working on finalizing that. So hopefully within the next week we have all of that lined up.

Q
Hey, guys, how you doing? Hey, Lamont, I just have one question for you. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody open up a conference call by talking about you the way he did, and I know you’re usually a very even-tempered guy. When you hear somebody talk about you like that and you’re the champion, what does it do? Does it arouse your competitive juices, and I know you’re going to be fighting in front of your hometown crowd, which is always very supportive and you seem energized by that?

L. Peterson
Who cares about what he thinks, what he says? At the end of the day I have to get in there and show him. So it’s not going to make me feel no type of way. He can say what he want. It’s all his perception at this point. he have to go in there and show me.

Q
One other question, how does he stack up against the guys that you fought? Has he fought anybody on your level or any other guys that you fought on their level?

L. Peterson
I’m not sure, but we’re going to find out January 25th.

Q
Hey, Lamont. Hey, Dierry. Hey, how you doing? Hey, my question’s for you, Lamont. I’ve seen you train and everything. Coming off the Matthysse fight are you going into this fight a little harder, training a little harder than you have with any other fight because of coming off of a loss?

L. Peterson
Not really. I always train hard. I always give my best. So how could I train harder when I give it my all every time? So at this point, you go back, regardless of win or lose, you go back and you work on things you feel like you need to work on. You move on. You go the next fight. So that’s exactly what we did.

Q
Maybe I’m not talking about the training aspect, but mentally did you know, do you know, “I must win this fight, because if I lose it’s an opportunity?”

L. Peterson
Well, before I went in there and fought Matthysse I felt that way. So I’m definitely going to feel that way now. It’s not going to be anything else, but I train hard every training camp. I’m not just talking about physical training. I’m talking about mentally. I always do what I’m supposed to do, no hanging out, no family. I stick to a strict diet and a strict lifestyle, and that’s every fight.

Q
Dierry, coming into this fight knowing that you’re fighting a tough fighter that Lamont Peterson is, with his background, the fighters that he’s been fighting against, how are you coming into this fight? What’s your mental state, as far as not conditioning but mental state to make it through this fight and in order to win this fight?

D. Jean
This fight means everything for me. I’ve been working so hard to get there, and now I’m there. It’s to go conquer the belt. It’s a lot for me. For so long, I start at 18 years old, and now I’m 31. I think I deserve it now. I work so hard from the bottom of my heart. So now it’s time to go get that belt. It’s my time now. Lamont did his time. Now it’s now my time.

Q
Dierry, Lamont Peterson has faced a lot of experienced fighters like Tim Bradley, Victor Ortiz. What do you have in your box to prove that you are of world champion caliber?

D. Jean
I got good sparring partners like them who can throw punches, who can take punches. I’ve got Steven Butler. I’ve got all good sparring partners, so welterweight and super welterweight, and by background too you can see the last fight and very exciting. So that means I can hit, and when you can hit it’s very dangerous for another fighter who just came from a big knockout. So I think the win is going to be on my side.

Q
Do you think you faced the most adversity in your career at this time and now it’s like more easy work for you?

D. Jean
No, for sure it’s going to the most adversity of my career, because Lamont Peterson is actual champion. He did his work. He did his job. So he’s there. I got to give him respect. So now, just like I said, it’s my time. So I’m going to go out there and go grab that belt.

R. Schaefer
Thank you to Dierry Jean and to Lamont Peterson. A much anticipated world championship fight. It’s going to be a great night in Washington D.C. I know the fans are going to come out and support their fighters and the card and boxing. These are evenly matched fights, and again, thank you so much to Showtime for showcasing this fight.

I do want to make one last comment, and it is that Lamont Peterson will hold an open media workout in Washington D.C. next Monday on January 13. A media alert with details was sent out earlier today.Thank you so much, and I see you all in Washington D.C. on January the 25th.

END OF CALL

Peterson vs. Jean, a 12-round fight for Peterson’s IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship, will take place Saturday, Jan. 25, at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. The live SHOWTIME telecast begins at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) and will be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP). In the co-featured bout, Junior Middleweights Jermell Charlo and Gabriel Rosado square off in a 10-round fight for the WBC Continental Americas Super Welterweight Title. Preliminary bouts will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets priced at $25, $50, $75, $150 and $250, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are on sale and available online at www.ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations, or by calling (800) 745-3000.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 16, 2013) – World-class championship boxing returns to the nation’s capital on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, when hometown hero IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Lamont “Havoc” Peterson defends his 140-pound crown against Montreal’s unbeaten Dierry Jean as part of a live SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast)- event at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. In the co-main event, Middleweight Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo risks his undefeated record against Two-Time World Title Challenger Gabriel “King” Rosado.

Tickets priced at $25, $50, $75, $150 and $250, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 10 a.m. ET and available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster locations, or calling (800) 745-3000. The DC Armory Box Office will be open on fight night only from 3:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. ET.

“This is the perfect way for me to kick off 2014, with a great fight against a tough opponent in my hometown,” said Peterson. “Fights like these bring out the best in me and I’m going to give my fans a performance to remember on Jan. 25.”

“Peterson has been in the ring with many good fighters, but he hasn’t been in the ring with me,” said Jean. “I’ve worked hard for this for a long time. I have already started training camp and I’m in great shape. I just want to bring that belt home to Quebec, where it belongs.”

“I’ve waited for a big fight like this against a top-level opponent and now I’ve got it,” said Charlo. “Rosado is a rugged, tough fighter and with a win over him, I’ll be making a statement to the boxing world that I’m ready for even bigger and better things.”

“I wanted another world title shot after my fight with Peter Quillin, but with that rematch not happening right now, I want to stay busy and keep sharp until my time comes,” said Rosado. “Charlo’s got talent, but he’s not ready to face someone with as much experience as I have. I am ready to go after my recent fight with Quillin.”

“2013 was a great year for boxing on SHOWTIME, and this doubleheader shows that we’re ready to deliver even more exciting fights in 2014,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Lamont Peterson is a fan favorite in Washington, D.C., and I give him credit for risking his belt against a tough, unbeaten fighter in Dierry Jean. As for the co-main event, Gabriel Rosado always comes to fight and he’s going to put Jermell Charlo to the test on Jan. 25.”

“Coming off a record-breaking 2013, we are taking significant momentum into the new year,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “Boxing’s passionate fan base has called for the world’s top fighters to take on the biggest challenges. Lamont Peterson returns to the ring and immediately takes a difficult main event match up against a hungry power puncher in Dierry Jean. And Jermell Charlo is a rising star taking a sizable step up against the battle-tested Gabriel Rosado. January 25 will be a night you don’t want to miss.”

IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (31-2-1, 16 KO’s) will begin 2014 determined to defeat Dierry Jean and then continue on to battle his peers at the top of the 140-pound weight class. With his two most recent victories coming over Amir Khan and Kendall Holt, the 29-year-old has proven that he is one of the elite in the sport today, and in his first fight since a May 2013 loss to Lucas Matthysse, Peterson is hungry for a return to the win column and respectability.

A native of Haiti who moved with his family to Montreal, Quebec, Canada as a child, Dierry Jean (25-0, 17 KO’s) has proudly represented his adopted home country, winning a national amateur championship before turning pro in 2006. Since then, his professional record has been perfect, and after winning the NABF title in 2012 with a win over Lanardo Tyner in May 2013, Jean defeated Cleotis Pendarvis in the IBF title eliminator to become Peterson’s mandatory challenger.

At just 23-years old, former amateur star Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (22-0, 11 KO’s) has made plenty of waves in the junior middleweight division over the last few years, dazzling with his mix of speed and power as he mowed down opponent after opponent. In 2013, he triumphed three times, defeating Harry Joe Yorgey (KO 8), Demetrius Hopkins (W 12), and Jose Angel Rodriguez (TKO 10).

A Philadelphia fighter in the truest sense, “King” Gabriel Rosado (21-7, 13 KO’s) is always willing to dig deep and battle it out in the trenches in search of victory. A veteran of nearly eight years in the pro game, the 27-year-old Rosado impressed with his gutsy efforts in recent middleweight title fights against Gennady Golovkin and Peter Quillin. On Jan. 25, he returns to 154 pounds, eager to prove that he’s worthy of another world title opportunity.

Peterson vs. Jean, a 12-round fight for Peterson’s IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship, will take place Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and supported by Golden Boy Promotions’ sponsors Corona and AT&T. The live SHOWTIME telecast begins at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) and will be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP). In the co-featured bout, Jermell Charlo defends his USBA Junior Middleweight Championship in a 12-round fight against Gabriel Rosado. Preliminary bouts will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.sports.sho.com and follow on Twitter at @KingPete26 @DierryJean @KingGabRosado, @TwinCharlo and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #PetersonDierry and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing.

MONTREAL, Canada (October 15, 2013) – As undefeated light welterweight Dierry “Dougy Style” Jean (25-0, 17 KOs) patiently waits from his world title shot against International Boxing Federation (IBF) Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (31-2-1, 16 KOs), the IBF’s No. 1-ranked, mandatory light welterweight challenger took some time out to sit on the hot seat.

What are your three favorite fights of all-time?

Dierry Jean: “Oh, there are so many. Most recently, I enjoyed watching the fight between Danny Garcia and Lucas Mathysse . Both guys went to war but one was smarter than the other. Garcia got shuffled a bit but after the fourth round he was able to manage the situation and out-box Mathysse. I would also say Floyd Mayweather’s fight with ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Wow! Mayweather simply out-boxed ‘Canelo.’ It was amazing! Otherwise, for the third fight, there are so many that it is too difficult for me to choose another one.”

What fight would you like to see one day?

Dierry Jean: “I ‘d like to see Dierry Jean against Floyd Mayweather (laughs). I have the style to beat Floyd.”

Who has been your model or inspiration in life?

Dierry Jean: “Camille Estephan (his promoter) inspires me a lot. Thanks to him I am here today and still in the boxing world. He truely is a model for me. He exudes positive energy and is very motivating.”

Who would you choose if you could face any boxer of all-time?

Dierry Jean: “Sugar’ Ray Leonard because he had almost the same style as me. He was a good boxer: explosive, skilled, and talented. I think it would be a great match.”

What music do you listen to during training sessions?

Dierry Jean: “I don’t listen to music while I train. If I did it would be hip-hop or any type of music that’s moving. What really motivates me in training is thinking about victory.”

What is your entrance song?

Dierry Jean: “The last song I used was, American Dream, by rapper Le Tito. There is another artist preparing a special song for my next fight. I will keep it to myself so it’ll be a surprise.”

What led you to becoming a boxer?

Dierry Jean: “One day I had a premonition, a dream, in which I was boxing. The next day, I was approached by (former world champion) Joachim Alcine This is what made me go to the gym for the first time.”

How would you describe yourself as a boxer ?

Dierry Jean: “I’m a pretty complete fighter: fast, a brawler but with style.”

Do you have a ritual before your fight?

Dierry Jean: “I relax and I try not to think too much about my fight. I watch movies, I play Playstation, I get massaged. Then, we go eat pasta with the team and begin our fight preparation.”

What is the most significant fight of your career and why?

Dierry Jean: “The last one against Cleotis Pendarvis because it is the one that allowed me to get a world title fight shot. It’s also because it took place in the United States, in front of a crowd of new fans. This was my chance to make my name and get noticed.”

Would you say it was your hardest fight so far?

Dierry Jean: “No. I finished him in the 4th round! (laughs) But, mentally, as I was fighting on the outside – he was left-handed, fast – things became a bit more stressful for me. But I trusted my strike force and our strategy.”

Of all the advice that Mike Moffa gave you, what would be the most important to you?

Dierry Jean: “Shape in or shape out! (laughs). You’re 100-percent commited to achieving your goal, or you do not invest at all.”

What do you want to achieve in your career?

Dierry Jean: “I want to become world champion and successfully defend my title at least four or five times.”

Do you have any personal goals that you wish to accomplish in your life?

Dierry Jean: “I would like my family to be well; my daughter to be happy and for her to lack nothing. I would also like to open a boxing gym and, perhaps, become a coach.”

What advice would you give to anybody just starting out in boxing?

Dierry Jean: “You must follow your dreams and believe in yourself. Do not be discouraged by obstacles and always give 100-percent.”

For further information about Jean or any of his EOTTM stable-mates visit www.eottm.com, or follow EOTTM and Dierry on Twitter @eotmvd and @DierryJean.

OTTAWA, Canada (August 4, 2013) – International Boxing Federation (IBF) No. 1-ranked and mandatory light welterweight challenger, undefeated Dierry “Doggy Style” Jean (25-0, 17 KOs) credits a vivid dream for driving him into a boxing career. Years later, Jean finds himself on the brink of his first world title shot against IBF 140-pound champion Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (31-2-1, 16 KOs).

“In that dream,” Jean noted, “I was a very good fighter. Now, I’m following a new dream to be world champion. It’s my time!”

The 31-year-old Jean moved with his family to Canada from Haiti when he was 10. Disinterested in boxing until the experiencing the aforementioned vision when he was 18, Jean went on to become a Canadian National Champion as an amateur, and presently he’s unbeaten in 25 professional fights.

Fighting this past May for the second time outside of Canada as a professional, the Montreal-based boxer dismantled the then IBF No.7 ranked Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis (17-3-2) on ShoBox: The Next Generation, live from Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. Jean overcame a nasty cut over his right eye, suffered in the third round from an unintentional head-butt, rocking Pendarvis in the fourth with an explosive overhand right. Pendarvis somehow managed to beat the count but the IBF title eliminator fight was soon stopped by the referee with Jean unloading a barrage of unanswered punches.

“My last fight was huge for me, enormous, because I knew that it would change my life,” Jean said. “People have been saying ‘Douggy” is next but I needed to prove it. I went to another country and to knockout Pendarvis early in the fight was good.”

Jean, now ranked No. 10 by The Ring Magazine, is the reigning North American Boxing Federation (NABF) and North American Boxing Association (NABA) light welterweight champion.

When Jean challenges Peterson, he will be in the unusual position of not only fighting a world champion coming off a loss, but one who was dropped three times in the process before the action was finally halted in the third round. His fight against powerhouse Lucas Matthysse (33-2) on Showtime Championship Boxing was originally supposed to be contested for Peterson’s IBF belt, however, Matthysee refused to relinquish his Interim World Boxing Council (WBC) belt. A unification bout was disallowed and instead they fought a non-title fight.

“I will take advantage of that (Peterson’s last fight),” Jean said. “He will be weaker. Peterson’s a good fighter. I can’t take anything away from him, but I know I’m a good puncher with 17 knockouts in 25 fights. I’m going out to stop him.

“He doesn’t compare to anybody I’ve ever fought but I know I’m in his class. He can put pressure on and box, but he didn’t use the right strategy in his last fight, and I don’t think he will against me. I don’t think he’ll have any respect for me. He’s going to come after me but I will make him pay. He’ll taste my power and then I’ll knock him out.”

Jean

“Guy Jutras is one of the most knowledgeable people in boxing,” Jean’s promoter Camille Estephan (Eye of the Tiger Management) commented. “After Dierry’s fight with (Ivan) Cano for the NABF and NABA titles (October 26, 2012), Guy said to me that he’d been in the business a long time, as a fighter and judge, and that he’d never seen a more natural fighter than Dierry Jean. He said Dierry was the best pound-for-pound fighter in Canada and one of the best he’d ever seen in over 50 years. For him to say that means a lot and it’s true. Dierry’s talent is non-parallel with anybody in Canada.

“All of the top 140-pounders should take notice. Dierry has been slowed down by a few injuries, which is why he hasn’t been on the big stage. He opened a lot of eyes in America, all of boxing, with his last performance on ShoBox, knocking out Pendarvis. Dierry Jean is bringing a lot of excitement to an already loaded division with the likes of Matthysse, (Danny) Garcia, Peterson, (Amir) Khan, (Mike) Alvarado, (Brandon) Rios and (Zab) Judah.”

Two-time world champion Peterson’s two pro losses have been to world champions, Matthysee and Timothy Bradley; he fought Victor Ortiz to a draw and his more notable victims have been world champions Khan and Kendall Holt.

The IBF will send a letter to the promoters of Peterson (Golden Boy Promotions) and Jean (Eye of the Tiger Management) on September 23, 2013, asking the two parties to negotiate a title fight between the two fighters. If no agreement is reached within one month a purse bid will be held.

“We have been talking with Golden Boy but I don’t know where it’ll go,” Estephan explained. “We’d love to bring the fight to Canada. Jean is the best pound-for-pound fighter in Canada and one of the best in the world. He must prove that, though, by winning a world title. No longer is he one of boxing’s best kept secrets and, after the fight with Peterson, his star will shine brightly all around the boxing world.”

For further information about Jean or any of his EOTTM stable-mates visit www.eottm.com, or follow him on Twitter @DierryJean.

Follow all the action LIVE from ringside at Historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City as Lamont Peterson and Lucas Matthysse battle in a potentially explosive fight of Jr. Welterweight belt holders. In the opening bout that will begin at 9:15 pm eastern / 6:15 pac, IBF Welterweight champion Devon Alexander will fight Lee Purdy in a non-title bout

12 Rounds–Jr. Welterweights—Lamont Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KOs) vs Lucas Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s)

Round 1 Counter left from Matthysse..Body head combo…10-9 Matthysse

Round 2 Matthysse missing on some shots..Combination from Matthysse..Straght right drives Peterson to ropes..HUGE LEFTLEFT AND DOWN GOES MATTHYSSE AND DOWN GOES PETERSON…20-17 Matthysse

Round 3 Uppercut from Peterson..Huge combo from Matthysse..HUGE LEFT AND DOWN GOES MATTHYSSE…BIG LEFT HOOK FIGHT OVER

12 Rounds–Welterweights–Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KO’s) vs Lee Purdy (20-3-1, 13 KO’s)

Round 1 Alexander places a left to the body..hard right to the body..straight left/body combo..Purdy not throwing any punches…now he worksthe body..Purdy sneaks in a right..2 hard right hooks…Devon landing power shots..2 hard uppercuts at the end of the round 10-9 Alexander

Round 2 2 hard straight lefts..body…two hard right hooks to the end at the end of the round…20-18 Alexander

Round 3 Purdy fighting in the pocket but ALexander quicker and stronger..Purdy sneaks in a rght but not much affect,.30-27 Alexander

Round 4 ALexander outclassing as he lands some hard shots to the head…Left from Purdy...40-36

Round 5 Alexander lands a hook/uppercut combo..Purdy sneaks in a right…50-45 Alexander

Round 6 Alexander splits the guard with a uppercut..Right hook..Purdy’s nose is bleeding…60-54 Alexander

Round 7 Alexander pounding away….THE FIGHT IS STOPPED IN THE CORNER

ATLANTIC CITY–In a fight between two reigning beltholders, Lucas Matthysse made a bold statement by wrecking IBF Jr. Welterweight champion Lamont Peterson in round three of their twelve round fight at Boardwalk Hall

Matthysse dropped Peterson with a vicious left hook in round two. Peterson fought back and landed some shots but Matthysse’s power Made a huge impact as he dumped Peterson in span of seconds from two huge left hooks and referee Steve Smoger stopped the fight at 2:14.

Matthysse who was looking a potential September 7th bout with Danny Garcia now with this performance could vault to the head of the line to fight pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather.

Matthysse of Argentina is now 34-2 with 32 knockouts. Peterson of Washington, DC is now 31-2-1.

After the fight, Matthysse spoke through a translator, “The first round I was trying to find out what I was bringing to the fight. After the second round I started connecting with more force. I had two and a half months of preparation for this fight and that was the difference.”

Feeling confident, Matthysse boasted, “Now I know I am the best at 140 pounds because no one has ever dominated Peterson the way I did tonight.”

When asked by SHOWTIME reporter Jim Gray if he would like to fight Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia, who was in attendance at Boardwalk Hall, Matthysse responded, “Golden Boy and Al Haymon will get me that fight. I’m ready for that fight. I want to fight him.”

Gray also spoke with Peterson right after the fight and asked how he felt following the three knockdowns. Peterson said, “I feel good. There is nothing physically wrong with me right now. Of course I am upset that I lost, but so far I feel good.”

On his performance, “I think I got a little lazy with the jab. I started relaxing a little bit…I guess he hit me with a good shot. He did a good job. I recovered from that first knockdown and I was okay for a while and then, eventually, he hit me again and he hurt me again. I still thought I could have fought through it but the ref did the right thing. I guess tonight he was (the better fighter). He won the fight fair and square tonight. He’s a good fighter.”

In round one, Alexander looked to be dominant as he landed some hard body shots to start the round and then some scraping lefts and uppercuts to close the stanza. Alexander continued to outclass the visitor while standing in the pocket and landing some great shots. Purdy was game and landed a few left hooks on the inside. The accumulation of blows began to show in round six as blood came down from the nostrils of Purdy.

Alexander continued using Purdy for target practice in round seven to the point that fight was stopped in the corner following that frame.

Alexander, 146.7 lbs of St. Louis is now 25-1 with 14 knockouts. Purdy, 147.8 lbs of Colchester, UK is now 20-4-1.

The fight was to be contested for Alexander’s IBF Welterweight title but Purdy weighed in one pound over the limit. He could only lose one-quarter of a pound and was fined ten percent of his reported $150,000 purse

Alexander admitted that he wasn’t able to fight to the best of his ability due to an injury. “I hurt my left hand in the first round actually. I hit him on top of the head. I hurt my hand, but I had to get that out of my mind. I had to fight to win. I wanted to impress tonight. My left hand was on point in camp. When I hurt my biceps, that strengthened my left hand so it would have been popping real hard, but I hurt it. I had to set it up softly. I wanted to use my hook and my upper cut but I couldn’t.”

He continued, “There are going to be a lot of critics saying Purdy wasn’t all that anyway, but he’s a good fighter. Over in the U.K. he beat some good guys and I think he was very suitable. He came to fight and he gave me a good fight. I got the win. I got the technical knockout.”

Haroon needed just fifty-seven seconds to dispatch of Vicente Medellin in a scheduled four round Bantamweight bout.

Khan dropped Medellin twice and the fight was stopped.

Khan, 116 1/2 lbs of Bolton, Englans is 2-0 with 1 knockout, Medellin, 115 lbs of Riverside, CA is 0-6.

In a battle of undefeated Welterweights, Shawn Porter had a relatively easy time with Phil Lo Greco as pounded out a unanimous decision.

In round one, Porter tried to back up Lo Greco with some solid body work. In round two, Porter landed a hard combination that backed up Lo Greco which led to two hard uppercuts on the ropes. Porter came out and in round four and landed some hard combinations. Later in the round, Porter ripped Lo Greco with a hard one-two combination. Porter then rocked Lo Greco with hard left hook in the fifth.

Porter continued to dominate and score a dubious knockdown with what looked like a left hook. In the tenth, Porter scored a more emphatic knockdown when he dropped Porter with a left hook. After that, Lo Greco did well to hold on to last the distance.

Porter, 150 lbs of Las Vegas won by scores of 100-88 on two cards and 99-89 and is now 21-1-1. Lo Greco, 150 lbs of Toronto is now 25-1.

Thomas Williams Jr. scored an eight round unanimous decision over veteran Otis Griffin in Light Heavyweight bout.

Williams boxed well over the first few rounds. He then opened up and hurt Griffin on the ropes in the fourth. Williams landed some of his best power shots in the seventh and eighth and had Griffin reeling several times but was not able to come close to the stoppage.

Williams, 175 lbs of Washington, won by scores of 8-72, 79-73 and 79-73 and is now 14-0. Griffin, 175 lbs of Sacramento is now 24-13-2.

2012 Olympic Bronze medal winner Anthony Ogogo pounded out a six round unanimous decision over Edgar Perez in a Middleweight bout

In round two, Ogogo started landing the power punches at range. Ogogo continued to use his range and mix up his punches over the next several rounds. Ogogo was never tested and boxed his way to the decision via scores at 60-54; 60-54 and 60-53 for Ogogo.

Ogogo, 159 lbs of East Anglia, UK is 2-0. Perez, 159 lbs of Arecibo, PR is now 5-5.

Cesar Seda banged out an eight round unanimous decision over Miguel Tamayo in a Bantamweight bout.

Seda, 117 1/2 lbs of Juana Diaz, PR won by scores of 80-70, 80-72 and 79-73 and is now 25-1. Tamayao, 117 1/2 lbs of Ciudad, MX is now 13-6-2.

Former world title challenger Anthony Peterson scored a stoppage over Dominic Salcido after round two of their scheduled ten round Lightweight bout

Peterson came out landing hard power punches in round one. In round two he scored with a vicious body shot that led to a hard barrage in the corner. Peterson continued to land with pummeling shots to the head. After the round, the fight was stopped after Salcido was deemed to have a broken nose.

Peterson, 136 1/2 lbs of Washington, D.C. is now 32-1 with 21 knockouts. Salcido, 136 1/2 lbs of Rialto, CA is now 18-5.

Three-time U.S Olympian Rau’She Warren scored a fourth round stoppage over Angel Carvajal in a scheduled four round Bantamweight bout.

Warren dropped Carvajal in round’s two and four and the bout was stopped at 2:05 of the final round.

Warren, 118 lbs of Cincinnati, OH is now 4-0 with 2 knockouts. Caravjal, 116 lbs of Chicago, IL is now 2-2.

It took two rounds and alot of vicious shots but Robert Easter Jr. scored a second round stoppage over Eduardo Guillen in a scheduled four round Light bout.

Easter landed a many hard lefts and rights that would have put most men down in the first round as Guillen was bouncing and flopping all over the ring from those shots. In round two, Easter landed a cruching left hook that looked like it almost spun Gullien’s head around before he dropped to the canvas. he was able to get up but that was not a good thing for him as another booming left hook sent him to the canvas and the fight was stopped at 1:30 of round two.

Easter, 133 1/2 lbs of Toledo, OH is now 4-0 with all wins coming early. Guillen, 132 lbs of Brownsville, TX is now 0-3.

2012 U.S. Olympian Jamel Herring opened the show with a one round beatdown over Victor Galindo in a scheduled four round Light weight bout.

Herring dropped Galindo with a hard riht to the body. Galidno continued only to absorb massive shots and finally went to his knee form another body shot. Galindo’s corner then stopped the fight at 2:01 of round one.

Herring, 134 lbs of Coram, NY is now 3-0 with 2 knockouts. Galindo, 134 1/2 lbs of San Juan, PR is 1-2

The fighters for tomorrow night’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey stepped on the scales today at Caesars Atlantic City for the Official Weigh-in. Main event fighters Lamont Peterson and Lucas Matthysse made the catch-weight limit of 141 pounds with Peterson weighing in at 141 lbs. and Matthysse tipping the scale at 140 lbs. IBF Welterweight World Champion Devon Alexander made the welterweight limit of 147 lbs., but his opponent, Lee Purdy, was unable to make the weight after two attempts, coming in at 147.8 lbs. As a result Purdy will not be eligible to win the world championship title in tomorrow night’s fight.

The telecast will air live on SHOWTIME at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) immediately following ALL ACCESS: MAYWEATHER vs. GUERRERO Epilogue. Preliminary fights will air live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Attached is the entire bout sheet with the official weights, and the weigh-in photos.

ABOUT “PETERSON VS. MATTHYSSE”:

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.

LUCAS MATTHYSSE, WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion

“[On arriving to the United States later than planned] I don’t think it’s going to have any affect on the fight because I’ve been training so hard. I’m done training, but I’m still going to move a little bit to keep the weight off. Basically everything is the same other than not coming to the United States on Monday.

“Peterson is a good fighter and a good boxer. He knows how to deal with things when he’s in danger.

“I think I can beat Peterson with my power. I know how to get in the best punches.

“[On why he thinks he’ll win Saturday night] It’s a combination of my will to win and my experience. I’ve fought some guys with pretty good names.

“When they told me that I was coming here to fight, I came here with a mentality to win. I didn’t come here thinking that it’s going to be a robbery. Yes, I’ve had those experiences, but I’m not going to get robbed this time.

“I learned early in my career that I have a good punch and have worked very hard to maintain that.

“Winning this fight will open a lot of doors for me and my career. This might be the most important fight of my career. I want big matchups and this is definitely one of them.”

LEE PURDY, Number Four Rated IBF Welterweight Contender

“I was surprised to get this shot in the first place. My manager told me that I was ranked number four so we realized it was coming soon, but we didn’t know it was going to be this soon.

“I trained as hard as I could when I found out [that I got the fight].

“[On taking this fight] It wasn’t about money or anything. I love to fight and that’s why I’m here.

“I watched quite a few of Alexander’s fights. He didn’t really impress me.

“I broke my arm when I started my amateur career [at age 11 or 12]. I started training again when I was 17 and then I turned pro when I was 18.

“I’ve got a style that people like to watch. I have power and that’s entertaining for people.

“I think I’ll have 20 or 30 people [family and friends] coming out to support me. I think I’ll have a few fans coming out to support me too. I don’t know how many exactly, but they’ll be here.

“I can’t see myself doing anything else but fighting. It’s what I love to do.”

ANTHONY OGOGO, 2012 British Olympic Bronze Medalist

“I’ve always loved sports. I came across boxing when I was 12-years-old and I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the intensity and passion of it. I knew that whether I was going to be any good or not that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and it turned out pretty well.

“I walked into the boxing gym when I was 12. I sparred that very first day and I’ve never turned back.

“I had about 150-160 amateur fights and it culminated with me winning a Bronze Medal in the 2012 Olympic Games. My mom was very ill at the time; six weeks before the Olympics she suffered a really serious injury. She’s doing great now, but I initially pulled out of the Games. Then three weeks before, my mom and sisters pulled me aside and kind of guilt-tripped me into going, and I did. Somehow I managed to juggle it all.

“I thought I deserved to win the gold medal and I was good enough to win the gold, but with everything else going on, I’m quite proud of my achievements to go in there and still come out successful.

“[On the crowds at the Olympic Games in London] That was phenomenal. That was one of the reasons I wanted to turn professional because I’ve never had that. Ten thousand people [cheering] at the Excel Arena; it made hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and it still does. I didn’t want to go back and be an amateur and box in front of 100 people. I wanted to experience those big exciting nights all of the time.”

# # #

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.

NEW YORK (May 15, 2013) – All five of the fighters in attendance at Wednesday’s press conference at Lucille’s Bar & Grill (located inside B.B. King’s Blues Club) in New York City were confident and ready for fight night as they discussed their upcoming bouts taking place this Saturday, May 18 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J live on SHOWTIME® (9:00 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).

In the main event IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Lamont Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KO’s), of Washington, D.C., faces power-punching WBC Interim Super Lightweight Champion Lucas Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s), of Trelew, Argentina, in a 12-round bout at a catch-weight of 141 pounds. In the co-featured attraction on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®, Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KO’s), of St. Louis, will defend his IBF Welterweight Championship against number four rated IBF welterweight contender Lee Purdy (20-3-1, 13 KO’s), of Colchester, England.

Fights on SHOWTIME EXTREME®, airing beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT, will include a scheduled 10-round bout between promising, world-ranked, unbeaten welterweights Shawn Porter (20-1, 14 KO’s), of Akron, Ohio, and Phil Lo Greco (25-0, 14 KO’s), of Toronto, Canada, and a six-round middleweight bout between highly regarded 2012 British Olympic Bronze Medalist Anthony Ogogo (1-0, 1 KO), of Lowestoft, England, who’ll be making his United States debut against Puerto Rico’s Edgar Perez (5-4, 3 KO’s). Haroon Khan (1-0), Amir Khan’s brother, of Bolton, England, will make his United States debut against Vicente Medellin of Riverside, CA in a four round bantamweight bout which, time permitting, will also air on SHOWTIME EXTREME®.

In non-televised undercard action, Anthony Peterson (31-1, 20 KO’s), Lamont’s younger brother and also from Washington, D.C., will face slick veteran Dominic Salcido (18-4, 9 KO’s) of Rialto, CA

See below for what the Peterson brothers, Alexander, Purdy, Ogogo, Golden Boy Promotions COO David Itskowitch and SHOWTIME Sports EVP and General Manager Stephen Espinoza said Wednesday.

LAMONT PETERSON, IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion

“I’m looking forward to a great fight this weekend.

“This is a great card. I want to thank Golden Boy Promotions for signing me. This is our first fight and I think we’re going to do great things together.

“If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you need to. I’m hoping there’s a monitor for me in my locker room to watch the whole card. There are a lot of my friends fighting Saturday night and of course my brother.

“You’ve got Anthony Ogogo, Khan’s brother Harry, the Cincinnati boys and D.C.-native Thomas Williams. I’m excited to see everyone on the card and I encourage everyone to go get tickets.”

DEVON ALEXANDER, IBF Welterweight World Champion

“‘Finally’ is the key word here. My fight with Kell Brook was postponed three times. I was supposed to fight him many times, but now I’m fighting Lee Purdy who’s a very suitable opponent for me.

“I’m ready. It doesn’t matter what Lee Purdy is going to bring Saturday night. He’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m ready to fight. I’ve been ready to fight.

“This fight will lead to bigger and better things with SHOWTIME.”

LEE PURDY, Number Four Rated IBF Welterweight Contender

“I’m a big underdog in a lot of peoples’ eyes. I’m here to fight and put on a good show for the fans.

“Fans are paying their hard earned money for entertainment and they don’t want to see fighters holding for 12 rounds.

“This is a fight that I’ve wanted. I’m coming to bring the upset.”

ANTHONY PETERSON, Lightweight Contender

“I’m excited about my fight, but I’m more excited about my brother’s. He gets to eliminate this so called ‘Boogey Man.’ I know that’s what’s going to happen Saturday night.

“My brother is a solid guy all around, inside and outside of the ring, so that’s going to make a big difference on Saturday night.

“My brother is going to take out his [Matthysse’s] power, and it’s going to be a big problem.

“Matthysse only knows how to go one way, and that’s forward. He doesn’t know how to work the inside and Lamont does, so that’s going to be the difference in the fight.”

ANTHONY OGOGO, 2012 British Olympic Bronze Medalist

“I’m really thrilled. This is why I wanted to sign-up with Golden Boy Promotions, to fight in places like Boardwalk Hall.

“I’m an ambitious young man and I want to get to the top of world boxing. I know that’s a few years down the road, but right now I need to take these opportunities as they come, learn and keep getting better and better.

“I’m looking forward to the future.”

DAVID ITSKOWITCH, COO of Golden Boy Promotions

“This main event is probably one of the best fights that can be made in a very talent rich weigh class.

“Lucas Matthysse is probably one of the most feared fighters on the planet and I think that’s one of the reasons Lamont Peterson wanted to fight him.

“Devon Alexander is a great fighter. That’s all that needs to be said because it is the truth.”

STEPHEN ESPINOZA, EVP & General Manager of SHOWTIME Sports

“During the past few weeks SHOWTIME has been showcasing the best fighters in the world in the 140, 147 and 154 pound weight divisions.

“We have been bringing fans not just competitive and exciting fights, but competitive and exciting fights from the biggest names and most skilled fighters in the sport. That is something that, right now, fans are only getting on SHOWTIME. This weekend is no exception.

“Lamont Peterson versus Lucas Matthysse promises to be one of the hardest hitting fights of the year.”

# # #

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.

Kelly Swanson
Thanks, everybody, for joining us. We are so excited, this Saturday, May 18 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for Lamont Peterson vs. Lucas Matthysse and Devon Alexander vs. Lee Purdy. And we’re really excited to have this conference call today. We have all four fighters available and we are going to start with Mr. Purdy and Mr. Alexander.

Before we get into their comments, I’m going to turn the call over to David Itskowitch, Chief Operating Officer of Golden Boy Promotions, to give us a little information about the fight.

David Itskowitch
Thank you, Kelly. As Kelly said, our main event, Lamont Peterson vs. Lucas Matthysse, which is a 12-round 141 pound welterweight fight, and our co-main event, Devon Alexander vs. Lee Purdy, 12-round IBF Welterweight World Championship fight for Mr. Alexander’s title, is Saturday May 18 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City, Corona, and AT&T.

We will be televising live on Showtime Championship Boxing beginning at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, meaning we’re delayed on the West Coast. Preliminary fights will air on Showtime Extreme at 7:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, delayed on the West Coast. And the fights will actually air immediately following All-Access Mayweather vs. Guerrero epilogue; which will start at 9:00 p.m. The event will be available using second audio programming in Spanish.

We still have tickets available starting at just $25. Ringsides are $250. We urge everybody on the East Coast, head to Atlantic City, available through the Boardwalk Hall Box Office and through Ticketmaster. Again, this is really, really, really a great show. The main event is one of the best fights that can be made around the 140 and 147 pound weight classes and then of course we’ve got a great world title fight with Devon Alexander and Lee Purdy.

A few notes about Fight Week-our final press conference will be Wednesday the 15th in New York City at Lucille’s Bar and Grill, which is inside BB King’s Blues Club in midtown Manhattan. Lunch begins at 12:30 p.m. and the press conference begins at 1:00 p.m.. And in Atlantic City on Thursday we have fighter roundtables beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Caesar’s Atlantic City in the Apollo and Zeus rooms and Lamont Peterson, Lucas Matthysse, Devon Alexander, Lee Purdy, Anthony Ogogo and Haroon Khan will all be available there.

Then we have our weigh-in, which will be open to the public, and it will in the lobby of Caesars Atlantic City beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. We urge everybody to come out. We usually have a pretty good turn out in the lobby of Caesar’s for our weigh-ins there. And then of course fight night is Saturday the 18at Boardwalk Hall. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. and our first fight also begins at 3:30 p.m.

Now I’ll introduce the fighters to say a few words. Before I get to Lee Purdy, I just wanted to acknowledge Eddie Hearn, the Managing Director of Matchroom Boxing, who we’ve been working with on several of our shows of late, working with his fighters and it’s been great working with them.

One of those fighters is Lee Purdy, who has amazed British boxing fans by sailing to the top of the welterweight division despite having no amateur career. He can get into that, but from what I understand he did not have a single amateur fight yet he has risen to be the number four-rated IBF Welterweight Contender.

He’s been a pro since 2006. He brings in a knockout streak into his first world title fight having finished off four consecutive opponents, including Cosme Rivera, who he defeated in March. He stepped up to take this fight after countryman Kell Brook was injured and was unable to participate and he’s looking to make his mark in the United States by upsetting Alexander on Saturday. He has a record of 23-1 (13 KO’s) from Colchester, England, Lee Purdy. Lee?

Lee Purdy
I’m excited for the fight. I’m ready. It’s about late notice but I’m in good shape and I’ll be dangerous for 12 rounds.

Itskowitch
Thank you. Now to say a few words, a young man from St. Louis, Missouri, the former IBF Junior Welterweight and WBC Super Lightweight World Champion, owns wins over Lucas Matthysse, Marcos Maidana, Juan Urango and Junior Witter. In 2012, he moved up to Welterweight and captured the IBF Welterweight World Championship by defeating Randall Bailey in October at Barclay Center.

On May 18 he finally makes the first defense of his new crown after several postponements due to injuries between him and Kell Brook. There were a couple of postponements and then finally Kell Brook fell out of the fight. But we’re ready to go on the 18 in Atlantic City. With a record of 24-1 (13 KO’s) Devon Alexander “The Great.” Devon?

Devon Alexander
Thanks, Dave. ‘Finally’ is the word. I’m finally going to get in the ring after about six months of going back and forth. I’m ready to rock and roll. I’m fast. I’m feeling strong. It doesn’t matter who I fight on the 18, Lee Purdy is a suitable opponent. I know he’s going to come to fight but it’s not going to matter because I’ll be ready for anybody May 18.

I want to thank Golden Boy Promotions, my team and everybody else for staying on it, staying on it and continuing to get the right opponent. You guys got the opponent and now I’m ready to rock and roll.

Itskowitch
Thank you, Devon. I guess now we can turn things over to the media for Q&A.

Q
This is a question, this is a little off the beaten path for Devon. That is in 2004 you were going for a spot on the Olympic team. A guy that you’re familiar with, Rock Allen, got it. I’m sure you’re probably aware that a couple of years ago he had that serious car accident and hasn’t fought since and apparently never will fight again.

Your thoughts on that and have you guys had any contact with him over the last eight or nine years? Are you a little disappointed maybe that there’s no possibility probably that either one of you will ever fight him as a professional?

Alexander
Rock Allen, I did hear about the accident. I had sent my condolences and a few interviews I did after the accident, after I heard the accident had happened. It is terrible that it did happen and that goes to show you how life can take a turn for the worst or the better. For his case, I think it did for the worst.

He beat me in the Olympic trial finals in 2004 when I was going up to try to go the Olympics. Of course I wanted to get that defeat back. I was anxious to get a gold medal but I lost to Rock Allen 16-16, and they went to the scoring and he threw one more punch than me and got a decision.

I always wanted to get that back but I’ve moved on from that and now this is a professional game. I have no attachments to that. I’m world champion now. As far me fighting him, I’ve been passed that.

Q
Okay, just a follow up question, this is for Lee Purdy. There are a few fighters, that are in the Hall of Fame, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, is one, that didn’t have any professional bouts. How much of a disadvantage was it, obviously you’ve overcome it, to go at the professional boxing with no aperture background?

Purdy
I did actually have amateur background. I only had the six when I was 11 years old but it doesn’t make much difference. I’ve put in the hard work over the last few years to get where I am today.

Q
Devon, I wanted to ask you about-like you mentioned in your opening remarks about sort of just the general ups and downs of having your fight with Kell Brooks scheduled and postponed I believe three times. Once because of an injury that you suffered with your bicep and then two times because of injuries that Kell had. And I just wanted to get your take or just your thoughts about just sort of the emotional roller coaster of thinking you’re going to fight and the fight gets cancelled because of your own injury, and then, his situation comes up.

How do you go back and forth from being in a hard camp to like maybe just easing up a little bit? I know how you and Kevin worked together to get to the point now where you have to change everything up and now you’re focused on a new opponent, Lee Purdy, who is a whole different kind of fighter than Kell Brook was. What’s that been like for you over the past, I guess, about, like you said, six months or so?

Alexander
As far as me fighting Kell Brook, it was a roller coaster going back and forth. He got injured, postponed it, then I got injured and then he postponed it again. Then he got injured again then we had to do something else.

So it was a roller coaster and it was very frustrating but I’m a firm believer in it’s going to happen when it’s supposed to happen. Everything happens for a reason. No mistakes happen. No mistakes happen and in boxing, whatever happens, it’s supposed to happen and I’m a firm believer in that.

I’m fighting Lee Purdy for a reason. He must be a suitable opponent. He must be the guy I’m supposed to be fighting at this particular time. So I wanted to fight Kell Brook because they consider him one of the best at 147. I wanted to beat him but they put Lee Purdy in front of me and now I’ve got to beat him.

Q
How is your bicep?

Alexander
My bicep is good. It’s good. Right after I injured my bicep I did therapy on it. I started doing immediate therapy. When I found out it was just a little tear in my bicep, I found that it was healable with therapy and going to the therapy every other day would help it and now it’s ready to go. I’m ready to rock and roll 100%.

Q
When you switched up opponents and you changed over from Kell-and you guys have been talking a lot of smack with each other, I guess, but Kell Brook and Lee, they’re in the same promotional group. How much do you know about Lee Purdy and if you’re able to beat his stalemate do you think it kind of sends a message to Kell Brook that you’re not to be messed around with?

Alexander
I’m a student of the game. When they say I was fighting Lee Purdy, immediately me and my coach and got on it and see what had to deal with because I’m a student of the game. I don’t take anybody lightly.

With that being said, I do want to make a-I want to send a statement to everybody at 147 that I am a force to be reckoned with and that’s what you’re going to see on fight night. I’m ready for whatever. I’m versatile anyway. It didn’t matter if they switched it up to whoever. I was going to be ready for May 18th. I saw all different type of styles, punchers, boxers, sluggers, whatever you name, I’ve seen it all and I’ll be ready for whatever he brings.

Q
All right, great, thank you, Devon. I have a question for Lee. Lee, it’s good to talk to you today. When this fight came up for you can you describe-because it kind of came out of left field, can you describe what your thoughts were when you were told, “Hey, I have an opportunity now to fight Devon for one of the world titles?”

Purdy
When you lace up a pair of gloves when you’re a young boy this is what you dream of and now it’s come true.

Q
What was it like for you when you heard? I guess was it Eddie Hearn that told you about it or was it somebody else that told you about it? What was your immediate reaction?

Purdy
It was my manager and I didn’t have to think twice about fighting Devon. Obviously I saw him fought before and then I believe I can cause him some problems.

Q
Who was your manager, by the way?

Purdy
Tony Sims.

Q
Tony Sims, okay. And how did he tell you? Just call you up and say, “Hey, Lee, we have this opportunity,” or did he say, “Hey, guess what? You’re getting a title shot?” I’m trying to get an idea of idea of what that conversation is like when it sort of comes out of nowhere and you’re not training for a world title fight and all of the sudden within a few weeks you’re going to be stepping into the ring with Devon Alexander.

Purdy
He called me up and he just said, “You’ve got to fight Devon for his IBF title because Kell Brook pulled out.” And I said yes straight away.

Q
But before you knew when the fight was, where the fight was, how much money you were going to be making, anything like that?

Purdy
Yeah, before I knew anything about money, where the fight was, I just said yes straight away.

Q
So what are your thoughts then about coming to America to fight this fight on a very big TV stage, at least in this country. I assume it’s going to be televised also back to England as well. Listen, I don’t think it’s any secret to say Lee Purdy comes into this fight as an unknown fighter in the United States, certainly as an underdog in this fight. You don’t seem like you have anything to lose and you sound confident. So what are your thoughts about coming here to try to take this title back to England?

Purdy
When me and Devon step into that ring it doesn’t matter where the ring is in the world. It’s the ring at the end of the day and Devon that’s going to be in front of me. I’m in great shape and I’m ready to put a big statement out there.

Q
Devon, I want to pick up on what you said. You want to leave a statement to the rest of the 147-pound division. Your last two fights, in fact your last three fights, but in your last two fights you impressively lost very few rounds, if any. And what do you think that says about your skills, number one, and number two, do you feel like you’re ready to step it up in terms of maybe getting a knockout?

Alexander
For sure, for sure. I’m comfortable at 147. I believe in my skill. I believe in my skill and a lot of people actually don’t give me the credit that I deserve and take me lightly and take me for granted, which is cool, which is cool. I’m going to continue to beat these guys. I’m going to continue to beat whoever they put in front of me.

Sometimes you’ve got to make people respect you and that’s what I’m going to do. I just got to continue to win, continue to stay in the gym, continue to learn, continue to progress and continue to step up my game in the ring. Fight better opponents. I’m looking to fight better opponents. I never shied away from any opponent. I’m just looking for the best. After this fight I want the best but we’ve got to deal with May 18th first.

Q
Okay. When you go back and you look at the Maidana fight, you came close to stopping him. In your estimation, is that true and if so why didn’t that happen?

Alexander
Yes, actually when I went to go look back at the fight I did like, “Damn, I could’ve stopped him,” but I was just so anxious to put a hurt on him. I wasn’t relaxed enough and just wanted people to know that Devon is back. At 147 I’m better; I’m stronger and I wasn’t as calm as I needed to be for me to see the knockout.

When I went back and looked at it I was like, “Wow, I could’ve hit him with this shot. Hit him with a fasts shot,” and it could’ve ended a fight, but the Maidana fight is over. I’m constantly learning. I’m smart in the ring. So I’m going to make up for that. There’s better things to come for Devon Alexander. I assure you that.

Q
Okay, so you’re saying basically you can pick up where you left off in the Maidana fight. If that opportunity presents itself against Purdy, who is a good puncher, solid puncher; like Dave Itskowitch was saying, has four straight knockouts, do you think that you’ve learned enough from the Maidana fight to compose yourself and finish off an opponent like that?

Alexander
For sure, for sure, for sure. It’s long overdue. Lee Purdy’s coming to fight. He’s hungry. He wants my title, but he’s just in the wrong spot right now, the wrong time, the wrong time for him. I’m in another lane. He’s in another lane, but my lane is going. If he thinks he’s headed for super stardom he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Q
Okay. My last question for you, when you say super stardom and bigger, better things would it be presumptuous of me to say you’re talking about Floyd Mayweather?

Alexander
Let me get past Lee Purdy first. We’ll talk about the future, but I want to focus on him first.

Q
Lee, since you accepted this fight, how much have you been able to go back and check out Devon’s last two or three fights, Matthysse, Maidana and Bailey, who are all three power punchers, and assess how he did against them given your propensity to knock guys out?

Purdy
I’ve watched him a lot. He holds a lot. I’ve come all this way to fight … he doesn’t allow the holding; it’ll be a good fight.

Q
How do you deal with a guy like him who obviously has taken advantage of situations using his boxing skills? Whether you say it’s the ref or not, how do you do what those three guys couldn’t do?

Purdy
I believe I’m stronger than the three other guys and I punch harder than then and it’s going to make for an exciting fight.

Q
Okay. So you actually think you have an advantage over the guys he’s faced?

Purdy
Yeah, mate, definitely. When he gets close to me of course he’s going to want to hold, but my strength, and I’m not going to stop punching until he lets go.

Q
Last question, I guess have you been able to talk to Kell Brook about Devon, since he’s your promotional stable mate? Have you been able to get anything from him? Do you talk to him much about what he was going to do against Devon, as far as scouting report?

Purdy
I haven’t spoke to Kell. Me and Kell have two different boxing styles. I couldn’t pick much off of Kell anyway.

Q
Hi, good afternoon, both fighters. I’d like to just wish both of you the best of luck Saturday night Atlantic City. Looking forward to seeing both of you in the ring. I just have a question for each guy. I’d like to start out with Devon.

Devon, you worked for a fight against Kell Brook for months and months and months after all the postponements that took place. Obviously Kell Brook was a bigger, higher profile fight for you than the fight you’ll have Saturday night.

So I guess my question is how do you guard yourself against a bit of a let down, given that you were expecting to be facing a little bit more of a higher profile opponent on Saturday than what you’re having? You’re also linked obviously via Twitter to a potential Floyd Mayweather fight not too long ago. So how do you guard yourself against a let down, given that this is not the fight that you were preparing for and probably not the fight you were expecting to have this Saturday?

Alexander
You don’t worry about. You don’t worry about. You have no control over what happens in boxing. Boxing, it changes every day. When you wake up you can hear something in one day; you wake up and it’s changed again. You just can’t let it bother you. You just have to continue to train, continue to do what you got to do for you and your team, getting your team together and just coming up with the best moves to make. That’s what I did.

I’m going to make the best fight we can for Saturday night and we got Lee Purdy. We have to handle business as usual. I wanted to fight Kell Brook but he was injured so we had to switch him to the side because we couldn’t worry about him no more. We had to move on because it would be going on six to seven months dealing with me and Kell. You couldn’t worry about it.

For the Floyd thing, it was just a Tweet everybody went crazy over. I was still focused on Kell Brook at the time. I wasn’t really tripping over Floyd because I had an obligation to fight Kell Brook.

As far as being let down, I’m not let down at all because I always stay positive. I’m a positive person and I believe everything happens for a reason. Everything happens on time. I’ll be ready for whoever, like I said, on May 18, and that’s Lee Purdy. So I’ll be ready for him.

Q
All right, thank you so much, Devon, and good luck to you in the fight on Saturday. Lee, I guess I have one question for you.

Lee, as a fighter who comes into this bout on Saturday, as I think some others have touched on, a relative unknown in the United States. We’ve seen this happen from time to time. A guy like yourself gets a call for a big fight, cashes it in and makes good on it and becomes the next big star in boxing.

Could you just tell us briefly, for those of us who have never had the opportunity to see Lee Purdy fight, who you are as a fighter, what type of fight you’re looking to bring on Saturday night and how you hope to impress the audience, not only here in America but back home, and bring that world title back to England?

Purdy
It’s a fight for as long as it takes. I didn’t come all this way to America to let the fans down. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to come in to fight and I’ll find a way to win.

Q
Okay, great, thank you, Lee. And again, thank you both guys and good luck to both of you on Saturday.

Q
Devon, how the postponement affected you, because sometimes fighters, a fight gets postponed due to injury maybe once and then a new date is made, but three postponements, two to Kell Brook and then one to you, how did that affect you mentally and also in your training regimen?

Alexander
It didn’t affect me mentally at all it was just frustrating. Frustrating that you training for this guy. You’re in a gym. You’ve got sparring partners flying in. You have all this going on and he pulls out again. Thinking a definite fight’s going to go on. We’re definitely on for May 18. It’s frustrating. But like I said, at the end of the day my team got together and said we had to move on and that’s what we did.

Now our full focus is on Lee Purdy. We’re 100 percent focused. We know he’s a tough cookie. He’s coming to take my belt and we’re 100 percent prepared for him. Like I said, I’m on a different level and I’d be ready May 18 for whatever he brings.

Q
What kind of changes do you see or differences do you see in Lee Purdy and Kell Brook as fighting styles and how did you have to adapt, since you were training for Kell Brook, in your training and then all of the sudden have to change everything for Lee Purdy?

Alexander
Like I said earlier, of course you had to change the game plan up a little bit, but I have saw every style there is in boxing. I have saw it. Whether it’s speed, slugger, whether it’s boxer, boxer/puncher, whatever, I done seen it. So it wasn’t that hard to adjust to what Lee Purdy will be doing, what we saw what he’ll be doing and it was just a flick of the wrist.

I think I’m talented enough to adjust to anything, any situation, any style they put in front of me. With all that said, it wasn’t that hard. My coach said it was Lee Purdy. My coach gets right on it. Started to figure the game plan out. That weekend he came up with the game plan and we already set it in motion. We’re ready.

Q
Devon, I know you were talking about the 2004 Olympic trials and your loss at that current time. How has a loss against Tim Bradley affected you? Do you see maybe a possible rematch with him in the future? Is that something that has kind of eaten away at you and something that you want to go forth and redeem?

Alexander
That’s a fight that’s just going to just have to happen with time because at this time he was Top Rank. I was Golden Boy. So I’m really not worried about the fight with Timothy Bradley because we’re on two different roller coasters.

But if it was to happen, I would love to make it happen if it was right, if the time was right and everything, if those pieces came together for it. But as of right now, I’m just focused on moving forward and becoming one of the best boxers at 147. So we’ll just see what happens in the future.

Q
All right, best of luck on Saturday night. Lee, my question for you is since you haven’t had like an amateur background, how do you think that’s going to affect you in a fight, especially against a top-level opposition in Devon Alexander?

Purdy
The amateur style is different to the program. We’re 12 rounds and it’s not all just about skills because in the amateur it’s three rounds. We’ve got 12 rounds in and it comes more to just skill. In the prior ring you need heart, you need power and you need your ability to get through a long 12-round fight and I believe I’ve got all of that in abundance.

Q
We’ve seen a couple fighters especially that haven’t had a great amateur background and kind of turned pro at a late age, kind of like Sergio Martinez, fighters in that class. Do you consider yourself in the same class as Devon Alexander? He says he’s going two different lanes. Do you see yourself in the same lane as him or do you see yourself better or do you see yourself on the same platform?

Purdy
Of course I’m on the same platform as him. I’m in position to challenge Devon’s title and come May 18I’m going to show the world what I’m all about.

Q
Good afternoon, gentlemen. This first question is for Devon. Your last time out against Randall Bailey wasn’t the most prettiest fight to watch. The crowd kind of got a little bit upset and booed a little bit. Do you feel this time that you’ve got to do a little bit more in the ring to kind of please the crowd and maybe kind of build that buzz for the bigger fights that you’re looking to get maybe down the road?

Alexander
Of course. I think everybody in the entertainment field wants to be entertained. This is boxing. You have to be entertaining, of course. I felt that at that time, being smart, that fight was about being smart and getting the title; getting the title and getting out of the ring with the title. That’s what I did.

In this fight, you have to be smart but you can do a little bit in this fight. I’m expecting an exciting fight because Lee Purdy’s exciting. He’s going to come to fight and I’m willing to fight too, myself. So it’s going to be a good fight May 18th.

Q
And then my next question is for Lee. With this being your first time fighting here in the States, what can the U.S. fans expect to see from you in this fight and what about Devon’s style do you think that you can expose during the fight?

Purdy
America’s going to enjoy my style. I’ve come to fight for three minutes of every round. They’re going to expect me to put pressure on Devon. Of course I’m not going to sit back and let him out box me. I’m going to put my heart and soul into this fight and come out victorious.

Swanson
Okay, I think that was the last call for these guys. Do you guys want to make one last comment and then we’re going to switch it over and put Lamont and Lucas on the line. Why don’t we start with you, Lee, if you want to say any last comments. Lee?

Purdy
No, that’s good, thanks.

Swanson
Okay. Thank you so much for joining us and we’ll see you this week. Good luck at the fight. Devon, for you?

Alexander
Thanks to all the media. Thanks to everybody that had the questions for me and see you Saturday night.

Swanson
Okay, all right, so both Lamont Peterson and Lucas Matthysse are on the line. I’m going to send it back to Dave Itskowitch to make the introductions for these fighters. Dave?

Itskowitch
Thank you, Kelly. Before I introduce Lucas to say a few words, I just want to acknowledge our co-promoter who we promote Lucas with and that’s Mario Arano from Argentina. I just wanted to acknowledge him before I introduce Lucas. As I said earlier in the call, this fight is really one of the best fights that can be made in and around the 140 and 147 pound weight classes. Lucas Matthysse is one of the most feared fighters in the game today, most notably because of his crushing knockout power, but I think he’s surprised many people with his boxing ability as well.

He bounced back from two controversial split decision losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, each in opponent’s hometowns to score five straight victories with all those wins coming by way of knockout. A lot of people that watched those fights believe that Lucas won both of them and should be undefeated right now.

In his last three fights, the 30 year old has torn through stiff competition defeating former three division world champion, Roberto Soto, then number one rated WBC Super Lightweight contender, Olusegun Ajose and top contender Mike Dallas Jr. He’ll be looking to stake his claim as one of the top ten best pound-for-pound fighters in the world this Saturday when he squares off against Lamont Peterson. He has a record 33-2 with 31 knockouts, from Trelew, Argentina, he’s been nicknamed by some media members “The Machine,” Lucas Matthysse.

Now I will introduce Lamont Peterson and I just want to acknowledge Barry Hunter of Headbangers Promotions, who’s also Lamont’s trainer and father figure. And I also want to acknowledge Cologne Hunter of Headbangers Promotions who’s an integral part of Lamont and his brother Anthony’s lives and has been for a very long time.

Most of you know Lamont rose from a very difficult childhood, being homeless on the streets of Washington D.C. He eventually went on to win the Unified 140 pound World Championship in front of his hometown fans in D.C., just a short ways away from where he was homeless a few years before that when he defeated Amir Khan in December of 2011

He’s currently the IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion. In his last fight he dazzled his hometown fans with an 8th round technical knockout win over former world champion Kendall Holt. We’re extremely pleased for him to be fighting under the Golden Boy Promotions banner for the first time in this fight. With only a three-month layoff, Peterson’s looking to capitalize on a quick turnaround when he faces one of the hardest punchers in the sport. He has a record of 31-1-1 with 16 KO’s, from Washington D.C., Lamont Peterson. Lamont?

Peterson
Training camp went well, it’s pretty much over. I’m anxious for the fight this weekend. I’m looking forward to it. It should be a great night of boxing, great for my career; great for the sport of boxing and everybody else that’s involved.

Q
Good afternoon, guys. The first question is for Lamont. I’m just wondering how do you see Lucas stacking up with the competition that you’ve had so far? Where do you rank him in terms of competition?

Peterson
Of course I’ll have to see this weekend, but as far as what I see on paper and on film, he’s right there with the rest of those guys, if not better. He’s a top guy. We’re fighting each other for a reason, because we’re two of the top guys that want a challenge and that’s what we’re going to do Saturday night.

Q
Do you think that he has greater punching power than perhaps some of the other guys that you’ve faced, like Holt or anybody like that?

Peterson
I’m not sure because I normally don’t worry about anybody’s punching power before the fight. I understand that it’s boxing and I’m going to get hit. So I just don’t worry about it. That’s something that’s a given. If I get hit hard or not, that really doesn’t make a difference to me. I’m willing to take any shot that anybody can give out.

Q
What did you get out of the fight against Holt? What did you learn about yourself in that particular fight?

Peterson
I really didn’t learn anything about myself that I didn’t already know. It was good to get back in the ring. It had been a while since I’d been in there and I just wanted to get in there and really get my feet wet again and that’s pretty much it-getting comfortable because I knew these big fights were going to be coming and coming fast.

Q
Lucas, do you think you have to go into this fight with the mentality that you have to get a knockout because you’ve lost so many tough decisions to top opponents of in championship caliber fights?

Matthysse
I’m not coming in with that mentality. I’ve been training a lot because i know that i am going up against a very experienced fighter.

Q
Do you think you’ll get a fair decision?

Matthysse
Yes, I’m not worried about that. I’m going to come out to do my work. I’m going to work just like I’ve been working hard for the fight and I believe the judges will give a clear decision.

Q
A couple questions first for Lucas. Lucas, can you give us an idea of when you realized you’d be able to be a fighter with great punching power? And how much confidence that gives you maybe if you’re behind in a fight where you know you can win it just with one good punch?

Matthysse
Early on in my career I found out that I had a good punch. I’ve obviously trained hard throughout my career to obtain that. And , yes, it gives me calm. It gives me a lot of confidence and I’m very calm in the fights because I know what the opponents are thinking about in order to land one punch they might get caught with one of my punches. So obviously it’s a great deal of confidence that I have because of my punch.

Q
Can you talk a little bit about kind of the pride you take in having as many knockouts as you have, is it something you wear as a badge of honor? I know you talked earlier about not approaching this fight thinking that you have to win by knockout, but what’s the pride level you take in knocking out your opponent?

Matthysse
Yes, there’s a lot of pride and there’s a lot of pride and obviously it’s one of the most important things in boxing, being able to knock someone out, something that’s very, very important to this sport. I feel a lot of pride and a lot of happiness.

Q
Lamont, we talked about your defense and how much pride you take in it. Going into a fight like this where you’re facing a guy that has potential for a one-punch knockout, is defense even that much more important for you? Will it be that much more important for you on Saturday night?

Peterson
I won’t worry about defense too much. I’ll just worry about-the only thing on defense I’ll worry about, just not getting hit clean and that’s always the case in every fight. Because at the end of the day, whether a person can punch or not, if the person can punch really hard and he hits you clean then yes, you’re going to go out. But even if the person can’t punch that hard, if he hits you clean you can go out. So I mostly concentrate on not getting hit clean and that’s what I’ll do in this fight.

Q
Lamont, again, against Holt you talked about how you were kind of measuring him up in the first couple rounds and then feeling him out and then you started, in the fourth round, taking over. Is that a strategy you think you may be employing again this time when you fight Matthysse?

Peterson
You’ve seen a lot of my fights. That’s kind of how I work or go about things. People can call me a slow spotter, but I guess that’s the case. I take my time. I figure things out and after a few rounds I start taking over.

Q
I have a question that’s a little bit of course. And that is Philadelphia’s like a one-hour drive from Atlantic City. You have a history in the amateurs with Rock Allen. You’re probably aware of the horrible automobile accident he was in a few years ago that ended his career. Have you had any contact with him over the last seven or eight years or at least since the 2004 Olympic trials? I was a little curious that both you and Devon, who were at the trials with him, being on this card as world champions. And the other thing is are you a little sad maybe that you won’t get a chance to resume your rivalry that you had with him in the amateurs as a professional?

Peterson
I haven’t been in contact with him since the amateurs. We were never one-it was kind of like a rivalry so we never really talked much. I talked to his father once or twice last year and he said that they were doing pretty good. He kind of gave me an update on him.

As far as the rivalry thing and the pros, I was looking forward to it but that’s life. You know how life goes. A lot of things that you want and that you’re expecting sometimes never happen. I just hope the best for him, for a full recovery. I heard he’s doing pretty well now. I’m sad that he’s not going to be able to continue his career because he really could fight and had a promising career, but the main thing is I’m happy that he’s alive and he’s healthy.

Q
One of the things, I think it was Dave Itskowitch that said at the beginning was that Lucas was one of these fighters that very few people really want to fight. You seem different than that, that pretty much within a couple of days after your victory against Kendall Holt or even maybe that day or the next day there was discussion that you would make this fight.

It was just a matter of working out the deal, but you and your team, Barry and everybody, seemed very anxious and interested to fight Lucas Matthysse. And I’m wondering what was it about Lucas that made you different than pretty much everybody else in the weight class that was running towards a fight with Lucas as opposed to away from a fight with Lucas?

Peterson
It was nothing about Matthysse that I saw in the ring. It was the media who said things like, “No one wants fight him.” I’m in a division, in the same division, when I hear things like that, that are not true, it kind of gets under my skin. I’m like, “I’ll fight anyone.” Not being angry or anything, it’s just the fact that I want to prove to everyone I’m the best at the weight class.

A lot of people, when you hear about the best in the weight class, they were saying his name. So of course that was the person that I wanted to fight to prove myself and to let people know that someone out here wanted to fight him.

Q
I’m also curious about this. Listen, it’s a great match up, as we’ve all talked about. This is not anything bad about it. I love this fight, but I am curious as to the reason why you both have selected to do this fight at 141 pounds when you both have belts-you have your IBF title. He has his interim title-and why it is not for either of those belts at stake? Could you talk about your take on that?

Peterson
With me I always thought that we were fighting for my belt. I wasn’t sure if we were fighting for his belt. But for the most part, that’s what I expected until a few weeks ago when it was said that it wasn’t. I guess at the end of the day I heard a few different stories. So when you hear a few different stories some of them are not correct and one might be correct.

But the main thing is you have two of the top guys fighting each other. To me, I won’t say belts don’t mean anything, but as far as where I’m trying to be in this sport and trying to be the best fighter at the weight class and possibly another weight class, those belts mean nothing-

Q
But the thing is, Lamont, you wanted-if it had been your decision solely…?

Peterson
I would’ve made 140 pounds easily and defended it, no problem, not one problem.

Q
Okay. Lucas the same question about the situation with title? My understanding is that you were the one that wanted to still have his interim title. So because the IBF, for obvious reasons, would not allow a unification between its title and an interim title you made the decision to hang onto the interim title to sort of maintain his mandatory status for the Garcia Title. Could you explain what your thought process was in making this a non-title fight?

Eric Gomez
I can answer that for you, if you’d like.

Q
I’d like to hear the answer and I’d also like to hear Lucas’ opinion.

E. Gomez
Okay. Well basically the IBF has a rule. The IBF has a rule and they do not allow or they do not recognize interim titles. So if Lucas was going to put his title in play they would not approve the fight. So that was a big obstacle for us. We all put our heads together and the best outcome would be to make the fight at 141.

Everybody knows that both guys are two of the top guys in the division. Everybody obviously recognizes that Lamont is the world champion. He won the title. It’s his title. And Lucas, he won his interim title. So because both organizations couldn’t come to an agreement, they talked amongst themselves. I understand the Mauricio from the WBC spoke to their people and then tried to work something out and they couldn’t come to an agreement so we all decided the best thing to do was to fight at 141.

Q
That with Lucas having the interim title that the idea of any interim title is to get a shot at a regular world title. That by getting this fight with Lamont he would be fighting for Lamont’s major world title and therefore the interim title wouldn’t really be necessary.

E. Gomez
Yeah, he obviously fought very hard and he paid the sanctioning fees to the WBC. So he wanted his belt in play.

Matthysse
Obviously an agreement couldn’t be reached for the title but I’m fine with it. I’m calm and I’m fine with it because everybody knows that this is an important fight. Whether there’s a title or no title involved, this is a very important fight. Two top guys fighting each other so this is an important fight, but I feel fine. I’m calm and it’s still a very important fight.

Q
Okay, and just one other thing for both guys. Lamont, your first, like Eric just said and Lucas said, a very important fight, a good fight in the weight class, two of the top guys, but having talked to Richard Schaefer from Golden Boy, he looks at this as having had Danny Garcia get his win against Zab Judah a couple of weeks ago and you two guys are going to go at it on Saturday. What he would like to do is take Garcia, who won the fight in April against Judah, and the winner of your fight on Saturday, be it yourself or Lucas, and make perhaps what could be even a bigger fight sometime in the fall, maybe September, between the winner of Saturday’s fight between you guys and Garcia to unify some of those titles. What are your thoughts about using this fight to get into that fight and then your thoughts about that match up possibly?

Peterson
I’m okay with any of those match ups. At the end of the day, those are some of the top guys in the division and to me that’s what boxing’s all about. Once you get to this level it shouldn’t be any more C class fighters. There should be top-level guys, top five. I don’t even want to say top ten. It should be the top five guys. And those are some of the names that are in the top five, in my book, so I have no problem with that lineup.

Q
So you like the idea of using this to get into a big fight with Garcia if you win Saturday?

Peterson
Yeah, yeah, I’m definitely okay with it.

Q
Lucas what are your thoughts about the winner of this fight getting a shot to unify with Danny, who’s through his half of the mythical bracket?

Matthysse
Yes, definitely, definitely, that’s what I want. I want that, if that’s the reason for this fight. I hope that everything comes out okay because yes, I would love to fight Danny Garcia.

Q
If I could just please start out with Lamont. Lamont, obviously you got the biggest win of your career when you upset Amir Khan and then you were out of the ring for an extended period of time before returning against Kendall Holt. So I guess my question for you, Lamont, is you know boxing as well as anybody does and it’s not just about winning fights. It’s also about being in the forefront of people’s minds when you’re trying to make fights and you had that extended period of time where you were out of the ring. So I guess my question is how important is it for you, on a big stage on Saturday night, to make an emphatic statement that not only is Lamont Peterson back but that he never was really gone to begin with?

Peterson
It’s very important. Every fight right now is important to me because you’re at the top level right now and every fight that you win, every fight that you’re in is a big fight and if you win that big fight you’re going to a bigger fight. I’m 29 years old now. So I’m, some people might not say this but, on the tail end of my career. I don’t plan on doing this much longer.

Everyone knows that in boxing a loss is a setback. So it’s important for me to go out and win for many different reasons. I’m still trying to bury that whole drug testing situation. People seem to forget very fast about how I performed up and to that Khan fight. And then after the Khan fight a lot of people were saying I need this and that and this and that. But people forget that I’ve already been a top fighter and I just want to get paid to go out and to prove to people that Lamont Peterson’s still a top fighter and a world champion.

Q
Just one more for you, Lamont, if you don’t mind. Obviously you haven’t stepped in the ring yet with Lucas, but everyone on the call and I’m sure yourself and your team are well aware of the reputation he brings into the ring as being a very, very strong power puncher. I know obviously you haven’t fought him yet and you’ll be better in position to answer this question on Saturday or even Sunday, but where would you rank him among the punchers you’ve faced in your career before him?

Like I said, he has that reputation as being a knockout artist, a very fearsome power puncher. So where would you rank him in terms of the punching power that you’ve seen in the past in your career and do you feel that he could present any sort of a problem for you come Saturday night with that power?

Peterson
Like you said, it’s hard to tell. I’d have to answer that question after Saturday night, but as far as from what I feel and think, he’s a strong guy and he can punch. It’s not the fact that-you have good punchers who don’t have good knockout ratios. I think the fact that he works hard and the fact that he gets a lot of knockouts, for the most part, the punching power, but a lot of times you can get power from just working, just knowing how to break someone down. I think that’s more the case with Lucas than anything.

Q
All right, thank you so much, Lamont, and again, the best of luck to you on Saturday night. I have a quick question for Lucas. It’s a little similar to the first question I had for Lamont in that Lucas, you have a reputation. You’re a big puncher. Lots of guys have seemingly gone out of their way to try and avoid fighting you for that reason. So my question for you is, given the fact that in the two losses you have in your career against Alexander and Judah, you knocked both guys down. There was a lot of discussion and debate over whether you truly deserved to lose those fights. And with your reputation of being an avoided fighter, how important is it for you to get a win on Saturday night, because if you lose it’s going to make it a little bit more difficult given your reputation to get another big fight like this? So how important is it for you Saturday night to make a statement against Lamont and establish yourself as a star in the sport that people can’t avoid?

Matthysse
Yes, it’s very important. Winning this fight on Saturday and doing it in big fashion is going to open doors. It’s going to open a lot more doors. So it’s very, very important. Probably the most important fight of my career. I’m looking for the big fights. I want the big match ups. We want the big names and it all starts Saturday.

Swanson
Okay, so that was our last question. Lucas if you want to say any last minutes comments before we let you go and then we’ll finish up with Lamont.

Matthysse
Great, thank you for the support, everybody, and it’s going to be a great fight on Saturday. Don’t miss it and we’ll see you there.

Peterson
I’m looking forward to Saturday night. I’m a boxing fan so the fight’s right there to make me excited even though I’m the one fighting. Just thanks for everybody’s ongoing support. DC will be in the house. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll see you on Saturday.

Swanson
Okay, great, thank you so much. Okay, that wraps up our call and we look forward to seeing everyone at the Fight Week activities and then again in Atlantic City this weekend. Thank you very much.
END OF CALL

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.

(Atlantic City, May 15) – Haroon Khan (1-0) will be starting his American adventure sooner rather than later as he takes on Vicente Medellin (0-5) on the undercard of the Lamont Peterson vs. Lucas Matthysse clash this weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The younger brother of former Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Amir Khan got off to a winning professional start in his debut fight against Brett Fidoe last month in Sheffield, England where he won a unanimous decision over four rounds.

The 22-year-old will now be showcasing his talents on Saturday, May 18 at Boardwalk Hall in a four round bantamweight clash against 25-year-old Medellin.

Time permitting, Khan vs. Medellin will be featured on SHOWTIME EXTREME® in the United States. In the United Kingdom, highlights of the bout or, time permitting, the bout in its entirety, will be shown as part of Sky Sports 1 HD’s coverage of the event on Sunday May 19 from 12.30 a.m. BST.

A 2010 Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist, Khan is ready for a tough encounter when he takes on the sturdy American and is looking to put on a dazzling performance in his second professional fight.

“I’m really pleased to be fighting on such a big card in the United States so early in my career,” said Khan. “Gaining this type of experience is really going to help me in my career and I’m thrilled to be given the chance to take part in this bill. It was great to get the win under my belt in my pro-debut fight last month and I’ll be looking to continue by winning in style against Vincente Medellin. He’s a tough, durable opponent, so I will need to be on my ‘A-game’ if I want to get the victory.”

Oliver Harrison, Khan’s trainer, said, “I’m pleased with how Haroon is progressing. He’s a talented fighter and has been putting in the hard work that is required of anyone who wants to make a big splash in the professional game. Each day he’s improving and getting better and this type of experience is only going to help him on as a fighter. We’re ready to go and can’t wait for fight night.”

Asif Vali of Khan Promotions, said, “It’s fantastic that we’ve managed to get Haroon on this card. We want Haroon to stay busy and to be fighting regularly on these types of shows. Making his debut on Amir’s bill in Sheffield last April and now to be fighting in the United States the month after on a world championship bill helps build a solid foundation to help him grow into the top level fighter we know he will become.”

British welterweight ace Lee Purdy will challenge Devon Alexander for Alexander’s IBF Welterweight World Title on the card, with London 2012 Bronze Medalist Anthony Ogogo also featured on the card.

ABOUT PETERSON VS. MATTHYSSE:

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).

In the United Kingdom the event will be televised live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Sunday 19 May at 12.30 a.m. BST.

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.

To return to aficionados’ better graces, Saturday Lamont Peterson must perform a stern act of contrition at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, one from which his career is unlikely to emerge intact: a visit to the crucible Argentine Lucas Matthysse makes of a prizefighting ring, a place of penance whence no prizefighter returns undamaged.

What Peterson confronted when he faced Kendall Holt in February is not nearly what will confront him Saturday. Matthysse has none of Holt’s regard for personal safety; Holt possess a certain frailty, like all power punchers, a certain possibility of discouragement that seems untroubling to Matthysse – who luxuriates in knowing that no matter the result, so long as he applies himself relentlessly, his admirers, both male and female, will applaud him because his opponent will be hurt. A scroll through Matthysse’s BoxRec entry since 2009 is instructive: “Castaneda down three times” / “Judah down in rd 10” / “Corley down twice in the 5th, once in the 6th and 3 times in each of the 7th and 8th rounds” / “Alexander down once in rd 4” / “Soto down once at the end of rd 5” . . . and those don’t include what five other prizefights Matthysse ended prematurely.

Lamont Peterson, a man whose persona was fabricated upon making people feel good about him (and in self-interest’s anfractuous way, good about themselves by projection), a man whose career was resurrected after he won cleanly perhaps two rounds, though officially even fewer unanimously, against Timothy Bradley 3 1/2 years ago, resurrected after a draw with flighty Victor Ortiz in 2010 and a surprise decision victory over fragile Amir Khan in 2011, has fought but once in 18 months.

This is because Peterson’s confirmatory B sample came back positive one year ago last week for a banned substance later obfuscated as a non-enhancing form of “bioidentical testosterone derived from soy” by a doctor in the medical-research hotbed of Las Vegas, where Peterson went to be diagnosed with hypogonadism, a condition that caused the testosterone levels of this muscular, fully bearded professional athlete to be so perilously low it “literally shocked” his esteemed physician. Peterson has been forgiven mostly by fans and certainly by the IBF, whose junior welterweight belt he will not defend Saturday, for a pretty simple reason: Fans don’t care about the use of PEDs because fans are paying to be entertained, and athletes who use PEDs are more entertaining than athletes who do not.

There is a parallel to be draughted, a parallel worthy of much greater investigation than it will receive here and now, between the painters of the Renaissance and the athletes of today. In his formative work, “Secret Knowledge,” a book whose study would replace entire art-history departments were academia a meritocracy, British artist David Hockney asserts the historic progression that painting undertook before and during the Renaissance was a technological leap first of all. Beginning most evidently with Jan Van Eyck’s 1434 depiction of a golden chandelier in “The Arnolfini Wedding,” painters employed lenses, which took nature’s camera effect – one first commented on by the ancient Greeks – and projected subjects’ likenesses on a screen, from which they could be traced, a practice that continued uninterrupted until, about 400 years later, chemistry replaced the artist’s hand with a process that became known as photography.

When a person visits, say, National Gallery of Ireland and beholds Caravaggio’s seminal 1602 work, “The Taking of Christ,” and proclaims to her peers, why, it looks just like a photograph!, she doubtfully knows how very right she is. Caravaggio, like Van Eyck before him, and Velazquez and Vermeer after him, fulfilled a demand for realism made by his patrons: the most realistic image wins, and the means of accomplishing such realism should be protected assiduously as the trade secret it is. As Hockney returned to the masterpieces of the last half-millennium and scrutinized them with the improved eye of a skeptic, so might sports fans return to the accomplishments of the last 30 years at least – the records that were set, the feats of theretofore impossible athleticism now routinely accomplished – and assume guilt, always, contrary to what generous impulses they otherwise assign themselves.

Boxing fans were for the most part angry at Peterson for getting caught, if we’re being honest: They wanted a rematch, and Peterson’s carelessness got that rematch cancelled. Sportswriters, meanwhile, were more enraged by the false piety of the spectacle – from the promoter’s self-aggrandizement to the Peterson camp’s ludicrous explanation to the way Peterson’s positive results aged the florid prose with which writers adorned the story of upstanding Lamont, brother Anthony and trainer Barry. Lance Armstrong, now famous for cycling, taught the unscrupulous world of professional athletics how to put the First Amendment on ice with well-placed lawsuits – and that was before every contributor had to “agree to indemnify and hold harmless” his publisher. Telling a reader his hero was a product of chemistry more than work ethic was ever thankless, long before writers were legally liable, as individuals, for doing so.

While it was possible for master painters to take the lessons taught them by lenses and evolve beyond them – Rembrandt and Velazquez certainly did, and Vermeer used them creatively enough to make their obvious use an artform of its own – such is not and will never be possible for athletes, men whose talents are eclipsed by years at the same ages others’ talents are enhanced by them. Lamont Peterson will not return to the form he showed in training camp a year ago, or probably the form he showed against Amir Khan, or probably the form he showed against Timothy Bradley, such as it was, when he fights Lucas Matthysse.

This is a fine turn for all but a handful of Saturday viewers, as the rest of us would like nothing better than ghoulishly to indulge what sadistic impulses delight at others’ subjections to pain – and all the better if a sense of justice can be invoked.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

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.

LOS ANGELES, April 30 – England’s Lee Purdy, the number four rated IBF welterweight contender, is set to face IBF Welterweight World Champion Devon Alexander in place of Kell Brook who had to withdraw from the May 18 bout against Alexander at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey after suffering a foot injury. The bout will be telecast live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® along with Lamont Peterson vs. Lucas Matthysse as the main event.

“We look forward to Devon facing a formidable opponent in the U.K.’s Lee Purdy,” said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions. “We have a great card for fans in Atlantic City and those watching at home on SHOWTIME and it will be an exciting night for everyone on May 18th.”

St. Louis’ Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KO’s) is a master boxer who has already won world titles in two divisions despite being only 25 years old. Alexander is the former IBF and WBC world title holder at 140 pounds, with wins over Lucas Matthysse, Juan Urango and Junior Witter to his name. In 2012, “The Great” made his move to welterweight and by the time he was finished defeating former World Champions Marcos Maidana and Randall Bailey, he was crowned the IBF Welterweight World Champion.

Fighting out of Colchester, Essex, Lee “Lights Out” Purdy (20-3-1, 13 KO’s) has amazed British fans by sailing to the top of the welterweight division despite having no amateur career. A pro since 2006, the 25-year-old brings a knockout streak into his first world title fight, having finished off four consecutive opponents, including longtime contender Cosme Rivera in March.

Peterson vs. Matthysse is presented by Golden Boy Promotions, sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City, Corona and AT&T and will air live on SHOWTIME at 9:15 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) immediately following ALL ACCESS: MAYWEATHER vs. GUERRERO Epilogue which will air at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. In the co-main event, Devon Alexander faces off against Lee Purdy for Alexander’s IBF Welterweight World Championship. 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 on sale now and are available for purchase at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

April 8, 2013 – I am pleased to announce that according to laboratory results I am not under suspicion of having taken a banned substance in connection with my bout against Lamont Peterson.

We have received an email from Dr. David Eichner, Director of the WADA accredited Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory that my results “do not suggest doping.”

As explained to me, “intact HCB” indicates the use of that banned substance. A confirmatory test reflected that I did not have “intact HCB” and thus doping was ruled out in my case.

There is an atypical finding for “non-intact HCB,” which, as explained to me, is naturally produced. That finding will be explored further by my physicians.

This explanation, too, was provided directly by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory located in Salt Lake City.

I requested a full WADA drug screening at the time of my bout with Lamont Peterson. Under the circumstances I am very glad that I did because it not only provided protection against drug cheating but also alerted me when I finally got the proper information of the need for further medical testing.

I look forward to returning to the ring at 147 lbs.

ATLANTIC CITY, April 8 – World championship boxing returns to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday, May 18 with a SHOWTIME® CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader featuring IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Lamont Peterson facing hard-hitting WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse in a 12-round welterweight bout and the rescheduled IBF Welterweight Title showdown between Two-Division World Champion Devon Alexander “The Great” and undefeated British star and number one rated IBF welterweight contender Kell “The Special One” Brook.

Peterson vs. Matthysse and Alexander vs. Brook are presented by Golden Boy Promotions, sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City, Corona and AT&T and will air live on SHOWTIME at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). 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, go on sale on Wednesday, April 10 at noon ET and will be available for purchase at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

After more than a year out of the ring, Lamont Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KO’s) picked up where he left off in February, dazzling fans in his hometown of Washington, D.C. with an eighth-round technical knockout win over Kendall Holt. Coupled with his Fight of the Year win over the Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Amir Khan in December of 2011, it’s clear that Peterson has staked his claim as one of the premier 140-pound fighters in the world. All of this is even more impressive when one considers that Peterson spent part of his youth homeless on the mean streets of Washington, D.C. On May 18, the talented boxer-puncher will put that recognition on the line against one of the most feared fighters in the sport at a catch-weight of 141 pounds.

The junior welterweight who has struck the most fear into the hearts of his peers, Trelew, Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s) bounced back from two controversial split decision losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, each in his opponent’s hometowns, to score five straight victories, with all of those wins coming by way of knockout. His losses to Alexander and Judah were so controversial, that many boxing insiders still consider Matthysse, who has recently been nicknamed “The Machine,” to be undefeated. In his last three bouts, the 30-year-old has torn through stiff competition, defeating former Three-Division World Champion Humberto Soto, then number one rated WBC super lightweight contender Olusegun Ajose and tough contender Mike Dallas Jr., setting the stage for the thunderous punching WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion with a 94% knockout ratio to stake his claim as a one of the top ten best pound for pound fighters in the world.

A technical wizard with speed and finesse in the ring, St. Louis’ Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KO’s) is a master boxer who has already won world titles in two divisions despite being only 25 years old. Alexander is the former IBF and WBC world title holder at 140 pounds, with wins over Lucas Matthysse, Juan Urango and Junior Witter to his name. In 2012, “The Great” made his move to welterweight and by the time he was finished defeating former World Champions Marcos Maidana and Randall Bailey, he was crowned the IBF Welterweight World Champion. On May 18, he makes the first defense of his new crown after two postponements of his originally scheduled showdown with Brook.

England’s latest unbeaten sensation, the popular Kell Brook (29-0, 19 KO’s) has mowed past all opposition placed in front of him over the last eight years. After winning the British WBO intercontinental and IBF international welterweight titles, he’s ready for his close-up on the world stage. With 2012 wins over Matthew Hatton, Carson Jones and Hector Saldivia, the talented 26-year-old from Sheffield has proven he has the talent, style and determination to justify his number one rating.

For information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/kingpete26, www.twitter.com/DAlexandereal, www.twitter.com/SpecialKBrook, www.BoardwalkHall and www.twitter.com/SHOsports, follow the conversation using #PetersonMatthysse and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing.

Washington, DC (March 28) – Contrary to earlier erroneous media reports,
Lamont Peterson did not fail a post-fight drug test following his successful IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship defense against Kendall Holt on Friday, February 22 in Washington, DC. In fact, Peterson tested negative for all banned substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Full Menu as well as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and luteinizing hormone (LH).

“We are very pleased that there has been clarification that Lamont Peterson did not test positive for any banned substances as reported inaccurately earlier today,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Today’s incident exemplifies the importance of accurate fact checking prior to reporting news. Golden Boy Promotions looks forward to Lamont Peterson’s next fight and furthering his career.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, IBF Jr. Welterweight champion Lamont Peterson will defend against tough Lucas Matthysse on May 18th at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. Showtime will televise

“Lamont called him out, so it shows you how confident he and (trainer/manager) Barry Hunter are,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. “Lamont had no problem fighting Matthysse, and right there in the ring after his last fight, he called him out. Lamont Peterson and Lucas Matthysse will fight anyone. Matthysse wanted to fight (unified titleholder) Danny Garcia, but he is busy with the fight with Zab Judah (on April 27), so we asked him about fighting Peterson. Matthysse said, ‘Line him up.’

“For Peterson to have a victory against one of the most avoided guys in boxing, that would be big and definitely make a big statement. The same goes for Lucas Matthysse. He’s been waiting for an opportunity to show he is ready to take on and win against an opponent like Lamont Peterson.”

Previously set for the card is the rescheduled co-feature between welterweight titlist Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KOs) of St. Louis and mandatory challenger Kell Brook (29-0, 19 KOs) of England. Alexander-Brook was originally supposed to take place Jan. 19 in Los Angeles, but when Brook injured his ankle in mid-December, the fight was postponed until Feb. 23. Then it was postponed again when Alexander suffered a right biceps injury.

“With Peterson and Matthysse and Alexander-Brook, this is championship boxing at the highest level,” Schaefer said. “You have two great matchups in two of the hottest weight classes, and if you asked 10 experts to pick the winners, you’d probably have half pick one guy and the other half pick the other guy.”

“Matthysse’s first choice was somewhere in Southern California,” Schaefer said. “As much as I can appreciate that, the fight belongs on the East Coast with Peterson being from Washington, D.C., so the site was a stumbling block. Mario really didn’t want to go again into an opponent’s hometown. It was like a psychological thing. Matthysse feels like he did enough to beat Devon and Zab and got the short end of the stick.

“I brought up Atlantic City, which is pretty close to Washington, D.C., and was able to convince Mario that this is neutral territory and I was able to convince Barry also to get out of Washington but go to a place not too far away so Lamont’s fans can come to the fight. Ultimately, they agreed (Thursday) night, and now I think you have one of the best fights you can make in the sport.”

Lamont Peterson retained the IBF Jr. Welterweight title with a eighth round stoppage over former beltholder Kendall Holt at the DC Armory in Washington, DC.

Holt came out boxing well over the first three rounds. Peterson started ti get his motor running as he started walking down Holt and dropped him with a big overhand right in round four. Peterson started applying intense pressure that had Holt backing. A big combination on the ropes hurt Holt in round six and it was cleaned up by a big right hand that sent Hold to the canvas for a second time.

Peterson was relentless and landed some hard combinations in round seven and he then finished things off in the eighth with a devastating flurry on the ropes and referee Tony Weeks stopped the bout at 1:42 of round eight.

Peterson, 139.6 lbs of Washington, D.C. was fighting for the first time in fourteen months after testing positive for synthetic testosterone is now 31-1-1 with sixteen knockouts. Holt, 140 lbs of Paterson, NJ is now 28-6.

Roman Morales scored a fifth round stoppage over Jesus Hernandez in a scheduled eight round Jr. Featherweight bout.

Morales boxed well and got out to an early lead lead over the first three rounds. In round four, Morales scored a knockdown from a right habd just before the end of the frame. Morales ended things with a perfect left to the body that sent Hernandez down for referee Malik Walid’s ten count and the bout was over at 2:59 of round five

Morales, 122 lbs of San Ardo, CA is now 15-0 with eight knockouts. Hernandez, 121 lbs of Riverside, CA is 10-1-3

The February 22 edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra will feature an IBF Title fight between current Junior Welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) and former Junior Welterweight titlist Kendall “Rated R” Holt (28-5, 16 KOs) in the 12-round main event. Friday’s show from Washington, D.C., will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, and will be available online through WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app. The card will also air live on ESPN Deportes+, the new digital extension of ESPN Deportes, and will air tape delayed on ESPN Deportes at 10:30 p.m. The card is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.

Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside at the D.C. Armory describing the action for ESPN2 HD, while studio host Todd Grisham (@GrishamESPN) will be on site presenting the latest boxing news and highlights. ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael will also be on site providing analysis of each bout. Alex Pombo and Delvin Rodriguez will call this week’s fights for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights) with Leopoldo Gonzalez and Pablo Viruega in the studio. Bilingual reporter Bernardo Osuna (@osunaespn) will present live interviews and reports for both shows.

Main Event:
Peterson, the home town favorite, enters Friday’s fight with big fight experience, having fought current and former titlists Amir Khan, Victor Ortiz, and Timothy Bradley Jr. He won a 12-round split decision against Khan in his last fight to win the IBF Junior Welterweight title.

“The game plan against Kendall Holt is to stay busy,” Peterson said. “He really doesn’t try to fight the whole three minutes of each round. He kind of picks and chooses when he fights, so we just plan to keep him working and wear him down.”

New Jersey’s Holt is looking to build momentum after a second-round TKO win over Tim Coleman. “Lamont’s a good fighter,” he said. “One big difference in this fight is that none of the pressure is on me – I’m not fighting at home, it’s not my championship title. All the pressure’s on him and that pressure builds up in a person’s mind. He may come out there and try to impress the crowd and if he gets a little overanxious or a little overzealous. It could be an early night for him.”

Co-Feature:
Friday’s eight-round co-feature will pit undefeated Junior Featherweights Roman Morales (14-0, 7 KOs) against Jesus Hernandez (10-0-3 2 KOs). Morales is coming off a fifth-round knockout win over Jose Iniguez, while Hernandez is looking to rebound from a six-round draw against Edwin Solis.

Follow ESPN’s Friday Night Fights on Twitter @ESPNFNF or like it on Facebook. Follow ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates on Twitter @ESPNBoxeo. Also score the fights round-by-round with the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the ESPN FNF Facebook page that allows viewers to score the fight round-by-round.

— 30 –

February 11, 2013 – Former WBO Light Welterweight Champion Kendall Holt (28-5, 16 KOs), is in deep preparation for his upcoming world title bout against current IBF champ, Lamont Peterson (35-1-1, 15 KOs). The 12-round main event takes place at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. on February 22, 2013. The show titled “REDEMPTION” will broadcast live on ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m PT and is co-promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and Headbangers Promotions.

Holt is no stranger to big fights and he’s well prepared to give the fans their money’s worth when he steps in the ring on February 22nd. After an eleventh month layoff, Holt vows to come out victorious as he weighs in on his training camp.

Kendall Holt on training with Jesse Reid…
“Right now I’m feeling real good about my progress with Jesse Reid during this training camp. He pushes me real hard and that’s what I need to be successful in this fight. I’m on weight and I’m looking extremely great in sparring. Jesse is a great trainer and I’m working harmoniously with him.”

Kendall Holt on training in Los Angeles…
“I’ve come out to L.A. for this training camp for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to get away from the some of the distractions that sometimes get in the way when I train at home. Second I wanted to spar with top level sparring partners and L.A. is loaded with great talent.”

Kendall Holt on sparring…
“I’ve been sparring with some of the best in Shane Mosley and Lucky Boy Omotoso who are giving me great work. Everyone out here in L.A. brings rough and rugged sparring that I’m going to need to get ready for Lamont. Words can’t describe how grueling it is training with these guys but that’s what’s going to get me to the top.

Kendall Holt on coming off an eleventh month layoff after shoulder surgery…
“My shoulder is 100% healthy and I feel fantastic. The explosiveness is there and I’m punching harder than ever. Now that I’m back punching at full strength, I feel more confident in my ability to back up my opponents. I feel like a whole new man.”

Tickets priced at $250, $150, $75, $50 & $25 (not including applicable service charges), are on sale now at all Washington, D.C. Ticketmaster locations . To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com.

February 11, 2013 – IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) continues to prepare for his first title defense and fight in 14 months as he takes on former WBO Light Welterweight Champion Kendall Holt (28-5, 16 KOs). The 12-round main event takes place at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. on February 22, 2013. The show titled “REDEMPTION” will broadcast live on ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m PT and is co-promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and Headbangers Promotions.

Lamont Peterson talks about his first title defense and fight in 14 months and dispels the notion of ring rust….
“To me it feels great to get back into the ring and defend my IBF title. The layoff did not hurt me because I’ve been in the gym training like I was going to fight for the past year,” said Peterson “I don’t believe in ring rust a fighter fights and that’s what I do. But one good thing with the time off is that I have been able to rest my body and work on fine tuning my skills. I’m ready to fight now.”

Lamont Peterson on training in Washington, D.C….
“For a lot of fighters having training camp at home can be a major distraction. But for me its the total opposite. I like training at home I know where everything is. I don’t have problems getting back and forth from the gym my routine is regular. I also have the help of family friends during the training camp if I need anything. But I’m also a very self disciplined individual, so at the end of the day, it really would not matter where I trained.”

Lamont Peterson on sparring…
“We have brought several different fighters into camp to work with. But I have done the most work with Dominic Wade a middleweight who is fighting on the card at the Armory. He is a heavy puncher who has a lot speed and power. So its been great to get the work in with him.”

Lamont Peterson on fighting at home in Washington, D.C…..
“I always like fighting here at home. Early on in my career I did not get a chance to do so. Any opportunity I get to fight here we take it. I love the support I get from the fans and the city. Washington, D.C. is a big fight town and I want to give them the great show they expect. It also helps to hear the voices of your friends and family cheering you own.”

Tickets priced at $250, $150, $100, $75, $25 (not including applicable service charges), are on sale now at all Washington, D.C. Ticketmaster locations . To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com.

WASHINGTON, DC, January 28 – Golden Boy Promotions is pleased to announce the signing of IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Lamont Peterson, adding another 140-pound title holder tothe most elite roster of fighters in the sport of boxing.

“We are thrilled that Lamont Peterson will be joining Golden Boy Promotions’ team,” said President of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya. “We know firsthand what Lamont Peterson can do, as he’s been in the ring with our fighters Amir Khan and Victor Ortiz. We know that he is the kind of individual that will be an asset to our team and great competitor in the 140-pound weight class.”

“I am excited about signing with Golden Boy Promotions and the opportunity to work with them again,” said Peterson. “Being with Golden Boy really gives me the chance to make the best fights available in my weight class. I want to fight the best in the world at 140 [pounds] and I know it can happen as a member of the Golden Boy team. I am optimistic that this is a decision that will help further my career.”

An inspirational figure who, along with his brother Anthony, won the Boxing Writers Association of America’s Perseverance Award in 2008 for surviving a harrowing childhood to make it to the top of the boxing world, Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit.” A native of Washington, DC, Peterson and his brother were homeless for a time before finding salvation in the sport of boxing when they were young. Trained and mentored by Barry Hunter, Peterson thrived as a fighter, eventually winning numerous titles during a stellar amateur career. When he turned professional in 2004, the success continued with Peterson eventually winning the WBO Junior Welterweight World Title in 2009. He would lose the belt later that year to Timothy Bradley, but after going unbeaten in his next three bouts, Peterson got a shot at Amir Khan in December of 2011 and he made the most of the opportunity, defeating Khan and capturing the WBA Super and IBF 140-Pound World Championships in one of the best fights of that year.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com; follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, or visit us on Facebook at Golden Boy Facebook Page.

Washington, DC (January 28, 2013) – Tickets for “REDEMPTION: Peterson vs. Holt” go on sale today, Monday, January 28th at 1:00 p.m. EST. Championship boxing’s return to our nation’s capital has created a buzz among sports fans ready to see, IBF Junior Welterweight Champion, Lamont Peterson defend his title against former WBO Junior Welterweight Champion Kendall Holt on Friday, February 22nd at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. In addition, this fight marks the first bout in fourteen months and title defense for Peterson as IBF Champ.

“REDEMPTION: Peterson vs. Holt,” a 12-round Junior Welterweight World Title Fight for Peterson’s IBF World Championship Belt taking place Friday, February 22, 2013, at the DC Armory. The fight titled “REDEMPTION”, is co-promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and Headbangers Promotions and broadcast live by ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights beginning at 9 p.m. EST.

Tickets priced at $250, $150, $100, $75, $25 (not including applicable service charges), go on sale Monday, January 28th at 1:00 p.m. and will be available for purchase at the DC Armory box office and all Washington, D.C. Ticketmaster locations . To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com.