By Bill Phanco: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is reporting that he has ironed out a deal for a fight between Golden Boy fighters IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KO’s) and WBC interim light welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s) on May 18th at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. Also on the card is IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander defending title against #1 WBO Kell Brook.
The Matthysse-Peterson fight had been briefly talked about taking place in Peterson’s home city of Washington, DC, where it would have had a better chance of drawing a large gate due to Peterson’s huge popularity there. However, Matthysse, who has already been on the receiving end of two controversial decisions in the past in losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, reportedly wasn’t interested in fighting in Peterson’s hometown and risking being on the receiving end of a third controversial decision.
Having their fight staged in Atlantic City will definitely mean a much smaller gate due to none of the fighters coming from East coast, but at least Matthysse and Kell Brook will be happy that they’re not going to be fighting in the home city of their opponent.
The winner of the Matthysse vs. Peterson fight will face the winner of the April 27th fight between WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah. This is the tournament that Schaefer has set up with the eventual winner facing the winner of the April 27th fight between Amir Khan and Julio Diaz. Khan is considered the big gate attraction, which is why he doesn’t have to do the same heavy lifting that Garcia, Judah, Matthysse and Peterson have to do in order to get to the finals. The odd thing is Khan hasn’t proven to be a ticket seller in the U.S or who draws huge ratings on HBO and now Showtime.
Matthysse is going to be a huge handful for Peterson because of his power and size. Matthysse is a much different type of fighter compared to Peterson’s last two opponents Kendall Holt and Amir Khan. Peterson stopped Holt in the 8th round last month. Before that, Peterson hadn’t fought since being Khan in December 2011 in a close 12 round split decision win.