Lamont Peterson: Getting Knocked Out is Just Part of the Game

It takes lots of courage, and a short memory, to forget a half-ton of force jostling your brain against your skull and twisting your neck like a corkscrew. But for world champion Lamont Peterson, the recent third-round knockout he suffered at the hands of Argentine brawler Lucas Mattysse was just a day on the job.

“A boxer, you get hit good, you could get hurt and you could get knocked out,” Peterson explains. “That’s just part of the game and something that I have to accept and just move on.  I have, and I’m just focused on Danny Garcia.”

Lamont Peterson will continue his comeback when he takes on Danny Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 11. The fight is part of Premier Boxing Championship’s double-header that airs live on NBC (8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 pm. PT).

“It was a good feeling to get the chance to fight Danny Garcia,” Peterson said in a recent media conference call. ”He’s considered to be the best guy at the weight class.”

Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs) comes to the bout off a late-round tko victory over Edgar Santana in June 2014. The Santana fight followed a win over Dierry Jean and Peterson’s loss to Lucas Mattysse. 31-year-old Peterson’s only other loss was in 2009 to Timothy Bradley.

“It’s all about how you prepare for a fight,” said Peterson. “I just know that right now, I just feel like it’s my time and right now I just feel like all the setbacks from the Matthysse, the losses and things like that, you learn from them.  I feel like right now everything is put together at the perfect time, and I’m confident everything is right on line and in position.  Everything is real great and can’t wait until April 11th.”

After eight years in the pros, and big-name matchups against the likes of Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan, the ever-stoic Peterson does not feel intimated by the spotlight of a primetime television event. The Washington D.C. native prefers to focus on his opponent and the task ahead of him.

“This is boxing,” Peterson said. “I’m really not worried about anything.  That’s just my personality; that’s just me.  At the end of the day, Danny’s a champion, he’s a top fighter.  We’ll go in there and we’ll fight.  No worries.  No pressure.  I’m just a person who loves to fight, and I’m happy to be fighting Danny Garcia.“

In his previous fight, unified super lightweight champion Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) pummeled an overmatched Rod Salka on his way to a second-round kayo in June 2014. Prior to the Salka mugging, 27-year-old Garcia had squeezed by Mauricio Herrera with a majority decision, and outpointed Lucas Mattysse.

Despite having defeated the very opponent that stopped Peterson in 2013, Garcia knows better than to look past his next opponent.

“[Peterson’s] faced great opponents, he’s faced great fighters too,” the undefeated Garcia said. “I think stylistically this is going to be a great fight, and it’s big for my legacy, so I’ve got to go in there and make sure I go in there and hand him my business.”

In the co-feature of the evening, middleweight Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KOs) defends his WBO World middleweight title against Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs).

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