When
undefeated Jr. Welterweight contender Dierry Jean entered the ring to challenge
IBF Jr. Welterweight world champion Lamont Peterson on January 25th in
Peterson’s hometown of Washington D.C. there may have been some who considered
the Haitian born Canadian based contender a favorite to win the title. The
basis of that may have been largely based on Peterson’s knockout loss in his
last fight at the hands of top contender Lucas Matthysse in May of last year in
what was a non-title fight. The punching power of Matthysse was too much for
Peterson on that night as he was dropped three times before the fight was
stopped in round three. It was the first knockout loss for Peterson in his
career.
An argument
could be made by some that, despite Peterson’s knockout loss he was after all
the more experienced of the two fighters. Jean who although earning a number
one ranking in the International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) and also being
recognized as a number one contender by the World Boxing Council (WBC) for a
period of time had not been significantly tested. This observer has been on
record in stating that I disagreed with those who were of the opinion that
Dierry Jean had not been tested in his career prior to his title shot against
Peterson.
As I have mentioned
in previous columns in covering Dierry Jean’s last two fights prior to his
encounter with Peterson against Juan Jesus Rivera and Cleotis Pendarvis ; Jean had been
tested against fighters such as Lanardo Tyner, Francisco Lorenzo, and Ivan
Cano. Following his knockout win over Cleotis Pendarvis, this observer said that it was my belief that Jean was ready
to take on the elite of the Jr. Welterweight division. Jean faced a fighter in
Peterson who has proven to be an elite player in the division having faced many
of the best the division has to offer including current Welterweight world
champion Timothy Bradley, Kendall Holt, Amir Khan and, the aforementioned Lucas
Matthysse among others. This fight was
Dierry Jean’s first opportunity on the elite level not just in the Jr.
Welterweight division, but of the elite level of the sport, where discussions
regarding the world’s best pound for pound fighters are commonplace.
The fight began at a tactical pace with
both fighters being able to have periods of effectiveness in rounds that were
not necessarily easy to score. It was apparent very early on that there may
have been a healthy difference of opinion as to the scoring of some of the
rounds. Lamont Peterson’s lateral movement complimented his jab and combination
punching as he was the more active of the two fighters for much of the fight.
Dierry Jean however, seemed to have an edge in terms of power. When he was able
to let his hands go, particularly during periods where he was able to get off
first, he kept Peterson somewhat defensive when he was able to land his right
hand to set off spurts of offense. Although both fighters had periods of
success throughout this fight, Peterson was the fighter who was able to dictate
the pace.
Gradually as the fight progressed,
Peterson’s quick hands and combination punching took control. Peterson had a
well-balanced attack as the fight went on in landing to the body and head of
Jean. Peterson’s lateral movement was also a focal point during this fight as
he was able to pick his spots by being aggressive and consistently backing Jean
up while at the same time using his lateral movement to deflect much of Jean’s
offense. Simply put Lamont Peterson’s Boxing ability in being able to outwork
Dierry Jean while being solid defensively was the story in this fight. At the
end of the twelve round championship bout, I had Peterson winning eight rounds
to four for a score of 116-112.
Although Peterson was able to take
control particularly in the second half of this fight, Dierry Jean did give a
good account himself as he was competitive throughout. The main difference in
this fight at least in my mind was Peterson’s combination punching being able
to carry the pace, while Jean although able to be effective in spurts, was not
able to land combinations consistently nor was he able to stop Peterson’s
pressure as the fight went on. Peterson clearly showed in this fight that his
outing against Lucas Matthysse could be considered a bad night at the office as
he showed no ill effects in this fight against a dangerous opponent in Jean. An
argument could be made that this twelve round decision win for Peterson was
perhaps one of the best performances of his career, particularly after coming
off of what was a devastating knockout loss against Matthysse.
Despite suffering the first loss of his career
Dierry Jean proved that he is a player in the Jr. Welterweight division. Jean
was not disgraced in his fight and one might argue that the loss to Peterson
may benefit him in the long-term. After all, not every fighter who becomes a
world champion does so without suffering in defeat along the way. This could be
looked at as a setback, but more importantly as a learning experience for a
potential future world champion. A good example would be Lamont Peterson who
lost to Timothy Bradley in his first attempt at a world championship. Since that fight Peterson has become not only
a world champion, but also one of the best fighters in the world. Whether
Dierry Jean can also rebound to potentially become a world champion remains to
be seen. It will be interesting to see who Jean will fight next in the talent
deep Jr. Welterweight division, but it would not surprise this observer to see
him put in against another top contender perhaps the likes of Selcuk Aydin or
maybe someone like former longtime Lightweight world champion Paul Spadafora
who recently also suffered his first defeat. Both of these fighters present an
interesting fight for Jean that will generate interest.
As for Lamont Peterson, it is logical to
assume that a potential unification fight with WBC/WBA Jr. Welterweight world
champion Danny Garcia could well be looming on the horizon. If a fight with
Garcia is not in Peterson’s immediate future, the most logical opponent at
least in this observer’s eyes would be a rematch with Lucas Matthysse.
Matthysse, who lost a hard fought battle against Danny Garcia last September is
likely looking for a marquee fight to get back in the mix for a potential
rematch with Garcia.
A rematch between Matthysse and Peterson
does however, present it’s own intriguing storyline. The obvious storyline of
whether or not Peterson can avenge his knockout loss to Matthysse. If a rematch
between the two can be made with the winner likely to face Danny Garcia, it
will likely present a very lucrative situation that can benefit all three
fighters. One might argue that a potential total unification of the Jr.
Welterweight division in the form of a four-man box off between Peterson,
Matthysse, Danny Garcia, and WBO champion Ruslan Provodnikov would be more
lucrative. Such a scenario however, seems unlikely in my eyes due to the
current political landscape of the sport with rival promoters and networks
seemingly at a stand off which may prevent the concept of total unification from
taking place.
Nevertheless as has been the case for
many years the Jr. Welterweight division remains one of the most talent rich
and competitive weight classes in the entire sport. Regardless which scenario
transpires all will provide excitement and enjoyment for the Boxing world.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered
trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
No comments:
Post a Comment