So about Last Night, Two great fights, some confused fans and one great night for boxing. Being inside the Barclay Center for the fights last night is an amazing experience and gives even causal fans a different understanding of the sport. Premier Boxing Champions has to be happy with the quality of product each fight delivered. Luckily for fans that couldn’t attend the fights they were aired live on NBC. And NBC is seeing the benefit as ratings doubled. Even my mom tuned into NBC for the PBC fights. She thought Peterson and Quillin won each fight.
Peter Quillin and Andy Lee fight was battle 12 rounds that became almost a brawl at the end. Garcia and Lamont Peterson was a fight, Lamont was able one round away from stealing the win.
Andy Lee vs. Lamont Peterson
Originally this fight was for the middleweight title but Quillin didn’t make weight on Friday allowing Lee to retain the title regardless of the outcome. Still with no title on the line, this fight was fantastic start to finish. Coming to the ring the crowd inside the arena was electric for Andy Lee, almost forgetting that Quillin was the boy from Brooklyn. Quillin started the fight as if he had a chip on his shoulder. Through the first 5 rounds Quillin managed to knock down Lee twice. Lee footwork and legs looked very shaky going into the 6th. Lee corner must have told him that he needed to go on the attack to get back into. Through the first 6, Quillin was leaving himself open for counter from Lee but Lee wasn’t able to take advantage. That was until the 7th when Lee was able to knock down Quillin with a right. That knockdown gave Lee new confidence. Lee went on to win the next 4 rounds, making a great comeback from the 2 early drops. The 12th was 2 boxers just going at it, exchanging combos. Both boxers seem to understand that they needed to win the round to win the match. This was a great 12 round match of boxing. Andy Lee said Thursday that he doesn’t have boring matches and he surely didn’t have a boring match. In the end Lee and Quillin battled to a draw, Surely setting up a possible rematch and for the title. Andy Lee and Peter Quillin could have went another 12 and we’d be happy.
Danny Garcia vs. Lamont Peterson
Garcia vs. Peterson was equally as great a match. Despite Garcia trying to blind us all with the neon green/yellow Nike’s. Peterson started slow, seeming more content with letting this go 12 rounds and being the judges decision. Keep in mind Garcia stated at the last presser that he was going for the knockout so this might have been Peterson strategy. Through 6 rounds Peterson had done more dancing around the ring then making contact with Garcia. If you’re going to dance around you have to show activity to give the judges something to value against. In round 7 Peterson seemingly hit a switch and came out the corner aggressive. Garcia couldn’t break away from aggressive shots of Peterson. Peterson kept moving towards Garcia, putting Garcia against the ropes and attacking. Peterson easily won rounds 7,8,& 9 heading into round 10 the more controversial round of the fight. Peterson was again the aggressor but some taunting allowed Garcia to steal a few shots. By the 12th round Garcia was completely gassed, but still manage to maintain some activity to keep the round close. This fight too, goes to judges decision. First judge scores a draw 114-114, second and third judge score 115-113 for Danny Garcia. Giving Danny Garcia the win by split decision. The judges rewarded activity of Garcia, Garcia kept activity to not lose the rounds to badly and stole some rounds after building up the lead through 6 rounds. Peterson lost the first 6 rounds by not having enough activity to maybe steal a round.
