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Showtime ShoBox Recap

"No Excuses"

July 5, 2008

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino-Las Vegas, Nevada

Junior Welterweight (140 pounds) 10-Round Match:

Lamont Peterson (24-0, 11 KO's, 141 pounds) vs. Rogelio Castaneda, Jr. (24-13-3, 8 KO's, 141 pounds)

Peterson had a good amateur boxing career. He won the United States National Amateur Championship at 141 pounds in 2003.

The Washington, D.C. native has been involved in a recent controversy with his management. Lamont and his brother, Anthony Peterson, recently signed with Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotion. Each brother received a $100,000 signing bonus. However, their manager never read the contract, and filed a $300,000 claim in the court of arbitration to block the deal. Their manager said he had a deal in place with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions that would have paid the brothers double the signing bonus they received from Top Rank, and had them debut on the undercard of the De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes match at the Home Depot Center on May 3. Instead Anthony debuted for Top Rank with a lackluster showing on a little viewed Versus card on June 26. Lamont is debuting for Top Rank on this event, that starts at 11 PM Eastern Time. This has all made the brothers' decision to sign with Top Rank very curious.

The Memphis, Tennessee resident's last match was a dominant 10-round unanimous decision victory over Antonio Mesquita on January 4, 2008 at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Peterson is unranked by The Ring magazine, but the number 34 ranked boxer at 140 pounds by boxrec.com.

Castaneda has lost 3 of his last 4 matches with all of the matches making it to round 10. It appears Castaneda is here to lose to Peterson, but last several rounds in the match.

The Sacramento, California resident's last match was a 10-round unanimous decision over Ubaldo Hernandez on October 19, 2007 at the Feather Falls Casino in Oroville, California. That match was a rematch of a match on April 12, 2007 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, where Hernandez beat Castaneda via 10-round unanimous decision.

Castaneda is unranked by The Ring at any weight class, but ranked 81 at 147 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 24-years-old, Peterson is 7 years younger then the 31-year-old Castaneda. Castaneda has a slight height advantage standing 5' 9.5" tall, while Peterson stands 5' 9" tall. Peterson has the reach advantage with a 74" wingspan, compared to Castaneda's 72" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, Castaneda is reported to have added a lot of weight rehydrating and is probably the heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. Two of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Nevada and the other is from Florida. The referee is Russell Mora.

Peterson shows too much speed for Castaneda to win round 1 easily, 10-9. However, Peterson is dodging some punches from Castaneda, by shifting his head and body back awkwardly in a manner that does not allow Peterson to move were a second punch to follow the first as part of a combination. Castaneda may not have the speed or power to exploit that weakness, but better boxers at 140 pounds will make Peterson pay for that technical mistake. Peterson is too fast for Castaneda and dominates round 2 winning it, 10-9. Castaneda is failing to punch back frequently, and being hit with ease. Castaneda will need to do something in this match quickly or the referee may stop this match early, even if Castaneda is not knocked down. Peterson wins round 3, 10-9. He spent a lot of round 3 fooling around and playing to the crowd. Unfortunately, Peterson was not working this crowd very well and they were not receptive to his antics. They are looking for a quick stoppage and his preening is going to frustrate them, rather then make him a bigger star that will draw more money. Peterson leads on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-27. Nick Charles, doing play-by-play of this event for Showtime, and Steve Farhood, Showtime's color commentator for this event, both have Peterson ahead after 3 rounds, 30-27.

With over 1:30 to go in round 4, Castaneda has been cut below his right eye. It should play no factor in this match. Peterson had Castaneda in trouble in the last 30 seconds of round 4, but the Sacramento resident lasted out the round. Peterson wins round 4, 10-9. Big round 5 for Peterson. The referee was taking a close look at Castaneda in the opening minute of the round, and again, with about 1 minute to go in the round. However, Peterson did not punch himself out going for the knockout and kept up a deliberate pace. Round 5 is going to be scored for Peterson, 10-9. After 5 rounds, Peterson has yet to sit on his stool between rounds. In the corner between rounds he stands every time, frequently not even leaning on the ropes to rest. Conversely, Castaneda at this point is staying on his stool until the bell rings to begin the next round to get as much rest as possible between rounds. Peterson wins an uneventful round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, Charles, Farhood, and my scorecard all have Peterson ahead, 60-54.

Peterson wins round 7, 10-9. At one point in the round, Castaneda was taking numerous punches from Peterson without punching back and the referee was thinking about stopping it. However, the referee let it continue, because there is very little power on Peterson's punches. After a few seconds of standing there and being hit, Castaneda recovered to punch back. If Paulie Malignaggi is Floyd Mayweather, Jr. "light", then Peterson is Malignaggi "light". Peterson solidly wins round 8, 10-9. The Washington, D.C. native had Castaneda in real trouble starting in round 2, however he has never picked up the pace to try and finish this match. It appears Peterson almost slows down when he has the opportunity to finish the match. Then with 1:14 to go in round 9, a right hand out of nowhere hits Castaneda behind the right ear, and sends him to the canvas face first, as if a tree fell on him. Castaneda successively answers the referee's count for the match to continue with 1:02 to go in the round. With around 15 seconds to go in the round this match is over. Castaneda's corner threw in the towel with their boxer taking punches in a corner. Castaneda was still coherent and able to defend himself, but he had taken too many punches in this match for it to continue.

The official outcome of this match from the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that: at 2:50 of round 9, upon the request of the corner the referee has stopped the contest, making the winner by technical knockout and still undefeated, Lamont Peterson. The win moves Peterson to 25-0 with 12 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Peterson's performance in this match was okay. Peterson is hoping this match will springboard him into a title match against the winner of the main event. However, Peterson is not at the level of a top 10 boxer in the 140-pound division. Peterson is ready to challenge someone in the 11-20 contender spots, not for a title. This was a glorified sparring session, not a statement victory that proves Peterson is ready for a title match. Peterson might be ready to challenge for a title in late 2009 or 2010.

Castaneda was outclassed in every way in this match. His defense was poor. He was unable to match the power of a boxer with little power. Castaneda's speed deficiency in this match was revealed in the opening minute. He appears to be the perfect opponent for young prospects looking to go rounds against a safe opponent. Castaneda will likely continue to do that for good money for the rest of his boxing career.

This match was average and a fairly easy skip.