A decrowning in D.C.
Peterson wins Khan's lightweight belts amid controversy

Ringside by Gary" Digital" Williams and Tri Nguyen
Photos by Mike Greenhill

Add Lamont Peterson’s 12-round split decision victory over Amir Khan to the list of great championship bouts that were controversial in nature.

The two championship-caliber boxers put on a fight-of-the-year caliber performance that thrilled the 8,467 in attendance at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC and a world-wide television audience on HBO in the United States and Sky Sports in England.

Khan’s hand speed and maneuverability set the tone for the first two rounds. Peterson seemed to have trouble catching up to Khan which led to a right hand dropping Peterson midway through the first round. Peterson eventually regrouped and by the third round was starting a solid body attack that paid heavy dividends.

At times, Peterson’s body shots made Khan hang on to Peterson to keep from following. By the midway point in the bout, Peterson was adding solid uppercuts to his arsenal to get Khan off of him.

The first turning point in the bout came in the seventh round when referee Joe Cooper deducted a point from Khan for pushing. This seemed to let Peterson back into the fight as it negated the 10-8 round won by Khan in the first round. Peterson took full advantage of the opportunity winning three of the next four rounds on the scorecards of judges George Hill and Valerie Dorsett. Judge Nelson Vasquez gave rounds 9-11 to Khan.

Then came the 12th round and Cooper’s gutsy move to take another point from the now-former champion for pushing. While many would have liked to have seen the boxers decide the bout, Cooper, known as a take-charge type of referee in Beltway Boxing circles, made the call without hesitation. The infraction turned a round that all three judges thought Khan won into a 9-9 round that made the ultimate difference in the scorecards. - G.D.W.

Mitchell blows out Ibragimov

Americans have waited a long time for a legitimate heavyweight contender. They may have found their man.

Ever since Riddick Bowe retired, there have been numerous imposters and media-hyped fighters vying for that increasingly rare title of American Heavyweight Champ only to see them crumble on the big stage. Seth Mitchell put on a dazzling display of ferocity and skill by destroying Timor Ibragimov in impressive fashion at the Convention Center in Washington DC on Saturday night.

Mitchell (24-0-1, 18 KOs), from nearby Brandywine, MD, opened the bout cautiously, laying the groundwork with probing jabs. Neither fighters pressed the action but Ibragimov (30-4-1, 16 KOs) established his longer reach. The second round saw Mitchell press forward with a strategy that trainer Andre Hunter had put into place.

“We knew we had to stop his right hand, so once I neutralized that, it was pretty much an easy night for me. I kept catching him with my right, and my left hook stunned him, and he was a sitting duck for my right hand."

That right hand landed repeatedly for Mitchell for most of the second round. Ibragimov was stunned on two occasions, the last one resulting in the stoppage by referee Malik Waleed at 2:48. Ibragimov put up a mild protest and asked “Why did they stop the fight? I'm OK. He didn't even hurt me. Of course he landed some shots, but I was all right. I'm fine. I could have kept going. There was no point to stop the fight.”

Seth Mitchell now moves to the top of the list of heavyweight contender. “I think 3 or 4 more fights and I will be ready to challenge one of the Klitchskos, maybe in 2013,” said Mitchell. “They don’t have the most entertaining style but you have to respect them.”

But for American fight fans eager to recapture heavyweight glory of years past, they have something to get excited about. As the saying goes, the heavyweight division is a good barometer of the health of boxing. With the Klitcksko brothers entering the twilight of their careers, Seth Mitchell is primed to assume the mantle. - T.N.

Undercard

Lamont Peterson’s brother Anthony (31-1, 20KO’s) scored a one-sided decision over faded former title challenger Daniel Attah (26-9-1, 9KO’s) over 8 rounds. All 3 judges scored the bout a shutout for Peterson at 80-72. Attah had no answer for the crisp combinations that Peterson unloaded on him over the duration of the fight, but showed a lot of heart as he was able to hang in for 8 rounds, but had no answer for anything Peterson threw at him.

Undefeated lightweight Jaime Kavanagh and Ramesis Gil fought to a 6 round draw. In a fight that most thought Kavanagh would win, Gil gave Kavanagh all he could handle for 6 rounds, and traded equal bombs with Kavanagh who had to deal with a cut in the corner of his right eye that bled for most of the fight. Scores of the bout were 58-56 for Kavanagh, and 57-57 on the other 2 cards. With the draw, Kavanagh stays undefeated at 8-0-1 (3), while Gil now has 1 less draw than he does wins, at 6-3-5 (5).

Light Heavyweight Thomas Williams destroyed Reynaldo Rodriguez inside 2 rounds to improve to 6-0 (4). The end came 56 seconds into the second round with a straight left hand that put Rodriguez out cold on the deck. Rodriguez drops to 6-3-1 (4).

Fresh off his upset loss to Grady Brewer, Fernando Guerrero put himself back in the win column with an impressive 5th round TKO over a very game Robert Kliewer. Guerrero was in control of the entire bout, scoring with combinations throughout. Guerrero knocked Kliewer down in the 4th round, and twice in the 5th. The final knockdown came as both fighters threw at the same time, but it was the left hand of Guerrero that got there first, knocking Kliewer out cold 45 seconds into the round. Guerrero improves to 22-2 (17), while Kliewer drops to 11-14-2 (5).

17 year old Dusty Harrison improved to 3-0 (1) with a first round TKO of Terrell Davis (0-5). The welterweight dropped Davis 3 times in route to the stoppage. Time was 2:46.

Lightweight Joshua Davis improved to 2-0 (1) with a 4 round unanimous decision over Chris Russell (2-7-1 1KO). All 3 judges scored the bout 40-36.

In a fight that went on about 20 seconds longer than it needed to, Lightweight Terron Grant improved to 2-0 (1) as he pummeled Dashawn Autry (0-2) into submission at 1:10 of the first round.

Ringside Notes

Other Khan-Peterson notes: A number of personalities were spotted in the crowd. All four Beltway Boxers who shared world titles at the same time in 1996 – Sharmba Mitchell, Keith Holmes, William Joppy and newly-elected International Boxing Hall of Famer Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson -- were there along with number one ranked heavyweight contender Tony “The Tiger” Thompson as well as Adrian “The Problem” Broner. Also in the crowd was Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin.

Peterson is the first DC boxer to win a world title in his hometown since Holmes and Johnson did the feat on the same card in April of 1999 at the MCI (now Verizon) Center. Holmes defeated Hacine Cherifi to win back his WBC Middleweight title while Johnson won a decision over Ratanachai Vorapin to capture the IBF Super Flyweight title.