Preview: Lamont Peterson vs Dierry Jean, Mikey Garcia & More

Photos by Tom Casino for Showtime

by Gautham Nagesh

After a slow start to 2014, boxing kicks into high gear this weekend. There will be total of five shows on national TV this Friday & Saturday, plus assorted other shows across the country.

Of most interest to our readers is the Saturday night Golden Boy Promotions show at the D.C. Armory, headlined by Lamont Peterson vs. Dierry Jean (above) at 140 lbs. We’ll be ringside for the card, which also features Gabriel Rosado vs. Jermell Charlo in an intriguing crossroads fight, while the undercard is stacked with local prospects.

But that’s just the start. HBO has a show at Madison Square Garden on Saturday headlined by Mikey Garcia vs. Juan Carlos Burgos at 130 lbs. Local light heavyweight Thomas “Top Dog” Williams Jr. will headline on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights tomorrow, while NBC Sports Network and Fox Sports 1 will also bring us shows from Atlantic City and Indio, Calif. on the same night.

Full previews and predictions after the jump:

Lamont Peterson vs. Dierry Jean (Showtime): The two televised fights on this card are classic crossroads match-ups, before the term was applied to every bout between an aging fighter and a young upstart. Credible writers believe the French Canadian Dierry Jean is very good, but the tenth-ranked junior welterweight has never fought anyone with the credentials of Lamont Peterson. Jean is mostly an unknown quantity in the U.S., so this fight offers him an opportunity to announce his arrival as a top contender at 140 lbs.

Peterson hasn’t fought since getting blown out by Lucas Matthysse in three rounds last year. He remains one of the top fighters in his weight class, but there’s no denying that Peterson has more to lose on Saturday night than Jean. A win would put him in contention for a shot at junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia, which is probably the biggest fight for Lamont at present. A loss might reduce him to the status of gatekeeper at just 30 years old.

Lamont may be coming off a loss and almost eight months of inactivity, but we would caution against writing him off. Peterson rebounded well from his first loss to Tim Bradley, and he tends to stay in the gym consistently, whether he has a fight coming up or not. Jean would have to box superbly to get a decision in Lamont’s hometown, or show the kind of dynamic punching power that Matthysse used to overwhelm Peterson. We don’t see it. The pick is Peterson on points after 12 rounds.

The co-feature is another great fight, as Jermell Charlo (above) and his twin brother Jermall are considered two of the brightest prospects in boxing. The pair are expected to eventually challenge Canelo Alvarez for supremacy at 154 lbs, but first Charlo must conquer a formidable challenge in the form of Rosado, far from his hometown of Houston.

“King” Gabriel Rosado (below) is on a bit of a slide, having lost his last two of his last three fights (a third loss against J'Leon Love was originally a loss but overturned after Love tested positive for a banned diuretic). Rosado is a warrior though, the kind of fighter fans love to cheer for because he never stops trying to win. One year ago, we would have picked Rosado to pull the upset. But the Philly fighter has been through some wars, and Charlo is improving quickly. Expect Jermell to win a close decision.

The rest of the card is stacked with top local and Golden Boy prospects, including Largo, Md. super middleweight Dominic Wade, three-time U.S. Olympian Rau'Shee Warren, and local super middleweight D'Mitrius Ballard, who will be fighting in his backyard for the first time as a professional. Get there early, and come say hello.

Mikey Garcia & Juan Carlos Burgos photos by Top Rank

Mikey Garcia vs. Juan Carlos Burgos (HBO): As has become common of late, HBO will carry a competing card from New York at the same time on Saturday. The main event between Mikey Garcia (above) and Juan Carlos Burgos (below) should make the winner the top fighter at junior lightweight. However, that’s not saying much because 130 is one of the sport’s weakest divisions.

Garcia has the look of a future star, and his promoter Top Rank appears to be rushing him through the weight classes in hopes of matching him with Manny Pacquiao this year. I’m not a huge fan of the idea, mostly because it seems like an attempt to keep star power in-house rather than a rational match-up of two comparable fighters.

Garcia is apparently not interested in waiting for potential opponents to emerge near his natural weight, but Adrien Broner just demonstrated the danger of a much-hyped young fighter being moved up in weight too quickly. Then there’s the issue of Burgos, no pushover himself. Juan Carlos has just one loss, to Hozumi Hasegawa in 2010, but he is coming off back-to-back split draws. He should challenge Garcia, but Mikey feels like the real deal, and should pull off the late win.

Chief support will come from heavyweights Bryant Jennings and Artur Szpilka, which has sleeper potential for fight of the night. Jennings is probably the best American heavyweight prospect this side of Deontay Wilder, while Szpilka got off the mat to stop Mike Mollo in the 5th round of a thrilling fight in Chicago last August. Szpilka had some visa problems last week, but they were eventually resolved and the Polish heavyweight should be ready for Saturday night.

This is a pick-em fight, but we’ll give the slight edge to Jennings on points. The typically late-arriving crowd at MSG might want to get there a little early to get a look at unbeaten prospects Jesse Hart, Felix Verdejo, and Seanie Monaghan on the undercard.

Thomas Williams Jr. vs. Cornelius White (ESPN): As if your DVR weren’t full enough, there are three competing shows on Friday night, so someone is going to miss out. It won’t be Ft. Washington, Md. light heavyweight Thomas “Top Dog” Williams Jr., who we’ve been following for several years now. Williams’ career has been gaining momentum recently thanks to a string of solid wins, a couple of which were televised.

Beating Cornelius White of Houston in the main event tomorrow night on ESPN would be another step in the right direction for Williams, the son of a former local heavyweight contender of the same name. White has been stopped in both his losses, to Don George and Sergey Kovalev. If Williams can do the same, it would help make him a name in the deep 175-lb weight class. Featherweights Rico Ramos and Jonathan Arrellano square off in the co-feature.

Photo by Rich Graessle for Main Events

The rest: Fox Sports 1 will broadcast unbeaten Mexican junior welterweight Antonio Orozco against Miguel Angel Huerta, who has fought only once since 2008 (a loss). The card also features Detroit junior middleweight Cornelius “K9” Bundrage and 2012 U.S. Olympian Dominic Breazeale…NBC Sports Network will be the third channel televising boxing tomorrow night, a Main Events card from Atlantic City headlined by Curtis Stevens vs. Patrick Majewski (above) at middleweight. Both men are coming off losses and hoping to get back into contention at 160 lbs. Chief support is a very attractive cruiserweight battle between Thabiso Mchunu vs. Olanrewaju Durodola. Both fighters have one loss, and the winner would be a player at 200 lbs.