Danny Garcia is the boxing equivalent of a scrambled Rubik’s Cube: a tricky puzzle to solve.
Lamont Peterson has been training for Saturday's fight against Danny Garcia since October.
He’s a fighter with few glaring weaknesses, which his next opponent, Lamont Peterson, sees as a clear strength.
But not for Garcia—for himself.
“Throughout my career, I have an easier time fighting well-rounded guys like Danny Garcia, honestly, because I’m a well-rounded fighter,” Peterson explains. “I can fight different ways, different styles.”
This is Peterson's task at hand: attempting to turn what would seem like a disadvantage on paper—Garcia's lack of obvious vulnerabilities—into his favor.
The undefeated Garcia, who Peterson meets Saturday in Brooklyn, New York promises to be an especially tough challenge. Get the full details on Garcia vs Peterson.
Garcia posesses a strong all-around game posited on poise, flashes of power, a high boxing IQ and a grittiness long associated with his native Philadelphia, you know, the city whose sports fans once hurled snowballs at Santa Claus and batteries at the opposition during Phillies and Eagles games.
“Danny’s not great in one area, but he’s good in a lot of areas,” says Barry Hunter, Peterson’s longtime trainer. “The thing I like about him is that he has a very, very good will to win and he’s beaten the odds several times. In Lamont’s case, though, he’s that athlete who has a variety of skill sets that he brings to the ring.”
Peterson has been honing these skill sets since October, enduring an especially lengthy training camp.
“This camp was a little longer than most because I didn’t know when I was fighting, who I was fighting, I was just being told it was a big fight and to stay ready,” Peterson says. “I was ahead of the game a little bit and had to slow down, just to let everything add up as far as my weight goes. I never felt like I was drained in training camp, but of course I had to take a few days off and make sure that I don’t overdo things. As always, I enjoy it.”
Having grown up watching boxing on TV since he was just 5 years old, Peterson says that’s he particularly enthused to be fighting on network television.
It’s the biggest stage for his biggest fight.
“I’m really excited and humbled by this whole thing,” he says. “I just want to make sure that I take advantage of this opportunity. This is a big step forward for boxing.”
