Matthysse hammers Peterson, Alexander beats Purdy
Lucas Matthysse (34-2) stopped Lamont Peterson (31-2-1) in three brutal rounds on Saturday night at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Matthysse knocked Peterson down once in the 2nd round and twice more in the 3rd, getting an easy victory over one of the top fighters in the light welterweight division.
Peterson used a lot of movement in the opening round and was able to elude most of Matthysse's big shots. The distance between the two fighters closed in the 2nd round, and Peterson began to complain of Matthysse hitting him behind the head while on the inside. Late in the round, Matthysse nailed Peterson with a hard right hand that knocked him backwards. Moments later, Matthysse dropped Peterson with a left hook that landed on the top of Peterson's head. Peterson was able to get up and survive the round despite getting hit with some big shots.
In the 3rd round, Peterson and Matthysse threw left hooks at the same time with Matthysse getting there first resulting in Peterson hitting the deck. Peterson staggered back to his feet but was badly hurt. Matthysse then finished him off with another big left hook that dropped him, the fight was then halted by the referee.
In the co-feature, IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (25-1) easily dominated Lee Purdy (20-4-1) before the fight was halted after the 7th round.
Alexander put together a combination of hooks and uppercuts for seven rounds until Purdy's cornerman Darren Barker had seen enough.
Alexander said he hurt his left hand in the 1st round. Though he still threw it on ocassion, it was his right hand that tore into Purdy. He punished Purdy with right hooks to head and body. Alexander's speed, technique and punch output were so much greater than that of Purdy.
Purdy had come in as a late replacement for Alexander's original opponent, Kell Brook, who suffered an injury in training camp. The short notice might have been one reason why Purdy had difficulty making the welterweight limit for this fight, coming in a pound over at Friday's weigh in and then failing to drop down to 147, checking back in at 147.8. It didn't matter that Purdy wouldn't have been able to win the belt that Alexander captured last year against Randall Bailey - Alexander wasn't going to let him.
"I wanted to impress tonight," said Alexander. "My left hand was on point in camp. When I hurt my (right) biceps, that strenghtened my left. It would of been popping real hard, but I hurt it, so I had to set it up softly."
Purdy had taken tremendous punishment, and when he returned to the corner after the 7th, his corner asked referee David Fields to stop the fight.
"I knew this was a big opportunity and that the weight would be a big problem, but to have the opportunity to fight a great fighter like Devon, I couldn't turn it down," said Purdy. "I would of stayed in there until my legs wouldn't work anymore. I'm just devastated."
Up next for Alexander could be a December 7 defence against former light welterweight titlist Amir Khan, who was ringside to scout Alexander and to watch his younger brother Haroon Khan on the undercard.
"If Amir wants it, he can have it," said Alexander. If Floyd (Mayweather Jr) wants it, he can have it. I want to fight the best."
Other results on the card:
Anthony Peterson TKO 2 Dominic Salcido
Shawn Porter UD 10 Phil Lo Greco
Cesar Seda UD 8 Miguel Tamayo
Thomas Williams Jr UD 8 Otis Griffin
Anthony Ogogo UD 6 Edgar Perez
Haroon Khan KO 1 Vincente Medellin
Rau'shee Warren TKO 4 Angel Carvajal
Robert Easter TKO 2 Eduardo Guillen
Jamel Herring TKO 1 Victor Galindo