Recapping Capital Showdown and the Shocking Results of Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson:
Last night in Washington D.C., boxing fans got treated to an excellent main event on the Capital Showdown card televised on HBO, as Lamont Peterson captured Amir Khan’s junior welterweight titles via Split Decision to the delight of his D.C.-based fans. Now it’s time to make sense of it all and see what it means for Khan, Peterson, the other fighters involved in the card and the rest of the boxing world as well. Take a look at these 7 takeaways from the Khan vs. Peterson results, as well as special ringside Khan vs. Peterson video highlights, pictures from fight night, and more.
Khan vs. Peterson Video Highlights
Khan vs. Peterson Pictures
View the entire gallery of Khan-Peterson pictures here
Top 7 Quickfire Khan vs. Peterson Takeaways
- Point Deductions: Peterson took home a Split Decision with scores of 113-112, 111-114, and 113-112, (ProBoxing-Fans.com had the fight scored for Khan 113-112) and Khan had two points deducted during the bout. Both seemed to be premature, one for pushing, and the other for hitting on the break, which came in the 12th and final round and ultimately changed what would have been a Majority Draw into a Split Decision for Peterson. Without either point deduction, Khan would have won the fight, and without one of them, he would have retained his titles and escaped with a Draw. So while it was a close fight that could have gone either way, and Peterson put on a hell of a show and did some great work, Khan has a right to be angry with the verdict.
- To The Body: Peterson absolutely crushed Khan to the body. I don’t remember seeing a fighter doing so much excellent work to the body in a major fight like this in quite some time. The investment paid off, as he won rounds by hurting Khan to the body and also wore him down, and took away some of his speed and his own aggression. Excellent stuff from Peterson, and those body shots felt painful all the way from press row.
- Fireworks: Regardless of how you thought Khan vs. Peterson would play out, it’s hard to imagine that you predicted it being a back and forth war with tons of hard hitting action. Both guys gave it their all and were throwing shots with bad intentions, and were hurting the other guy. Great stuff, and tons of heart from both men.
- Assessing Timothy Bradley: Almost two years ago to the day, Timothy Bradley dominated Lamont Peterson in a defense of his own junior welterweight title. Bradley controlled the fight from beginning to end, and the outcome was never in question. Now, styles make fights, and on top of that, this version of Lamont Peterson seemed vastly superior than the one we saw at that time, in what was Peterson’s first real fight against top-notch opposition. Nevertheless, it makes for interesting discussion, and further cements Bradley’s position as the true top dog at junior welterweight, where I’ve had him all along.
- Khan’s Big Plans: All the talk from the Khan camp in the past few months has been wanting to fight Floyd Mayweather in 2012. While Khan seemed in excellent condition, was he mentally checked out of the fight? With so much focus on what’s coming next and the huge fights which could have been made next year, it seems hard to believe that Khan was fully prepared for Peterson and what he would bring to the table. As for those big plans, right now they have to be put back on the shelf.
- D.C. In The House: This was the first HBO televised boxing card in Washington D.C. in almost two decades. D.C. showed up in full force at the Convention Center with a sellout crowd of enthusiastic fans. With chants of “U-S-A” and “D-C”, which drowned out Khan supporters and their chants of “Khan” and “Bolton”, and all-around rapid support for the local fighters on the card, the city proved the naysayers wrong and made a case for itself as a true fight town. Hopefully boxing promoters and networks take heed and keep on putting on worthy cards in the D.C. metro area as a result. There was a slew of big name fighters past and present on hand – David Haye, Bernard Hopkins, Paul Williams, Riddick Bowe, new Hall of Famer Marc Johnson and more – as well as A-list celebrities and D.C. sports stars like Alexander Ovechkin. Hats off to the D.C. fight fans for making the card a great time for everyone with a raucous, electric environment.
- Hello, Seth Mitchell: Seth Mitchell took full advantage of his first major network showcase, as he blasted Timur Ibragimov out in 2 rounds. Now, the opponent was right for this kind of performance, but nevertheless, it’s a statement win with major exposure. It means we’ll be seeing much more of “Mayhem” in 2012, and he’ll be receiving full American-heavyweight-hope-hype as he gets himself in position for a title shot.
