|
|
|
Photo © Tom Casino/SHOWTIME
|
Whenever my children complain that life isn't fair, my response is
always "Life isn't fair from the gate. It's your job to make it
fair."
See, as you all know,
life is a real bitch. At birth, we don't get the choice of who to be, where
to be born or what social environment to emerge from. Sometimes, fairness and
fortune are in the eye of he or she who perceives them. Being born in America
means the world to many. Living poor and scared in America is a whole different
world altogether.
For much of his young
life, Lamont Peterson knew the latter world all to well. Peterson, 16-0 (7),
and his brother, undefeated welterweight prospect Anthony Peterson lived a
dreadful life of uncertainty after being turned out into the world when their
father succumbed to drug addiction, losing everything they held dear.
Sleeping in abandoned buildings and cars became the norm and meagerly
sustaining themselves in the rare occasions that food was present couldn’t
quell the hunger that grew so much every day.
Enter Barry Hunter. A
man who saw a spark in young Lamont took both boys under his wing and showed
them that in order to fight your way out of poverty and every negative demon
that grips at your soul, sometimes fighting is the only way to do it.
By 2003, the Peterson
brothers were established amateurs and Anthony secured the National Golden
Gloves at 132. In 2004, both men competed in the Olympic trials only to leave
disappointed, coming out on the short end. But merely getting to the dance is
a long far journey from a dark childhood.
Now, the Petersons
are making a splash in the professional ranks and are making their premium
cable network debut on the Showtime network’s “ShoBox: the New Generation”
tonight, live from 4 Bear’s Casino in New Town, North Dakota (broadcast at 11
PM ET/10 PM Central). Anthony, 16-0 (12), will square off against fellow
undefeated junior welterweight Jermaine “Too Sweet” White, 13-0 (6), and in
the main event, Lamont defends his brand new WBC United States Super
Lightweight title against Mario Jose Ramos, 16-2-1 (3), a tough cat who’s
challenged the likes of Cosme Rivera (UD 10) and Demetrius Hopkins (UD 12).
Sharing such an important card is par for the course with these two, because
they’ve shared the main stage in the biggest fights of their lives: growing
up. But now the stage is getting bigger, the lights are getting brighter and
the show is getting better.
Unfortunately, I had
missed the opportunity to chat with Anthony before he departed to North
Dakota but got to rap with Lamont for a bit. What I got in return was a
conversation with a polite, intelligent, engaging young man who, like anyone
normal, is probably still haunted by the ghosts of the past, but doesn’t let
it eat away at him. Instead, he relishes his good fortune and, side by side
with his brother, looks forward to a great future. Lamont briefly filled me
in on how he felt about the Ramos challenge, how he met trainer Barry Hunter
and how living in a hometown today seemingly wrought with catatonia differs
so much from the city who happily took in both brothers.
Fairness vs. the
unfairness of life. The ultimate two-sided coin, which is the metaphor for so
many things, absorbs these two factions, without prejudice. The good and the
bad. It seems without one or the other, life…and boxing…would cease to be.
Read on, Howlers.
Coyote Duran: How
has your training been for Mario Ramos, Lamont?
Lamont Peterson: Training went well! We
just got out the gym not too long ago. You know, working real light but we're
just focusing in on what we really wanna do in the fight. My weight's good
and I'm just ready to go!
CD: just
sharpening up the ends a bit, huh?
LP: Yeah, that's it!
CD: What did you
and your coach Barry Hunter focus on necessarily for this fight since it's
your big ShoBox debut?
LP: Well, Mario, he's a
southpaw so of course, we're tried to adjust to that with throwing a lot of
right hands and certain little combinations that we think will work against
him. And that's all we've really worked with late.
CD: What does
starring on this main stage mean to you, showing the world your skills,
especially alongside your brother, Anthony, on one of the biggest premium
cable networks in the world?
LP: Oh, it feels great! It's
like a dream come true. This is what we worked hard for. The whole time we've
been in the gym, ever since we were little, we've always wanted to fight on
Showtime and this is our chance! So, of course, we're gonna give it our all.
CD: Lamont, we've
heard of yours and Anthony's stories about your struggles and how life was
for you at a very young age. Now that you're fighting on a huge network and,
at the same time, sporting the WBC United States Super Lightweight title, in
respect to how things were, is everything you're doing and achieved now so
much more surreal to you? Do you ever find yourself in disbelief that life
has turned out so much for the better?
LP: Yeah. A lot of times, like
especially after a fight, I always have to sit back and tell myself that this
is real because a lot of times, you'll just be going through the motions and
you really don't realize what you're doing and what's coming up…Like the fact
that we're fighting on Showtime, you know, things like that. A lot of times,
it'll catch you off guard.
CD: How did you
and Anthony first meet Barry Hunter? What drew him to you guys as children?
It seems like a meeting that was absolutely supposed to happen.
LP: My brother-in-law, Patrick
Harris, he always used to see me fight on the street and stuff like that and
he just asked me if I wanted to fight, to box. I was like, "Yeah."
And he took me up to a gym. I met Barry there and I liked him and he liked
me. He always said there was something about me and he always picked me up
but one day, I was telling Ant about Barry right before Barry picked me up.
Ant ran downstairs and told him he could fight too! He (Barry) was like
"Yeah? Throw some punches." Ant started throwing little punches and
did the "Ali Shuffle." Barry said to Ant, "You can go!"
and Ant came ever since then.
CD: Lamont, were
you familiar with the sport as a young kid and who did you look to as your
influences and who's your all-time favorite fighter?
LP: Oh, yeah, I always wanted
to box. That's why when Barry asked me, I said, "Yeah!" real fast!
It was something I always wanted to do. Back then, who always fought on TV,
was Pernell Whitaker, (Felix) Trinidad and (Evander) Holyfield. My favorite
all-time fighter is Ray Robinson.
CD: And being that
you and Anthony are still very young men, that wasn't that long ago!
LP: Yeah!
CD: How does it
feel to be guided, management-wise, by Shelly Finkel, a guy who has moved the
careers of the likes of Mike Tyson and Fernando Vargas?
LP: Oh, it's a privilege. You
know, he had fighters like Pernell Whitaker, Holyfield. You know, he had all
those fighters. Mark Breland, he had a whole bunch of 'em! There's a long
list of 'em! It's a privilege knowing that you've got somebody like this in
the game who knows the game and he can get you in the positions that you
want.
CD: Memphis,
Tennessee is kind of an adopted hometown for you and Anthony, Lamont. Tell me
about the Memphis experience and do you stay there often?
LP: No, I live in (Washington)
D.C. currently but Memphis is like home because of all our fights there. They
show a lot of support, a lot of love when we're down there. The people are
just great down there! We stay down there a whole bunch, training and things
like that. You know, it's great down there.
CD: This fight
coming up against Ramos is your seventeenth fight. Where do you see yourself
going in the welterweight division within the next year?
LP: Well, through this whole
year, we just wanna finish out with strong solid fights, keep stepping our
competition up. I'd say about four or five fights for the rest of this year
and next year, hopefully, we'll crack the top ten and start calling the big
names out.
CD: And you were
spotlighted in The Ring Magazine as a "New Face" in the October
2005 issue.
LP: Yeah, it was great, man! I
didn't even know I was gonna be in there. My coach called me when the book
was about to be done and the guy (Mike Greenhill) wanted to do the interview.
He did and when I saw it in there, man, I felt good, man, knowing that…Ring
Magazine's been out a long time. A lot of great fighters have been in there
and just to have my name in there…I felt good!
CD: Have you and
Anthony had much contact with your other siblings and family members and if
so, how do they feel about your successes?
LP: Well, uh…we keep in touch
here and there. You know, we talk to them a lot…But we never really see each
other…Don't spend too much time together. We never really got a chance to be
close, you know, through everything.
CD: I understand.
LP: Everything's cool. I guess
they're happy for us. At least they seem like that.
CD: Washington
D.C.'s always been a socially dodgy area, High crime and such. Seeing how you
and your brother represent D.C., has the community embraced you and do they
see you fellas as a positive influence, being that you both have done so many
fantastic things with your lives?
LP: It really don't make a
difference to me. It's hard to explain. It's like nothing. You know, that's
like in Memphis. That's why we love it so much down there. It means something
to them, you know? If somebody's doing something positive, they're (Memphis)
happy for them. Around here, man, it's not the same…I don't know how they see
us, man.
CD: That's a
terrible bummer. I'm surprised and sorry to hear that.
LP: Yeah, but that's the way
it is. I mean, but of course, you've got some who've been with us for a long
time who've been happy for us but I can't say the same for the rest.
CD: Damn, that's
really mind-blowing. I can't wrap my head around the fact that the nation's
capital has two, young stand-up cats who've gone to the Olympic trials and
the Golden Gloves representing it and have gotten past so many obstacles to
get where they are now and…man, that bugs the hell outta me.
LP: Yeah, it's crazy out here,
man.
CD: Talk to me
about your experience in the Olympic trials, Lamont.
LP: Well, my dream was to go
all the way to the Olympics and win the gold medal, but I fell short of that.
Now that I'm looking back on it, I'm proud of myself for making it that far
but it was a big letdown for me because I really wanted to win and I really
trained hard. I don't like to say this but….it is what it is. I didn't get a
fair shake in the tournament (against Rock Allen) and I felt letdown. I let
myself down. I really didn't feel good at the time, but now, it's alright now
that I'm in the pros and, you know, I'm winning. I'd kind of like to put it
behind me.
CD: Any prediction
on how the Mario Ramos fight'll end?
LP: Uh, I don't like to make
predictions but, I'll tell you, it's gonna be a good show even if I knock him
out or go the whole ten. It's gonna be a good show.
CD: Thank you,
man. It's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you, Lamont, and best of luck
on the 28th on your very first ShoBox. Here's to good things up ahead for you
and Anthony.
LP: Alright! No problem!
Thanks so much to
Lamont Peterson for taking the time to rap with Doghouse Boxing.com so close
to the fight and a side order of thanks to Barry Hunter for helping arrange a
great talk. Please make sure to tune in to Showtime's "ShoBox: The New
Generation" tonight, April 28, at 11 PM ET/10 PM Central to see a great
doubleheader featuring Lamont and Anthony Peterson.
|
INTERVIEW By
Coyote Duran (April 28, 2006)