According to a source, IBF jr. welterweight champion Lamont Peterson always has been and likely will be the chosen opponent to face WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley when he returns to the ring on December 15 at Marlins Stadium in Miami, Florida. "Make sure you pack some sunscreen. Tim Bradley's fighting Lamont in Miami," our source commented. The news comes on the heels of today's announcement that Peterson's trainer, Barry Hunter, placed the winning (and only) purse bid of $50,000 for the mandatory title defense against Zab Judah.
"That was just a backup plan," our source explained, "in case they couldn't work things out with Bob, but after seeing that nobody else placed a bid, the chances of them trying to actually put on their own show, with no network to back them, are virtually zero. Only $50,000? They would be fools to turn down whatever money Bob is offering them now just to hold on to some title." Indeed, the idea of Peterson defending his title against Judah for a mere 75% of a $50,000 pot seems comical and sad considering that he stood to make more than $1 million against Amir Khan until the bout got canceled after he failed a drug test.
According to our source, you can expect the bout to take place at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, as Peterson may have been already eyeing a move up in weight. "Lamont really has to work hard to get down to 140, so the move up to welterweight will do him some good. I think he'll perform a lot better in the rematch. It's going to be a competitive fight," our source added.
With the bout taking place in Miami at Marlins Park, which has a seating capacity well over 35,000, Top Rank will definitely need to add more names to the event to pack the cheeks in the seats. Promoter Bob Arum has suggested that WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux could also be making an appearance on the card, no doubt to take advantage of the large Cuban population in Miami. However, do not rule out the possibility of former super featherweight champion and fellow Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa appearing on the card instead. As previously reported two weeks ago here on FightHype, sources informed us that rapper turned promoter 50 Cent, who Gamboa is currently signed to, held a meeting with Bob Arum and HBO execs to discuss a potential lightweight matchup between Gamboa and Anthony Peterson, Lamont's brother.
At the time, we were told that all parties involved originally discussed the possibility of Gamboa fighting on the upcoming December 8th clash between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, however, HBO prefered to feature the bout in a doubleheader on HBO World Championship Boxing. Bob Arum recently confirmed our previous report about Gamboa possibly appearing on the undercard of Pacquiao vs. Marquez 4, however, with it looking like Bradley vs. Peterson 2 is nearly finalized, I would not be shocked to hear that the much more popular Cuban Gamboa will be the one fighting in Miami on December 15. In fact, if it is Gamboa fighting on December 15, there's also a strong possibility that 50 Cent himself could be performing during the event to help fill the 35,000 plus seat stadium.
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