"I think I did more than enough to earn the decision, but what I have learned about life, not just boxing, but life in general, I know at that point, me acting out wasn't going to change the decision...really, the plan, was to try and make him quit...I was landing more. Of course he was throwing more, but he was missing and he was missing bad...I gained more fans in the loss and I got a chance to display my skills to a new audience. So at the end of the day, I was happy with my performance," stated former jr. welterweight champion Lamont Peterson, who spoke in-depth about his controversial loss to unified jr. welterweight champion Danny Garcia. Check it out!
PC: Obviously the outcome wasn't what you wanted, but I definitely think your stock went up after the performance you put on. I thought you accepted it well and didn't act out like we have seen some do in post-fight interviews. Tell us about it, man.
LP: I think I won the fight. I think I did more than enough to earn the decision, but what I have learned about life, not just boxing, but life in general, I know at that point, me acting out wasn't going to change the decision. A lot of times, you just have to accept things and move on. I know it's going to be tough at times where I'm going to think about it and be like, "Man, I know I won," but for the most part, I know God has a plan for me and I just gotta accept it and move on.
PC: It appears you went in with a game plan and followed it to a tee. You listened to Barry well in the corner. What was the game plan going in and do you feel like you executed it like you wanted to?
LP: Yeah, I feel like I did good at following the game plan. I got away from the game plan a few times, but I was happy that I stuck with it. The game plan was to move, use some movement, counter when I can, but never stop jabbing; keep the jab out there. I wanted to let Danny tire out a little bit and get frustrated, and then towards the end, if I seen him tiring out, just go for the kill, try to put some pressure on him, and really, the plan, was to try and make him quit.
PC: All fighters score rounds in their head for the most part. When those early rounds were going by, did you feel you were ahead?
LP: I thought I was up; I thought I was ahead. I thought I was winning the rounds. I know in the 6th round, I turned it on; may have even been a round before then, but I thought I was winning the early rounds as well. I just took over around the 5th or 6th. I thought I was controlling the action and using my defense. At the pace that the fight was going, you kind of be your own judge. I been around boxing for awhile and I could feel when I'm losing a round, just like when I'm winning a round, and I definitely felt like I was winning the rounds. He wasn't hitting me, so I felt I just had to up my offense. I was landing more. Of course he was throwing more, but he was missing and he was missing bad. Only thing that I was a little worried about was...I was hoping that the judges knew what they were looking at, when he swung wild a few times and I turned with the punch and he wasn't really hitting me. I was just hoping that the judges saw that because they didn't hear any impact. Just because they saw my face turn for a minute and people cheered, but he didn't hit me. I was hoping they weren't giving him that as a punch landed or definitely not giving him the rounds. But I just felt like I controlled the fight. I didn't feel like I had to come on strong at the end to close the show; that was just part of the game plan. I would have did that if I would have clearly won those early rounds; I would have picked it up because that was part of the game plan.
PC: What do you feel you did during the course of the fight to nullify his big left hook?
LP: We just knew that Danny is a counterpuncher and a lot of the times, he actually wants you to throw combinations to go in between that. I'm a combination puncher, but we tried not to throw a lot of big combinations. We would do maybe, at the most, three, but we tried to stick to two; two shots at a time. Like I would throw a right hand, left hook, and then I would leave. So as long as I stayed throwing only two or three shots, I was cool because he really wanna catch you while you're swinging or while you're getting trigger happy and trying to punch in four or five-punch combinations, kind of like Khan did, and he would just punch in between that and catch 'em. I tried to keep it that way and it worked because he didn't throw it as much as he wanted to throw it, and when he did throw it, I saw it.
PC: Sometimes you gain more fans in a loss as opposed to a win. Een Amir Khan said he felt you won. I believe Floyd Mayweather said the same. What has the reception been like since the fight?
LP: Yeah, I definitely gained more fans. A lot of people hitting me up on social media saying they felt I won. I was happy about that because that's going to help me get over this. A lot of times, you come off of a loss and they want to sit you on the shelf or they cut your pay because promoters use that against you. They feel they don't have to pay you as much because you're coming off of a loss, but I don't think any of this stuff is going to happen. I will likely be back in the ring in July. Things like that is going to help me get past the loss. I'm still going to be able to go out there and fight. I gained more fans in the loss and I got a chance to display my skills to a new audience. So at the end of the day, I was happy with my performance. Overall, I think I'm in a good situation and a good position right now and I'm just looking forward to continuing my career.
PC: Danny's history doesn't show that he rematches guys. In fact, I don't think he's ever fought in a rematch in his entire career. Are you looking to change that? Do you want that fight back?
LP: I would hope to get a rematch with him. Would I push for it? I will leave that up to my team to do. I would definitely do a rematch with him. Do I think it's going to happen? No! It took awhile to get this fight to happen with him; almost 2 years. A little over 2 years I think. Do I want to wait another 2 years? No! Hopefully we can work it out and get a rematch, but I don't think it's going to happen. That's life, man. One way or another, I'm happy to be fighting again because that's what I love to do. I just love being in the ring.
PC: There was a video that went viral and it sounds like Danny told you, "I lost." I know you can do so much on the internet nowadays with these videos, so I wanted to ask you, did Danny Garcia tell you he lost the fight afterwards when you guys embraced?
LP: If he said it, I didn't hear it, so I'll say no to that. I didn't hear him say that.
PC: Do you know if your next fight will be contested at 140 pounds or 147?
LP: I'll get back in the gym and train and try to get better and re-watch that fight and see things that I could work on. Just expect more boxing and if we move up, I'll be a little stronger and just look for entertaining fights. I don't know who I'm fighting, so I don't know what type of style I'll fight, but I will be in shape and I will entertain all of my fans.
PC: You chose to stand in between rounds. Was that consciously to get into Danny's head or did Barry just want you standing in between rounds?
LP: At the end of the day, this is all mental. It's a mental thing. If he's sitting down and he looks across the ring, he's going to see me standing and know that I'm not going nowhere. I'm in shape and I'm not tired or anything like that. Mentally, it'll wear on him. It was definitely used for that and honestly, I prefer standing. When I'm sparring, I don't sit down anyway. Actually, in sparring, I don't even take breaks. Standing or sitting down is cool, but I was so confident in my conditioning, I knew that we could do 20 rounds. Honestly, we could do 30 and I'm not going to get tired. I wasn't really worried about it.
PC: Hell of a fight. I wish you the best moving forward and as always, I can't wait to see you back in the ring. Is there anything else you want to say before I let you go?
LP: To everybody that follow me and follow my career, thanks for supporting me. I know we didn't get the victory this time, but we will go back to the drawing board and get better. We will just get ready for the next one. Of course I'm going to give 100% in the gym and then when I get in the ring, I'm going to give 100% again.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]