As reported about a month ago now, Errol Spence Jr’s first title defense will come against former titleholder Lamont Peterson on Showtime. We now have a firm date for that fight and card, January 20th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
It is pretty normal these days for a new titleholder to take what is commonly referred to as a victory lap defense. Usually the new titlist will travel back home to take an easy optional defense before exploring mandatory or maybe more lucrative options. It is what Jeff Horn is doing with Gary Corcoran in Brisbane, for example.
This is not what Errol Spence Jr (22-0, 19 KOs) is doing here. While the IBF junior welterweight belt holder will be favored fairly widely here, Lamont Peterson (35-3, 17 KOs) is an real solid fighter who is almost certain to give a game effort. He probably won’t win, but he should get his work in. If Spence was looking for a victory lap defense he could have taken an option fight with IBF rated fighters such as Keita Obara or Rashidi Ellis back in Texas.
Spence won this belt back in May with an eleventh round stoppage of Kell Brook on the road in Sheffield, England. Brook is an outstanding fighter and held the lead for most of the night, but in the end Spence’s offense was too much and Brook’s face could not hold up to the punishment. Peterson last fought in February, outpointing tough Russian fringe contender David Avanesyan to pick up a secondary WBA title that he has since dropped.
Showtime will have the card, but we have no time or supporting bouts as of yet.
