Brothers Lamont and Anthony Peterson of Washington, D.C., grew up homeless, but they feel right at home in the ring. The up-and-coming, unbeaten junior welterweights are a combined 32-0 with 20 knockouts. Lamont, who at 22 is 14 months older than Anthony, is 16-0 with seven KOs. Anthony is 16-0 with 13 KOs. In their SHOWTIME debuts, the talented three-year pros will co-headline an excellent fight card Friday, April 28, 2006, on “ShoBox: The New Generation’’ (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). The bouts will represent the 11th time that the Petersons have appeared on the same fight card.
Both Petersons have been matched tough. Lamont will face southpaw Mario Jose Ramos (16-2-1, 3 KOs,) of Phoenix, Ariz., in a 10-round bout. Anthony will meet Jermaine White (12-0, 7 KOs), of Gary, Ind., in an eight-round scrap. The card will originate from the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge in New Town, North Dakota, and will be promoted by Brian Young’s Prizefight Boxing.
LAMONT PETERSON (16-0, seven KOs) 141 pounds
“Inside of the ring, I am more of a chess player than my brother, Anthony. I may throw a right hand to set up a left hook. Anthony is more tenacious. He will go right at his opponent. Anthony likes to check out his opponent’s conditioning first. My first thought is to see what is in my opponent’s head.”
“Outside of the ring, Anthony is more outgoing. I am more analytical. He is more carefree.”
“I will try to separate myself from Ramos with the jab. If he is going to box, I will cut the ring off and chase him.”
“I have sparred against a lot of southpaws to prepare for Ramos. It was hard at first, but now I think it is pretty easy. I have figured out how to fight a lefty.”
MARIO JOSE RAMOS (16-2-1, three KOs) 142 pounds
“Peterson is going to get nervous against me. I got Demetrius Hopkins pretty nervous too.”
“I know I can beat this guy. I can beat anyone. I just have to do it.”
“I hit hard, but I just have not been able to knock out a lot of my opponents. I want to get better about tracking down my opponent and firing more shots.”
ANTHONY PETERSON (16-0, 13 KOs) 136 pounds
“I always train like I am going to fight Floyd Mayweather, who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. We sparred about 80-100 rounds for this fight.”
“I get more leverage in my shots than my brother, Lamont. When I was younger, I used to watch how Mike Tyson put people away early. I also liked to watch Pernell Whitaker because he was so slick.”
“I have two shades of defense. I also have been working on my right hand for the past two months. It is not as strong as my left, but it is getting there.”
“I really like making my opponents quit in the ring. It is a battle of wills between two pit bulls.”
“Barry Hunter (trainer for the Peterson brothers) is like my father and mother. At the beginning and end of each day, I just have to hug him. He broke things down for me, piece by piece. I hope to do that someday for someone else.”
BARRY HUNTER (Trainer for Lamont and Anthony Peterson)
“I can see the Peterson brothers fighting for world titles within the next two years.”
“When I first met Lamont in the gym, he did everything I showed him to do. He does not say a lot. When I first met Anthony, he did not know how to punch. They were around nine and 10 years old at the time. I really did not know about their living situation at first.”
“There was something about Lamont and Anthony that was different and made me want to help them.”
“Because of the Petersons’ work ethic, I quickly fell in love with them. I used to take them to Taco Bell everyday. They used to order extra food and take it home for their other brother and sister.”
“When I found out about their living situation, I made sure that Lamont and Anthony had the same things as other fighters.”
JERMAINE WHITE (12-0, seven KOs) 138 pounds
“I want to make this an inside fight if I can. I will constantly use head movement to keep him (Anthony Peterson) off balance. He will never know what is coming.”
“I am going to come in like Aaron Pryor. Peterson is a good fighter. The homeless story is nice and the press loves him. I do not want to take anything away from him, but I just want to win.”
“When I was an amateur, we had nothing. We fought on dirt like the Cubans.”
“My father passed away last year when someone came by and shot up his house and his car. He died from a heart attack because of the shooting.”
“I am doing this for my father and those kids that got swallowed by the streets. I want to show them that if you work hard and try your best, you can achieve your dream. My purpose in life is to show others that they can do it too.”
“Peterson will not be able to hit me with body shots. He will go backward. We will see if he can fight going backward. I am going to take his right hand and jab away from him.”