Showtime Boxing and the Premier Boxing Champions are hooking up at the Barclays Center for a major boxing card this Saturday night featuring two IBF world title fights in the main event spots.
Make no mistake about it, Errol Spence Jr is the guy in the spotlight this Saturday. The 28 year old has been on the radar since his amateur days. A disappointing showing in the 2012 Olympics in London lumped him in with a weak amateur class, but he has been trending up ever since training pro. Last May, he traveled to England to face IBF world welterweight champion Kell Brook and he came away with an 11th round stoppage win and the title belt. For Spence, who had failed to medal in London, the title win as a pro was a major message that he had arrived.
Now, Spence Jr (22-0) is named among one of the top three talents in a division of studs. There is a boxing cliche however that says a champion only truly earns his belt after his first title defense and that is what Peterson represents.
Peterson is going to try and rely on ringcraft for this fight and in that, it should be a very interesting fight. Peterson trains at an elite level and has been at that level since 2009. He has seen a lot. Peterson (35-3-10 briefly held a WBA world belt at 147 pounds when he beat David Avanesyan in February of 2017 but he had his best days at super lightweight. He is going to find himself up against a massive Spence Jr and both men are at their best when they are attacking the body. At 33 years old, he may be able to summon up a heroic performance but Spence Jr is gonna be a massive favorite on Saturday.
An IBF lightweight title fight sits in support as titleholder Robert Easter Jr faces off against Javier Fortuna. This is a showcase for Easter Jr, Though the Ohio resident has made two successful title defenses and he has held the belt over one calendar year, he is still looking for for notoriety. The Sowtie spot and the co-feature in Brooklyn both are signs that Easter Jr is ready to try and take the divisions #1 spot.
Fortuna is the right opponent to showcase Easter Jr. Easter Jr is going to be HUGE compared to his opponent, who is coming up from the featherweight classes.
Both Spence Jr and Easter Jr are penciled in for big fights in their weight classes later this year. They have to win on Saturday.
Sat 1/20 – Barclays Center – New York – Showtime Lightweight 12 rounds –
Javier Fortuna +380
Robert Easter Jr -475
Welterweight 12 rounds –
Lamont Peterson +1750
Errol Spence Jr -3500
