Peterson-Matthysse bound for D.C.?

IBF junior welterweight beltholder Lamont Peterson could make his second defense against RING No. 1-rated 140-pounder Lucas Matthysse, of Argentina, in his home town of Washington, D.C., on May 18 if neutrality can be secured among the officials, according Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.

Coming off last month's eighth-round stoppage of ex-titleholder Kendall Holt at The D.C. Armory in Washington, Peterson had been considered for a fight against Matthysse in Atlantic City, but wants to fight, yet again, in the city where he grew up.

"If they're going to have neutral officials, then I think the chance that Lucas Matthysse is going to fight in D.C. is much greater," said Schaefer, who plans to meet with Matthysse's co-promoter, Mario Arano, on Monday.

Part of Matthysse's concern stems from the controversy surrounding Peterson's disputed split-decision victory which dethroned Amir Khan as IBF and WBA titleholder, and took place at The Washington Convention Center in Peterson's hometown in December of 2011.

Golden Boy (which currently promotes Peterson but at the time was only backing Khan) initially filed an appeal with the IBF and WBA seeking to overturn Peterson's victory or get an order for an immediate rematch on the grounds that the fight, was poorly officiated and that there were scorechard descrepancies.

Matthysse has had four straight stoppage wins since sandwiching disputed decision losses to left-handers Zab Judah and Devon Alexander in June of 2010 and June of 2011, respectively, around an eighth-round stoppage of southpaw DeMarcus Corley in January of 2011.

But the losses to Judah and Alexander were in Newark, N.J., and, Saint Charles, Mo., in close proximity to the winners' home towns. Judah is a Brooklyn native, and Alexander is from St. Louis, Mo.

For Peterson-Holt, IBF President Daryl Peoples was on site, and veteran referee Tony Weeks as well as judges Glenn Feldman, of Connecticut, Michael Pernick, of Del Ray Beach, Fla., and Alexander Levin, of Orlando, Fla., were used.

Peoples said he would work with Golden Boy and the Washington, D.C. Athletic Commission to insure fairness.

"I haven't received anything from Golden Boy regarding this bout," stated Peoples in an e-mail to RingTV.com. "We would work with the D.C. commission again to find the best officials available. However, the commission always has the final say as you well know."

Photo by Juan Marshall

Photo by Tom Hogan, Hogan Photo, Golden Boy Promotions

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com