WASHINGTON – Michael Ogundo ruined Lamont Peterson’s comeback in almost unfathomable fashion Saturday.

The Kenyan journeyman, who entered their six-round bout with a 16-16 record, dropped Washington’s Peterson and stopped the former 140-pound champion in the fourth round on the non-televised portion of the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia undercard at Capital One Arena.

Peterson’s corner men requested a stoppage because Peterson was taking a lot of punishment after reaching his feet following the knockdown. The official time of the stoppage was 2:05 of the fourth round.

The 38-year-old Peterson (35-6-1, 17 KOs) fought for the first time since Sergey Lipinets stopped him in the 10th round of an April 2019 bout at MGM National Harbor in nearby Oxon Hill, Maryland. This ill-fated comeback bout took place just a few blocks away from the Washington Convention Center, where Peterson edged England’s Amir Khan by split decision to become a 140-pound world champion in December 2011.

The 40-year-old Ogundo, of Quincy, Massachusetts, improved to 17-16 and recorded his 14th knockout.

After buzzing Peterson toward the end of the third round, Ogundo aggressively went after Peterson to start the fourth round. He landed a hard right hand, but Peterson tried to fight back.

A right hand by Ogundo eventually knocked Peterson flat on his back. Peterson was disoriented when he got up and never really recovered.

Peterson was still standing when the fight ended.

Ogundo landed several shots toward the end of the third round that made Peterson hold him. A right hand by Ogundo wobbled Peterson into the ropes several seconds before the third round ended.

That shot signaled the beginning of the end of what figures to be a brief comeback by Peterson.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.