by David P. Greisman

Lamont Peterson is pointing to the punches he took behind the head from Lucas Matthysse for being a reason he lost by third-round technical knockout — not because of any damage from the shots, but rather due to the way he strayed from his strategy afterward.

“The game plan was to keep boxing,” Peterson said at the post-fight press conference. “Sometime in the second round, he hit me in the back of the head. I got a little upset, started getting more reckless, and wanted to bang. I kind of abandoned the game plan a little bit, and I paid for it.”

Peterson said Matthysse, who has scored knockouts in all but two of his wins and gave him Peterson his first knockout loss, is a good puncher.

“He had me hurt,” Peterson said. “I was hoping [referee Steve Smoger wouldn’t] stop the fight, because I believe I can weather any storm, but of course the referee is going to look out for my best interests. I kind of turned a little too much on my hook, and left an opening. My hands were up, but I turned too much and gave him an angle.”

Peterson dropped to 31-2-1 with 16 knockouts.

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter @fightingwords2 or send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com