by David P. Greisman, photos by Ed Diller
Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson both made weight for their catch-weight bout on Saturday night in the main event of “Premier Boxing Champions” on NBC.
Garcia stepped on the scales at 142.2 pounds, well within the contractually agreed-upon limit of 143 pounds. Peterson initially stepped on the scale at 143.2 pounds, only to remove his underwear and come in at 143 on the dot.
This is the second time that Garcia, the junior welterweight champion, has fought at a catch-weight above 140. He was 141.75 for his last fight, a second-round slaughter of Rod Salka that took place at a contractually agreed upon limit of 142 pounds.
Garcia won a world title at 140 in early 2012 and has defended it successfully five times. His decision over Lucas Matthysse in September 2013 made him the new lineal champion. The 27-year-old from Philadelphia is 29-0 with 17 KOs.
Peterson, 31, of Washington, D.C., is 33-2-1 with 17 KOs and has won two straight since losing via third-round technical knockout to Lucas Matthysse in March 2013.
In the chief supporting bout , Andy Lee came in at 159.6 pounds for what was supposed to be the first defense of his middleweight title. The only problem? Peter Quillin came in overweight at 161.4 pounds — and then remained overweight 90 minutes later at 160.6 pounds.
Lee-Quillin is now a non-title bout.
Lee, 30, of Limerick, Ireland, is 34-2 with 24 KOs. His two losses came against Bryan Vera in 2008, since avenged, and to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in 2012, both by seventh-round technical knockout. He won the vacant WBO world title with a stoppage of Matt Korobov in December.
Quillin vacated that WBO belt last year. He dethroned Hassan N’Dam back in October 2012 and made three successful title defenses. The 31-year-old from Brooklyn is 31-0 with 22 KOs.
Felix Diaz (142.2 pounds) vs. Gabriel Bracero (142.0 pounds)
Diaz, 31, of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is 16-0 with 8 KOs. While he was announced at 142.2 pounds and took off his underwear in an attempt to make weight, he still was overweight, and Bracero could be seen waving off the discrepancy before ring announcer Dave Diamante announced Diaz at 142. Diaz took a majority decision over Adrian Granados last November. This is his first fight of 2015.
Bracero, 34, of Brooklyn, New York, is 23-1 with 4 KOs. His lone loss came against DeMarcus Corley in 2012 and he’s won five in a row since then, including his long-ago last appearance, a decision over Dmitry Salita way back in November 2013.
Marcus Browne (174.8 pounds) vs. Aaron Pryor Jr. (174.4 pounds)
Browne, 24, of the New York City borough of Staten Island, is 13-0 with 10 KOs. This is his first fight of 2015. He is coming off a first-round knockout of George Blades last December. He represented the United States in the 2012 Olympics.
Pryor, the namesake son of the former junior welterweight champion, is a 36-year-old from Cincinnati with a record of 19-7-1 and 12 KOs. After dropping four fights in a row between 2011 and 2012, Pryor’s since gone 3-0-1.
Their fight is expected to be on the NBC Sports Network broadcast following the main NBC show.
Viktor Postol (143.8 pounds) vs. Jake Giuriceo (142.8 pounds)
Postol, 31, of Kiev, Ukraine, is 26-0 with 11 KOs. He is the mandatory contender to the World Boxing Council belt at 140 pounds currently held by Danny Garcia. Postol was paid a step-aside fee to allow Garcia to fight someone else. It now appears — with Garcia likely heading to welterweight and Garcia-Peterson being a non-title bout — that Postol will end up facing someone else for a vacated title. Postol hasn’t fought since his May 2014 one-punch knockout of Selcuk Aydin.
Giuriceo, 30, of Youngstown, Ohio, is 17-2-1 with 4 KOs. He dropped two in a row in 2012, then spent a year and a half out of the ring before returning in July 2014 with a fourth-round stoppage of designated opponent Travis Hartman. That was Giuriceo’s last appearance.
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Errol Spence (146.6 pounds) vs. Samuel Vargas (146 pounds)
Spence, 25, of Desoto, Texas, is 15-0 with 12 KOs. This is his first fight of 2015; he stopped Javier Castro in December. Spence represented the United States in the 2012 Olympics.
Vargas, 25, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, is 20-1-1 with 10 KOs. His lone loss came in late 2013, a decision defeat to Pablo Munguia. Since then, he’s notched five straight victories. This is also his first fight of 2015.
Luis Collazo (147.8 pounds) vs. Chris Degollado (149 pounds)
Collazo, a 33-year-old former welterweight titleholder from Brooklyn, New York, is 35-6 with 18 KOs. He lost a unanimous decision to Amir Khan in May 2014.
Degollado, 26, of Monterrey, Mexico, is 12-4 with 10 KOs. He’s lost four of his last five, including a run of three in a row that last had him getting knocked out in seven rounds by Artemio Reyes last November.
Heather Hardy (122 pounds) vs. Renata Domsodi (120.6 pounds)
Hardy, 33, of Brooklyn, New York, is 12-0 with 2 KOs and is coming off an eight-round decision over Elizabeth Anderson this past December.
Domsodi, 40, of Budapest, Hungary, is 12-6 with 5 KOs. She has lost two in a row and three of her last four, including a split decision loss to Eva Voraberger last November.
Ryan Burnett (118.8 pounds) vs. Stephon McIntyre (121.8 pounds)
Burnett, 22, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is 8-0 with 6 KOS. He is coming off a six-round points win over Faycal Messaoudene in March.
McIntyre, 22, of Jonesboro, Georgia, is 2-7-2 with no knockouts. He has lost five in a row and, in fact, has not won since his first two pro fights. He last dropped a six-round decision to Frankie Agnew in March.
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