Forget Redemption: Garcia-Peterson is about recognition

By Norm Frauenheim-

Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson are quick to say they aren’t fighting for redemption Saturday night at Barclays in Brooklyn.

Fair enough. It’s called prize fighting. Going into the ring for redemption is little bit like going to the bank to pray. There’s a pretty good chance you’ll leave broke.

“I don’t see this as redemption,’’ Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) said of the first bout after a forgettable year for both fighters. “This is a great match-up.’’

Potentially, it is in a 143-pound fight that will also provide an early, yet significant, look at whether Al Haymon’s PBC (Premier Boxing Champions) can sustain its initial success in its second appearance on NBC (8:30 pm ET/ 5:30 pm PST).

“For me, there’s no redemption, either,’’ Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs) said. “No redemption for me. What’s in the past is in the past.’’

But the problem is what lurks in that immediate past. In 2014, both fought. Both won. But the buzz was gone.

Garcia, an emerging star in 2013, escaped with a split decision over Mauricio Herrera and a stopped an over-matched Rod Salka. Peterson, coming off a scary knockout loss to Lucas Matthysse in 2013, beat Dierry Jean and Edgar Santana.

Go ahead and trash the redemption angle, but the task Saturday night is to re-awaken interest in each and perhaps re-introduce them as potential players for whatever happens post-Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao on May 2.

Neither would – or even could – talk much about whether they might be fighting for a chance at the winner.

“I’m not worried about fighting Floyd Mayweather at all,’’ said Peterson, who has a full beard and some wisdom to go with it. “That’s a long shot from here. He maybe has one more fight after this. So, I won’t hold my breath on that. Not worried about it.’’

For the most part, Garcia said the same thing, although he it was clear that the Mayweather-Pacquiao possibility interested him a lot more than redemption.

“At the end of the day, it’s always a fighter’s dream to fight Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather,’’ Garcia said. “Everybody wants to fight the best fight. So maybe in the future, of course.’’

The 143-pound catch weight is a clear sign that they’re positioning themselves for a shot at the 147-pound winner between Mayweather and Pacquiao.

But catch-weights are boxing’s version of a catch-22. It’s a dilemma without an escape clause. It was done at the urging of Garcia, who at 27 is having a tougher time getting to the junior-welterweight limit of 140.

The catch-weight means neither Garcia nor Peterson will risk their titles. Garcia has the WBC and WBA belts. Peterson has the IBF version. It also means they won’t have to pay a sanctioning fee to any of the acronyms, which show up with a Mardi Gras-like belt in one hand and bill in the other.

But it also means criticism. Ruslan Provodnikov promoter Artie Pelullo took a shot at the catch-weight. In another fight with Mayweather-Pacquiao implications, Provodnikov meets Lucas Matthysse on April 18 in Verona, N.Y., on HBO in a junior-welterweight bout with no title at stake and no catch-weight in the contract.

“They don’t want to have anything at risk,’’ Pelullo said of Garcia-Peterson. “It’s a dangerous fight for both guys, but not like Provodnikov and Matthysse.

“They’re putting it all on the line, because they’re still fighting 12 rounds. It’s 140 pounds. There is no title, because we don’t have one. I’m telling you both kids would put there title out (there) if they had (to).’’

But Garcia and Peterson don’t have to. Their task is to re-build their public profile. If nobody knows them, those titles are beyond redemption anyway.