Lamont Pearson

Amateur career

Pearson had a 67-8 record, his career was crowned by a 1998 National Golden Gloves Lightweight Championship.

Professional career

Pearson turned pro in 1998 at the advanced age of 27. After four wins he was held to a draw in 1999 when he fought Philadelphia lightweight Anthony Washington (also 4-0 and an experienced amateur) in a six-round bout on an ESPN2 Friday Night Fights but received glowing remarks from ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas, who scored the fight for Pearson 57-56. After the draw with Washington, Pearson steadily began to climb up the Super Featherweight(Junior Lightweight) ranks (130 lbs/59 kg), reeling off eleven consecutive wins. This led to his first regional title bout on December 8, 2000. It was also his first bout against a well-known fighter, as he took on ex-contender and southpaw Harold Warren for the vacant NABA Super Featherweight Title. Warren, a 40-year-old former two-time world title challenger with a record of 42-14, fought valiantly in a closely contested bout, but Pearson staged a dramatic twelfth round knockout to earn the victory. An uppercut to Warren's jaw late in the final round sent him to the canvas, where he was officially counted out at 2:51 of round twelve, vaulting Pearson to his first title. It would be Warren's last bout of a 57-fight professional career.

In 2001 in an IBF Super Featherweight Title Eliminator, he would take on another southpaw Carlos Navarro of Los Angeles, with a record 23-1. Pearson began dismantling Navarro from the opening bell, eventually stopping him in ninth round when Navarro's corner threw in the towel just as their fighter hit the canvas for the second time. With the win, Pearson claimed the USBA Super Featherweight Title and a #1 IBF-ranking.

Pearson defended the USBA title once before suffering a shock loss. In a non-title bout, Pearson took on last minute replacement Orlando Salido (record 14-8) in a 10-rounder. In a fight Pearson was expected to dominate, he showed signs of vulnerability early, as Salido won many of the early rounds. Pearson came on late in the fight, but it was not enough to earn the victory, as he suffered his first setback in a unanimous decision loss. (For Salido this sensational upset would lead to a string of eight consecutive wins—and a failed first world title opportunity against Juan Manuel Márquez in 2004 and later the winning of a world title in 2006, where claimed the IBF Featherweight crown against Robert Guerrero.)

After two more wins Pearson got a world title fight anyway, in December 2002, with his record at 19-1-1, he went to Bangkok, Thailand to challenge reigning WBA champion Yodsanan 3-K Battery/Sor Nanthachai for the WBA Super Featherweight title. The bout took place on beloved King Bhumibol's birthday, a national holiday in Thailand, at the Royal Square in front of a reported 75,000 fans. Pearson fought valiantly, but a broken right hand suffered in the second round all but dashed any hopes off pulling off the upset. An awkward landing punch caused the injury, and Pearson had limited use of the hand for the remaining rounds of the fight. He would suffer his first professional knockdown in the ninth round, and eventually his first knockout loss when he was floored and counted out at 1:46 of round nine from a Nanthachai body shot.

Eight months later, in August 2003, Pearson would again fight for the USBA Super Featherweight title against Australian Robbie Peden. Early in the fight, Pearson began showing discomfort in his surgically repaired right hand. Despite the injury, he fought Peden competitively over the first six rounds before he was forced to retire in his corner before the seventh round. The loss led to a 17-month layoff for Pearson in order to have additional surgery performed on his hand, and allow ample healing time. (Peden eventually became the IBF Super Featherweight champion with a win over Nate Campbell in 2005.)

By September 2005, Pearson was again fighting for the USBA Super Featherweight title—this time at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. His opponent would be Brooklyn southpaw Shamir Reyes, who came in with an 18-3-2 record, Pearson stopped him with a bodyshot in the sixth.

In July 2006, Pearson re-emerged in the national spotlight to take on another southpaw in former WBA Super Featherweight titleholder Joel Casamayor on an ESPN2's Friday Night Fights broadcast from Phoenix, Arizona. The bout, scheduled for ten rounds, would be Pearson's first time fighting as a lightweight in a significant bout. Casamayor outgunned Pearson for many of the first eight rounds before the bout was stopped due to a cut around Pearson's right eye in the 9th round. (Casamayor would claim the WBC lightweight title in his next bout with a victory over Diego Corrales.)