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Home » Hunter on agonising Peterson decision: I had to stop the fight, this is my son right there!

Hunter on agonising Peterson decision: I had to stop the fight, this is my son right there!

Peterson was outclassed by Spence for seven rounds before Hunter ended the contest, potentially to prolong Peterson’s career, after what many saw as a one-sided beating by a better fighter.

Undefeated Spence displayed dazzling skills at times and Hunter felt he had no other choice than to step in to give Peterson, whom he’s grown very close to over the years, the chance to come back again in the future.

“It was really hard, but if you know Lamont, you know he was not going to give up,” Hunter told Jim Gray of Showtime at the Barclays Center in New York.

“I had to stop it. At the end of the day, this is my son right here. There’s nothing more valuable than his well-being. If it comes to him or winning, I pick him. I care about him.”

Peterson, who fought valiantly against the younger Spence, respected the decision of his trainer to stop the fight.

“If he asks me to fight a million people, I will. If he asks me to stop. I will stop. I will never question his decision. I know he has my best interests at heart.”

As Spence moves on to a potential unification with the divisional number one Keith Thurman in the near future, Peterson could have a tough decision to make of his own – should he decide to watch the fight back to reflect on his performance.