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LAMONT “BAY” PEARSON

At the age of 34, former IBF no. 1 contender Lamont “Bay” Pearson is eager to prove that the best years of his boxing life are still in front of him.   While the first six years of his career were filled with milestone fights and breakthrough performances, the last two have been mired with injuries and inactivity.  He is now ready to revive his career and set his sights on the very top of the junior lightweight division, exactly where he knows he belongs.

Pearson, 21-3-1 with 11 KOs, has almost seen the top of the boxing mountain.  In December 2002, he went to Bangkok, Thailand to challenge reigning WBA champion Yodsandan Nanthachi for the world championship in front of 75,000 fans.  Pearson put up a valiant fight, but a broken right hand suffered in the second round all but dashed any hopes of pulling off the upset.  He lost the fight, but gained a much more valuable perspective in the process – he knew he could fight with the best.  Now, he just wants one more chance to prove it.

After a prosperous 85-fight amateur career, Pearson burst on to the profession scene in 1998.  From 1998 to 2001, Pearson worked diligently in the gym and the results were visible in the ring, as he went undefeated in his first 18 pro fights.  With the boxing world starting to take notice, Pearson got his first chance at a big fight in June 2001 against heavily-favored Carlos Navarro in Elgin, IL.  He would pull off the upset over Navarro to claim the USBA Jr. Lightweight Title and no. 1 ranking in the IBF.  Pearson would defend the USBA title once, another impressive showing, which led to an ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” appearance six months later as the co-main event with James Toney.  The string of stepping stone fights would eventually lead to his world title shot against Nanthachi, but he was unable to capitalize.

After two fights of struggling through setbacks with his injured right hand, Pearson decided to hang up the gloves for one year in 2004 to let the injury heal naturally.  He came back in January 2005, and outclassed Ivan Alvarez over eight rounds to get back on the winning track. It wasn’t the spectacular knockout that fans got used to seeing in the earlier part of his career, but like a fine wine, Pearson claims he will only get better with age.