He looked into the eyes of every person he fed. Those in receipt of his act of benevolence were the homeless, junkies and street dwellers who had come to the city?s Central United Mission charity for a free, warm meal.
Peterson who takes on World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation light welterweight world champion Amir Khan on home turf on Saturday, knows the dark places in this city, where the unfortunate had come in from the cold, having eked out a living on the streets as an eight-year-old hustler. As a kid he once fought just to stay alive.
The life of Peterson is a template for boxing?s well-grooved clich? that boxing makes better men of its exponents, and saves lives. And some. An extraordinarily heartening tale of an existence transformed by discipline, love and boxing.
In 1992, when Lamont was seven, and his brother Anthony, who also boxes, was six, their father went to jail on drug charges.
There were 12 siblings. His mother Elizabeth struggled to care for all of them. Between stints in foster care, the two boys lived on the dangerous streets of Washington DC, sleeping in bus stations and in abandoned cars.
