Lamont Peterson became the mandatory challenger to Amir Khan's IBF junior welterweight title tonight on Friday Night Fights, wearing down a game Victor Cayo and stopping him at 2:46 of the 12th and final round.

Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KO) was well ahead on the Bad Left Hook scorecard and most of the cards we saw in our live thread and on our Twitter account, but he didn't have an easy time tonight by any means. Cayo (26-2, 18 KO) lacked the physical strength and punching power to do much with Peterson, but the Dominican fighter was there to fight tonight and made a show of it. The main event was satisfying for fight fans, and Peterson closed the show nicely with an aggressive burst in the 12th round.

Whether or not Peterson is a legitimate challenge for Amir Khan is debatable. I think he has the talent and toughness to make a fight of it for 12 rounds, and wouldn't give Khan an easy night. Peterson was blown out on the cards by Timothy Bradley in his only loss, but it was closer and harder-earned for Bradley than the scores indicated. The fight may not happen anyway (Khan could easily just vacate the IBF belt, even if he plans to stay at 140 for another fight), but Peterson wouldn't be a patsy opponent. Khan would be a big favorite for sure, but I think Lamont's better than Zab Judah, and I thought so before last weekend, too.

Are you interested in Khan vs Peterson? Personally, I think there are three better fights at 140 for Khan: Timothy Bradley, which isn't going to happen; the Guerrero vs Maidana winner, which could; and Lucas Matthysse, which won't happen because it'd be hard to sell Matthysse off of his, erm, "losses" in big fights, and Golden Boy has better or equal money options in Guerrero/Maidana, Peterson, and even Erik Morales, potentially.