By Eric Thomas; Former lightweight contender Anthony Peterson (30-1, 20 KO’s) will finally be returning to the ring on December 10th on the undercard of the championship bout between IBF/WBA light welterweight title holder Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson at the Convention Center in Washinton, DC. Anthony still doesn’t have an opponent picked out yet, but it probably won’t be someone too good because he’s coming off a loss.

Anthony Peterson, 26, is the younger brother of Lamont Peterson, and was considered one of the best fighters in the lightweight division until he imploded in his last fight, a 7th round disqualification loss to Brandon Rios last year in September 2010.

Peterson was dropped in the 5th round and then lost a point for throwing a low blow in the 6th. In the 7th, he was finally disqualified for throwing low blows. Some boxing fans think that Anthony took the easy way out by fouling until he was disqualified rather than standing in and going out on his shield. It certainly didn’t look good for Peterson in that fight. He was really getting drilled by the stronger Rios, and didn’t have the power to compete no matter how hard he tried.

Peterson needed a Plan B to cope with Rios’ better power, and he never seemed to take it into another gear by electing to box. Part of the problem could be the soft matchmaking in earlier bouts that seemed to stunt Peterson’s ability to learn new skills. He never had to learn how to deal with a stronger puncher because he was always the stronger fighter against the soft opposition he had been matched against. With his come forward style of fighting, Anthony Peterson failed to learn how to handle a big puncher. When he finally was put in with Rios, Anthony seemed to not have a clue what to do.

The fact that Anthony Peterson hasn’t fought since losing to Rios a year ago really speaks volumes about how hard this loss may have impacted his career. Hopefully, Anthony has learned some new skills in the year away from boxing and can adapt for his fight on December 10th. If not, he probably won’t go too far.