By Jeff Aranow: Former IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (24-3-1, 17 KOs) will be emerging from a long 16 month layoff next month when he challenges WBA World interim welterweight champion David Avanesyan (22-1-1, 11 KOs) on February 18 on the undercard of the Adrian Broner vs. Adrian Granados card at the Cintas Center at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Peterson, 33, hasn’t done much to be fighting for a world title, even an interim title. That’s kind of disappointing that Peterson will be fighting for a title rather than someone a little more active with their boxing careers. The Avanesyan-Peterson fight will be the co-feature bout on the Broner vs. Granados card. It’ll be televised by Showtime.
Peterson was in the running for fights against Miguel Cotto and Shawn Porter. Neither fight happened unfortunately for him. The last time Peterson fought, he struggled to beat Felix Diaz by a 12 round majority decision in October of 2015. Peterson fought well in the early going, but Diaz came on strong to dominate the match in the second half.
Peterson lost to Danny Garcia by a 12 round majority decision in April 2015. That was a good fight for Peterson. He lost the fight by failing to let his hands go in the first half of the contest. Peterson waited until the fight was nearly out of reach before he rallied in the second half by walking Garcia down and nailing him with body shots.
“I’m extremely excited about getting back in the ring and fighting on Showtime again,” Peterson said. “I’ve been working hard in the gym and I’m ready to give my fans the kind of show they deserve. I know this guy is coming in with a lot of confidence from that belt, but I believe I’m the better fighter and I’ll prove it on February 18.”
The 28-year-old Avanesyan last fought in May of last year when he beat Shawn Mosley by a 12 round unanimous decision. Avanesyan did not look good in that fight. It’s just that Mosley was even worse than he was. Avanesyan beat Charlie Navarro by a 9th round knockout in November 2015.
You would have to consider Peterson as the favorite to defeat Avanesyan. Peterson is a solid fighter. His problem is he lacks punching power.
Also on the card is 2012 U.S Olympian Marcus Browne, who will be facing Thomas Williams Jr. (20-2, 14 KOs). That fight is arguably more appealing that the Avanesyan vs. Peterson fight. Browne recently fought to a controversial eight round split decision win over Radivoje Kalajdzic last April. Browne did poorly in the fight, and was quite fortunate not to have been handed his first loss. The win for Browne showed how far off he is from the top fighters in the 175lb division. Browne is going to need to make some vast improvements in his game for him to be able to win a world title.
Williams Jr lost his last fight to WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson by a 4th round knockout last July. It was a competitive fight for the first three rounds, but Stevenson was able to drop Williams Jr. in the 4th round to get a knockout. Williams Jr. was beaten by Gabriel Campillo by a 5th round stoppage in 2014. However, Williams had a big win over contender Edwin Rodriguez by a 2ne round knockout in April of last year. That fight was a real war with guys swinging for the fences.