CINCINNATI, OH – At the final About Billions Promotions presser for the Adrian Broner versus Adrian Granados Showtime Boxing event, only two fighters from one of the card’s pairings had a world title at stake, and each of those fighters’ brief statements revealed his understanding of how a victory solidified their position in the division alongside the other welterweight world champions. A win moved the winner closer to a shot at obtaining the chief factors for boxing’s greatest standard-bearers – the most prestigious belts and the most lucrative purses.
Former super lightweight world titlist Lamont Peterson was seeking a return to the championship level. Defending WBA world champion David Avanesyan was seeking a victory over a bonafide live contender in the United States to affirm his champion status to the boxing world.
“It is a great pleasure for me to be defending my world title in the U.S. against a very good opponent in Lamont Peterson, ” said David Avanesyan. “This fight gives me a great opportunity to let the U.S. know what I’m about and put me in a position to fight the top fighters in the division. This will be a a difficult defense but I am ready to show everyone how good I am.”
“I’m extremely excited about getting back in the ring and fighting on Showtime again,” said Lamont Peterson. “I know this guy is coming in with a lot of confidence from that belt, but I believe I’m the better fighter…”
In the co-main event Saturday Feb.18, the two fighters skillfully traded shots for all twelve rounds in an exciting fight that thrilled the 6,085 fans inside the Cintas Center at Xavier University. In the end, Washington, D.C.’s determined Lamont Peterson’s hand was raised as the unanimous winner. The judges scored the fight 115-113 and 116-112 two times.
Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) set the pace of the fight in round one by establishing his jab, and employing a sound defense that limited David Avanesyan (22-2-1, 11 KOs) to connecting with just a single punch per PunchStat Report – one power punch. Avanesyan adjusted to Peterson’s style in round two and edged the veteran American in landed shots, including nine power shots to Peterson’s five.
The action was extremely close over the first half of the fight, with the judges not agreeing on the winner of any rounds until the sixth and seventh where all three scored the rounds for Peterson. Per PunchStat Report both men stepped on the gas in round six as their punches thrown exceeded 70 attempts for the first time, but Peterson finished with a double digit lead in connects – 27 to 17. Of those 27 shots 24 scored as power shots.
To Avanesyan’s credit, one of his 15 power punches was a sneaky left hand that knocked a large amount of fluid from Peterson’s mouth or nose. The two fighters closed out the last :20 of the round standing toe-to-toe exchanging a series of thunderous shots. In the subsequent round, Peterson maintained his high work rate, and went to work on the defending champion’s body. He landed a pair of ripping right hooks to Avanesyan’s body that highlighted his 21 power punches landed in the round. Both of the men adeptly slipped off of one another throughout the round to find angles to land big shots inside.
In a true display of Avanesyan’s championship status, the Russian responded to Peterson’s best two rounds by sweeping the eighth and ninth rounds on all three judges’ cards. Despite losing the rounds, in the opinion of each of the judges, Peterson’s output didn’t drop off in either round. Furthermore, while Peterson’s astonishingly short boxing trunk’s conveyed his intentions to go to war with a blue-collar, no-nonsense approach; at this point in the fight the 33-year old worked in some crowd-pleasing wind-up uppercuts, as well as a couple of flashy rope-a-dope moments amid pressure from the resilient Avaneysan.
Peterson, completely unwilling to discuss any regret concerning any of his close losses at the pre-fight presser, entered round ten and the championship rounds looking to secure a resounding win. Through the highly-contested final quarter of the bout the two men regularly maintained their mutual respect for one another, tapping gloves after a few minor fouls. However, Peterson knew the fight was there for the taking, and could ill afford to squander capturing the world title that was right before him.
Avanesyan opened round ten working nicely with as few feet of space temporarily divided the two fighters, but Peterson moved in to close the distance and re-engage in close quarters. The Russian moved around lively on his toes still throwing in combinations, putting forth the required great effort to maintain his titles, but Peterson responded to Avaneysan’s momentum two rounds earlier by sweeping the final three rounds on all of the judges’ cards.
In the championship rounds, Peterson connected with 28 and 37 of his power punches, respectively. The confident challenger closed out the final three rounds averaging 43.7% in landed power punches. That grueling effort compelled Peterson’s longtime trainer, Barry Hunter, to charge into the ring after the final bell to lift his new WBA world champion high into the air as the Cintas Center filled with cheers at the world-class mettle both men displayed.
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The usually reserved Peterson was visibly pleased with his accomplishment, and shared a few words on his new championship status.
“He didn’t do much that surprised me. If anything I didn’t expect him to fight back as much when I started picking up the pace.
“I knew I had him from the start, he couldn’t get past my jab and I knew I could execute my game plan.”
“I expected to put pressure on him the way I did. I didn’t think he would come back and fight at times as hard as he did. He showed up and showed why he’s a champion and why he belongs on this level.
When asked about possibly facing the winner between welterweight champions Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, Peterson said, “Of course. I want anyone in the welterweight division.
And, then he added, “I am totally comfortable at this weight.”
Avanesyan at 28-years old, saw an end to his 9 consecutive victories in fights spanning from Russia to Monaco and to the United Kingdom, and his performance validated his May 2016 victory over former world champion Shane Mosley. Regarding the disappointing loss to Peterson he said, “I thought it was a close fight and I thought that I was landing my punches more cleanly while his punches were being blocked. Lamont is very good but I thought the judges were impressed with his movement, but I had the power.
“I understand it would be hard to win a decision in the U.S. I’m upset I lost my title but I will keep fighting and I’d love to fight Lamont again.”
It’s for certain longtime trainer, mentor and father-figure Hunter will look at the fight as decisive win and steer Team Peterson towards the next lofty accomplishment.
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