by David P. Greisman

Paul Williams and his trainer, George Peterson, were in Washington, D.C., for Friday’s weigh-in for the Amir Khan-Lamont Peterson fight.

Peterson spoke briefly with a group of reporters about what’s next for Williams, who is slated to return on January 21 - possibly against Japanese upset artist Nobuhiro Ishida.

Q: What’s your preference for Paul Williams’ next fight?

Peterson: “I always want to go back and get the best fight and the most competitive fight out there. The most competitive fight out there would be [Erislandy] Lara or [Sergio] Martinez. That’s who I want.

“He just got caught with a shot he would’ve never got caught with. He fought that guy [Martinez] 12 rounds before in the first fight. He threw the same shot, but he never knocked him out. But we realize that it can happen anytime with anybody. So we want to get that fight back, either one of those.

“That’s what we want to do. But let me tell you one thing, what we want, and what they [the other fighters’ promoters] want … we open. We asked them for a fight. We want a fight. We’ll fight anybody anytime. Anyone in three weight classes. Paul Williams would do it. He’s done what no one else has done before.”

Q: What about Nobuhiro Ishida? There’s talk about that fight being next for Williams.

Peterson: “We’ll take any fight we can get. We’re in the fight business. When you’re in the fight business, you take what’s available.”

Q: Sergio Martinez hit Paul with the left hand in the first and second fight, and Paul got hit with it in the Lara fight, too. Now that he’s getting hit seemingly more with that shot, is that something you’re going to work on with him?

Peterson: “Here’s the thing. It’s not so much that he wasn’t working on that. We worked on that. We couldn’t execute. … Sometimes, look, I was having sex with my wife last night. It wasn’t like it was two nights ago. You understand what I’m saying? So you don’t have to show up each time you walk in the ring. And that’s what they fail to realize.”

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter at twitter.com/fightingwords2 or on Facebook at facebook.com/fightingwordsboxing, or send questions and comments to fightingwords1@gmail.com