by David P. Greisman

Lamont Peterson had been on a decent run prior to his knockout loss last year against Lucas Matthysse. He had knocked out Victor Cayo to earn a shot at then-titleholder Amir Khan, scored a split decision over Amir Khan to pick up a pair of world titles, and then, after an extended layoff, had stopped Kendall Holt in front of a hometown crowd.

And then Matthysse put him down three times and stopped him in three rounds.

That was eight months ago, and Peterson returned this past Saturday with a unanimous decision win over Dierry Jean.

“I think it puts me back in the position that I was in before the loss,” Peterson told reporters afterward. “At the end of the day, you’re fighting at the top level, you’re fighting top guys. You take a loss, you go back a few steps. You win, you go up a few steps. At the end of the day, I think I’m where I was. I’m just ready to continue to climb the ladder and become No. 1.”

Peterson said he wants the consensus No. 1 guy at junior welterweight, Danny Garcia, who is expected to return in March in a bout against Mauricio Herrera.

Pick up a copy of David’s new book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com