By Steve Kim
On February 18th at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lamont Peterson got back into the swing of things by out-pointing David Avanesyan over twelve rounds to capture the 'regular' version of the WBA welterweight title.
By winning this fight, Peterson puts himself in line to face Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs), who holds the WBA 'super' title and also holds the WBC title after winning a decision over Danny Garcia last month at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
A collision with Thurman is a fight that Peterson and his team yearn for.
"Absolutely [we want Thurman], I think according to the WBA Lamont is supposed to be the mandatory. So I think it's going to be a great fight and we're definitely looking forward to the challenge," said Barry Hunter, who trains and managers Peterson.
As for when this could come to fruition, Hunter told BoxingScene.com - "Realistically, you have all the other 147's going at it. (Andre) Berto and (Shawn) Porter, they're getting ready to do their things. Errol (Spence) he's getting ready to fight (IBF world champion Kell Brook). I believe after the dust has settled with those particular matches so I think some time after four, five months."
The Avanesyan fight was the first one for Peterson since October 2015, when he defeated Oympic gold medal winner Felix Diaz.
When asked if he wanted to see his fighter more active in the future, Hunter stated - "Well, you know how that is. If I had my choice we'd fight damn near every month. But realistically that's not the case but I would love to be in there more than we have. But we're patient so we have time and we'll see where we go."
The 33-year old Peterson has a career record of 35-3-1 (17 KO's)
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
