Photos: Lamont Peterson Back in The Mix, Beats Avanesyan

In the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING co-feature, Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) narrowly edged WBA (regular) Welterweight World Champion David Avanesyan (22-2-1, 11 KOs) in an entertaining 12-round unanimous decision (115-113, 116-112 twice) to become a two-division champion. Photos by Stephanie Trapp.

 
The fight was fought at close quarters from the start.  Peterson attacked on the inside instead of working off his jab, as was largely his game plan when he unified the 140-pound division.  

Avanesyan and Peterson traded body punches and uppercuts, but it was Peterson who was more fluid and effective in the second half of the fight.  Peterson committed to the body in the later rounds, connecting on 98 shots to the body over 12 rounds. 

Both fighters connected on 40 percent of their total punches, but the real difference was that Peterson connected on 39 percent of his power shots compared to 29 percent for Avanesyan.