World Weekend Boxing Roundup: Peterson, Broner Victorious
The big action of the weekend took place in America, with Cintas Center in Cincinnati taking center stage by featuring a clash for the WBA welterweight crown.
Reigning champion David Avanesyan, 22-2 (11), was elevated from Interim titlist following victory over veteran Shane Mosely last year but the 28 year old from Russia had never faced elite competition and would have to prove himself up to the job of doing so against former IBF/WBA light welter king Lamont Peterson, 35-3-1 (17).
33 year old American Peterson had been out of the ring for over a year following his difficult majority decision victory over tricky Cuban Felix Diaz but the Washington DC native held a massive edge in experience over Avanesyan, having previously faced the likes of Danny Garica, Timothy Bradley, Lucas Matthysse, Amir Khan and Victor Ortiz.
The taller Peterson put the knowledge he gained in five previous world title contests to good use against Avanesyan, first by continuously moving and making the champion work at a high rate before taking the fight shoulder to shoulder, grinding down his Russian adversary with constant body shots.
Avanesyan proved himself to be a good fighter, winning some rounds behind sharp combinations that caught Peterson by surprise at times, but “Ava” couldn’t gain control or hurt the challenger.
By the final rounds, both boxers were very tired and only managed sporadic fighting before the end, after which Peterson was declared the winner by margins of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
Peterson now stands as a two-weight world champion and could face the winner of the upcoming Keith Thurman vs. Danny Garcia unification contest.
Also on the bill in Cincinnati, local hero and former four-weight world champ Adrien Broner, 33-2 (24), held off rival Adrian Granados, 18-5-2 (12), via split decision at welterweight.
The smaller Broner was far more economical with his punches and also much more accurate as the free-swinging Granados provided a lot of opportunities for the local man. Broner clearly was the more talented boxer but Granados showed tremendous heart and grit as he constantly took the fight to his former sparring partner.
Neither fighter was hurt or knocked down in the bout but it was a torrid affair with each man having moments but Granados could never succeed in shutting down the offense of the former champion.
Broner did look to be fairly small for the welterweight division and will likely continue to have the kind of trouble he experienced at the weight previously during losses to Marcos Maidana and Shawn Porter, should he continue at 147 pounds.
In an interesting contest at light heavyweight, two contenders provided a entertaining affair on the undercard as Marcus Browne, 19-0 (14) and Thomas Williams Jr, 20-3 (14), went at it.
Williams had previously faced better competition than Browne but was also coming off a four round KO loss to heavy-handed WBC champion Adonis Stevenson and unfortunately for the Washington DC area southpaw, that trend continued in Cincinnati.
Browne put on a dominant performance, downing Williams in the second and fourth frames before finishing him off at 0:42 of the sixth round.