By Yuri Tarantin

WBA "regular" welterweight champion, 28-year-old Russian boxer David Avanesyan (22-1-1, 11KO) is very excited about his next fight on February 18th in  Cincinnati, Ohio. His opponent will be a former world junior welterweight champion, 33-year-old Lamont Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KO) of the United States.

Avanesyan is riding high after winning a twelve round unanimous decision last year over future Hall of Famer "Sugar" Shane Mosley.

"[My confidence is much stronger], because when you beat a legend like Shane Mosley, you not only become stronger physically but also psychologically. I think that this fight really brought me to a new level in boxing," Avanesyan told BoxingScene.com/Allboxing.ru.

Avanesyan is expecting a tough contest. He studied several of Peterson's recent fights. The Russian fighter is friends with IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, but he won't be a part of this camp.

Peterson is coming back from a decent stint of inactivity. He was last seen in the ring back in October of 2015, when he won what some felt was a controversial majority decision over undefeated Olympic gold medal winner Felix Diaz.

"Yes, Peterson is an awkward fighter, but I can not say that he is not an entertaining fighter. We were offered this fight, and we immediately agreed. During the negotiations there were a lot of rumors about the fight, so we waited for the correct information and then made an announcement," Avanesyan said.

"For this fight I'm getting ready in England, and this is my first training camp here. Brook is not involved, since he is on vacation. Despite this, my preparation will involve some very good professional boxers, so everything will go perfectly."

The event in two weeks will be televised on Showtime, with former four division world champion Adrien Broner appearing in the main event against Adrian Granados.

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru.