By Carlos Boogs

This Saturday night at the Cintas Center at Xavier University in Cincinnati, WBA "regular" welterweight champion David Avanesyan (22-1, 11 KOs) will defend his belt in a Showtime televised clash against two-time world champion Lamont Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KOs)

Avanesyan is back for the first time since last June's decision win over former three division champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley.

Peterson is returning from an even long stint, a close twelve round decision over Olympic gold medal winner Felix Diaz in October of 2015.

Despite the long layoff, Peterson says he was not affected at all during a very hard training camp.

"I had a great camp. I'm thankful to my team for getting me ready for this one. We get great conditioning in the gym. It's been another amazing training camp and we're going to put that effort into the ring. We got some great sparring that has me ready for this fight. I'm ready to take care of business on Saturday night. I'm looking forward to it and I hope everyone enjoyed it," Peterson said.

"We always want to be in good condition. Avanesyan switches from southpaw to orthodox a lot, which is something we had to be prepared for. We've sparred with guys from both sides and gotten a lot of good rounds there. He's a strong fighter too. You know a Russian fighter is going to come in with power. We made sure I'll be able to match him anytime the fight gets rough. I'll be ready for anything.

Peterson has been stepping down more on his punches in some of his recent fights. He plans to do the same strategy against Avanesyan, and also expects to stop the champion in the late rounds.

"I think my speed will give him trouble. He's been able to handle everything in the past, but that doesn't mean I won't have advantages. I'm the more experienced fighter and I have the skills to get the win," Peterson said.

"I feel like I'm going to get him out of there. I'm predicting a late stoppage." This is definitely the weight I want to be fighting at. I like the way I feel and the kind of shape I'm in. There are a lot of good names in this division and a lot of opportunities out there."