Keith Thurman
In December 2016, early reports suggested there was a fight in the works, for David Avanesyan to defend the interim championship against Peterson. A venue in the United States was being discussed for February 2017. On January 11, 2017 a spokesperson for Avanesyan announced the fight would take place on February 18 at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio on the undercard of Adrien Broner vs. Adrian Granados on Showtime. Peterson became a two-weight division champion after defeating Avanesyan via a 12-round unanimous decision. The fight was described as 'highly competitive and entertaining' by ESPN. Two judges scored it 116-112 and the third had it closer at 115-113, all in favor of Peterson. Peterson earned a purse of $250,000 whilst Avanesyan had a purse of $75,000 and winning the fight put Peterson in position to fight the winner of Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia.