FightFranchise | Bradley Faces Peterson On Showtime

Saturday night in California marks the return of WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (24-0-0, 11KO's), as he faces undefeated Lamont Peterson (27-0-0, 13KO's) in what looks to be a solid card televised live in the States by Showtime.

Bradley, a Californian resident, is coming off a No-Contest with Nate Campbell. Originally announced as a TKO victory for Bradley, the result was later changed by the California State Athletic Commission at a hearing after Campbell's promoter Don King lodged a complaint. The result may have been changed but everyone who saw the fight knows that Bradley was giving Campbell a beating and there was no doubt who the better man was. Nevertheless Bradley will want to get back on track with a win against Peterson.

As for Peterson, he currently holds the interim title, after defeating Willy Blain in seven, but Blain was certainly not a world class opponent and it could be argued that Peterson has done little to earn his shot. Only one name of note stands out on Peterson's record. That of Antonio Mesquita, who was 34-0 at the time. Peterson earned a wide margin unanimous decision victory that catapulted him into the world rankings, but since then victories over Rogelio Castaneda Jr, Lanardo Tyner and Willy Blain have hardly made the world stand up and take note. However, deserved or not, Peterson has his chance and has enough talent to potentially score the upset over Bradley.

Bradley has to be considered the favorite, as his wins over the likes of Junior Witter, Nate Campbell and Kendall Holt are far more than anything Peterson has accomplished, but with both men undefeated it will make for an exciting all-action fight, with neither man inclined to take a backwards step. Ulitmately though a victory for Braldey, whether by stoppage or decision, seems the likely outcome and anything else will be considered an upset.

In the co-feature, Australian Vic Darchinyan (32-2-1, 26KO's) returns from his loss to Jospeh Agbeko for the IBF bantamweight title with a defence of the WBC super flyweight title he held prior to losing. In the other corner will be Mexican Tomas Rojas (32-11-1, 22KO's) who despite an average record is a decent fighter. Having only lost to world champions for the last three years (Jorge Arce, Anselmo Moreno and Gerry Penalosa), he is certainly no pushover and considering Darchinyan is coming off a loss is a pretty decent opponent.

Power punching Darchinyan was practically unbeatable as a flyweight, notching up six defences of his IBF title, before bumping into stylish southpaw Nonito Donaire, who sensationally KO'd the 'Raging Bull' in five rounds. Since then it's been a rocky road for Darchinyan, drawing with Z Gorres and losing to Agbeko, all without managing to secure a Donaire rematch. Tomorrow night the rematch could be high on Darchinyan's mind, and with an impressive performance could well create enough demand. It should be a victorious night for Darchinyan, but make no mistake this shouldn't be a pushover and a good win would go a long way to securing the Donaire rematch.