Peter Quillin has at least one thing in common with upcoming Czech rival Lukas Konecny: Neither fighter has been to Washington, D.C.

Quillin (30-0, 22 knockouts) will be making his inaugural visit to the nation's capitol on April 19 when he makes the third defense of his WBO middleweight belt against Konecny (50-4, 23 KOs) at The DC Amory in Washington.

Quillin-Konecny is the co-feature on Showtime to a 175-pound unification bout between IBF titleholder Bernard Hopkins and WBA counterpart Beibut Shumenov, marking the second straight time that Quillin has been on a Hopkins undercard.

"This will be my first time being in D.C., period. Never been there. It's business first, pleasure later, so I'm going to enjoy being there as a guest of boxing," said Quillin, who is 30.

"I'm going to enjoy the part of me trying to secure another victory for myself and under my belt. With that being said, I'll enjoy the city after the fight when I have the time. God is bringing me there for business, and that's what it's going to be all about for me right now."

Konecny (50-4, 23 KOs) is a 35-year-old former title challenger who never has been stopped and who will be making his debut on American soil, having fought mostly in his home country, the Czech Republic.

Konecny will be after his third straight win since falling by unanimous decision to Zaurbek Baysangurov by unanimous decision in 2012.

"I can not overlook a guy just because he has never fought in the United States," said Quillin. "He's got 50 wins and I can not over look that, so I will be taking this fight very seriously."

Quillin made a point that he is in search of what could be his 13th knockdown in a fifth straight fight, if not, a stoppage win.

In succession, Quillin floored Winky Wright once during a unanimous decision in June 2012, dropped Hassan N'Dam six times during a unanimous decision for the belt in October of that year, scored four knockdowns in a seventh-round knockout of Fernando Guerrero last April, and one more in during a 10th-round stoppage of Gabriel Rosado in October.

"One of those knockdowns is against Winky Wright, who will probably be in the Hall of Fame one day. It's a great part of my legacy that I want to continue. That's why I'm working so hard. I'm in New York City doing this camp. I haven't done a camp in New York in many years," said Quilin, a Brooklyn transplant who has split his time at locations that include the Gleason's and Trinity facilities.

"So it's going to be very challenging to see how well I do with being at home, where people consider you to have the most distractions. But for me, a distraction can be wherever you're at. You can have it in your head, and you can bring it with you. I'm shutting down everything and making sure that my team is in place and that when I go in there on April 19 that I'm supremely ready to put on a great performance and come out of there victorious."

Tickets are priced at $25, $50, $75, $200 and $300, and go on sale today at 10 a.m. ET. Tickets are available online at http://www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations or by calling (800) 745-3000. The DC Armory Box Office will be open on fight night only from 3-to-10 p.m. ET.