By Ian S Palmer
Former WBA Welterweight Champion David Avanesyan of Russia will be defending his European Welterweight Title against unbeaten Liam Taylor of England at Wembley Arena in London this Saturday, Oct. 2nd. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports Arena. Avanesyan stopped Josh Kelly in the sixth round in his last fight in February while Taylor stopped Tommy Broadbent in the first round in July in his last outing.
The 33-year-old Avanesyan now fights out of the UK and enters the ring with a record of 27-3-1 with 15 Kos. He turned pro in 2009 and has fought 201 rounds since. He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and has a reach of 68.5 inches. Avanesyan won the interim WBA belt against Charlie Navarro by unanimous decision in 2015 and then defended it against Shane Mosley by unanimous decision before losing it to Lamont Peterson by unanimous decision in his next outing.
After losing to Peterson he was stopped in the sixth round in 2018 by Egidijus Kavaliauskas in a shot at the NABF Welterweight Crown. Since turning pro he’s also won the Russia Welterweight, interim WBC Youth Intercontinental, WBC Asian Boxing Council and WBC Baltic Welterweight Title. Avanesyan won the European title by stopping Kerman Lejerraga in the ninth round in 2019 and has defended it three times, including a first-round stoppage of Lejerraga in their rematch six months later.
Avanesyan has good speed, but he’s not known as a heavy hitter as his knockout ratio currently stands at 48.4 per cent. He’s a pretty good body puncher who likes to throw combinations rather than one shot at a time. His first loss came at the hands of Andrey Klimov by a six-round unanimous decision in his second pro fight in 2009 and he fought to a 12-round draw with Aslanbek Kozaev in 2013.
The 30-year-old Taylor carries around a mark of 23-1-1 with 11 Kos and has 110 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2011 following his amateur career. His height and reach are unlisted so unfortunately we can’t compare him size-wise to Avanesyan. Taylor also carries average power with a current knockout ratio of 44 per cent.
Taylor’s first and only pro loss was a 10-round unanimous decision to Tyrone Nurse in 2015 when he was dropped in the seventh round. His lone draw was a four-round technical decision against Chris Jenkins in November, 2019 when the fight was stopped due to a cut to Jenkins which was caused by an accidental head butt. That bout was for Jenkins’ British and Commonwealth Welterweight Titles.
Prediction…
Taylor hasn’t really fought anybody of note or any legitimate contenders and is stepping up in class against Avanesyan at Wembley. Avanesyan may be an aging warhorse who is relatively unknown to most boxing fans but he looked spectacular against the highly-rated Josh Kelly earlier this year. If he fights the same way this weekend he should have no problem leaving the ring with a win.
