Tag Archives: avanesyan

Posted on 02/16/2017

Showtime World Championship Boxing Preview: Broner vs. Granados, Peterson vs. Avanesyan, Browne vs. Williams
By: William Holmes

On Saturday Night Mayweather Promotions, TGB Promotions, and About Billions Promotions will televise three high caliber fights on the Showtime Network live from the Cintas Center at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The opening bout will be between undefeated United States Olympian Marcus Browne and Light Heavyweight contender Thomas Williams Jr. The co-main event of the evening will be between David Avanesyan and the returning Lamont Peterson in the welterweight division.

The main event of the night will be between Cincinnati native Adrien Broner and Adrian Granados in the welterweight division.

The following is a preview of all three televised bouts.

Marcus Browne (18-0) vs. Thomas Williams Jr. (20-2); Light Heavyweight Division

Marcus Browne represented the United States in the 2012 Summer Olympics and is a former National Police Athletic League Champion. He comes from a deep amateur background but will be facing one of the toughest tests of his career when he takes on former Light Heavyweight Title Contender Thomas Williams Jr.

Both boxers are southpaws, but Browne will have a slight ½ inch height advantage and an imposing four and a half inch reach advantage. Both boxers have decent power as Browne has stopped thirteen of his opponents while Williams has stopped fourteen. However, it should be noted that both of Williams’ losses have come by stoppage, so his chin can be considered questionable.

Williams has been fairly active and has fought twice in 2016 and once in 2015. His two losses were to Gabriel Campillo and Adonis Stevenson. He has defeated the likes of Edwin Rodriguez, Cornelius White, Yusaf Mack, and Otis Griffin.

Browne has never tasted defeat but won a very questionable decision over Radivoje Kalajdzic in his last bout. He has defeated the likes of Gabriel Campillo, Cornelius White, Aaron Pryor Jr., and Otis Griffin.

This will be Williams’ first fight since his devastating knockout loss to Adonis Stevenson. Williams was doing well in that bout, but unwisely chose to slug with a knockout artist. Browne isn’t considered by many to be a knockout artist, but he has a strong amateur pedigree and will likely be able to outbox and outlast Williams.

This is a good test for Browne and should be a compelling fight, but Browne should be considered the slight favorite.

David Avanesyan (22-1-1) vs. Lamont Peterson (37-3-1); WBA Welterweight Title

Lamont Peterson has been in some very entertaining fights during his career, but didn’t have any fights in 2016 and had no fights in 2015. He’s also thirty three years old and will be five years older than Avanesyan on fight night.

Avanesyan has spent most of his career fighting in Europe and Russia and wasn’t known by many until he defeated a washed up version of Shane Mosley. Avanesyan has been slightly more active than Peterson and fought once in 2016 and twice in 2015.

Avanesyan will be giving up one inch in height and about four inches in reach to Lamont Peterson. Peterson is also the better knockout artist as he has stopped seventeen of his opponents and Avanesyan has only stopped eleven.

Peterson’s losses were to Timothy Bradley Jr., Lucas Matthysse, and a razor thin decision loss to Danny Garcia. He has beaten the likes of Felix Diaz, Dierry Jean, Kendall Holt, Amir Khan, Lanardo Tyner, and Victor Cayo.

Avanesyan’s professional resume pales in comparison to Peterson. He has defeated the likes of Carlos Herrera, Shane Mosley, Kaizer Mabuza, and and Charlie Navarro. His lone loss was to Andrey Klimov in the second fight of his career.

Hopefully ring rust won’t be a factor for Peterson, but he’s been known to start fights slowly and warm up to the end. If Peterson waits too long to attack the body he could give up some early rounds and lose another close decision.

But Peterson has been in big fights before and he’s used to the pressure of a nationally televised audience. This experience gives him the edge over Avanesyan on Saturday.

Adrien Broner (32-2) vs. Adrian Granados (18-4-2); Welterweight Division

A lot of people have been questioning Broner’s conditioning and commitment to boxing as he has recently requested that this fight be fought at the welterweight limit and he appears to be several pounds over his normal fighting weight at recent press conferences.

Broner and Granados are both twenty seven years old, but Broner will be giving up two and a half inches in height and four and a half inches in reach. Both boxers are also similar in that they both have a decorated amateur background. Broner was a National Silver Gloves Champion and Granados was a Mexican Olympic Team Reserve and a Junior Golden Gloves Champ.

Broner is the bigger puncher of the two. He has stopped twenty four of his opponents while Granados has only stopped twelve. They both went 5-1 in their last six fights.

Granados has losses to Brad Solomon, Felix Diaz, Frankie Gomez, and Joe Juan Fuentes. He has beaten the likes of Amir Imam, Kermit Cintron, and Lanardo Tyner. His win over Imam was a major upset and likely got him this bout with Broner.

Broner has defeated the likes of Ashley Theophane, Khabib Allakhverdiev, John Molina, Emmanuel Taylor, Carlos Molina, Paulie Malignaggi, Antonio DeMarco, Daniel Ponce De Leon, and Jason Litzau. His losses were to Macros Maidana and Shawn Porter.
Broner’s recent appearances and social media drama gives this writer some concern going into Saturday, but this bout will be fought in Broner’s hometown and Granados, absent one upset victory, has never faced or defeated someone on the talent level of Adrien Broner.

Of the three televised bouts this one will likely be the biggest blowout.

Posted on 05/29/2016

Mosley Is Still A Warrior, But Can’t Get Past Avanesyan
By: Sean Crose

The Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona hosted the biggest fight of the legendary Shane Mosley’s comeback on Saturday evening. For Mosley 49-9-1 was, at 44 years of age, fighting an eliminator against the 21-1-1 David Avanesyan. Sure enough, the winner of the fight was going to be the mandatory for a title shot against the winner of this summer’s Shawn Porter-Keith Thurman WBA welterweight title showdown. Indeed, this bout was relevant.

First, however, the CBS Sports Network presented cruiserweights Dimar Ortuz, 10-0-2, and Ricardo Campillo 9-9-1. Clearly, Ortuz was the favorite, but he wasn’t able to finish his man off after hurting Campillo in the first. Still, Ortuz went on the dominate the fight. It was a boring affair to be sure, though Campillo certainly seemed happy to be hanging in there round after round. By the 6th, however, Ortuz was finally able to stop Campillo with a somewhat wild attack.

Afterwards Mosley’s son, Shane Jr, 6-1-0, took on Roberto Yong, 5-7-2, in a super middleweight throwdown. The fight was at times a somewhat chaotic affair, with both men tagging each other wildly. That being said, Mosley Jr effectively kept his range and was skilled enough to take the fight by majority decision. The younger Mosley isn’t a bad fighter, but his last name and pedigree may simply lead to expectations that exceed his talent.

Assured that at least one Mosley would walk away from the night with a victory in tow, Mosley Sr. finally entered the ring to face his Russian opponent (who was the “interim” WBA world welterweight champion – for what that’s worth). Mosley climbed through the topes with the legendary Roberto Duran (who looked pretty good for his age, thanks very much) in his corner. He may have been an advanced 44 years old, but Mosley most certainly looked to be in prime condition.

Mosley also appeared sharp and in control during the first, his jab allowing him to keep distance. Avanesyan was able to land a few times cleanly in the second, yet Mosley remained disciplined, his movements practiced and smooth. It was a tough round to call. Avanesyan continued to land in the third, however, before being taken down by a Mosley low blow. By the end of the third it was clear that the fight was becoming a rough affair.

Mosley picked up the pace to start the fourth. After Mosley appeared to take the first half of the round, however, Avanesyan began coming on strong, landing hard and pushing forward. It was a close fight, a good fight, but Avanesyan was clearly landing the harder shots. A more energetic Mosley rolled through the fifth, however, thus continuing to make things interesting. Mosley then owned the sixth, though he almost lost it due to a late rally by Avanesyan. Still, it appeared the aging legend had done enough to take the chapter.

With the first half of the fight essentially even, things moved into the 7th round, which Mosley dominated. Avanesyan retaliated by chopping his way through the 8th through grinding aggression, though the 9th was far tougher to call (I gave Avanesyan the slightest of an edge). Then, in the 10th, possible disaster struck for Mosley when the referee deducted him a point for hitting low.

Both men went for broke early in the 11th with an explosive flurry of punches. This had become more action fight than chess match. Mosley ended up going back to his corner breathing heavily, however, as Avanesyan had clearly tough guyed his way through the chapter. After getting clinical instructions from Duran, Mosley went out for the 12th and final three-minute clip.

Long story short, Mosley fought gamely until the end. It appeared, though, as if the old warrior was simply too far past his prime to earn the win. Or was he? Whaling away, the former champion landed hard on his foe, making it clear that he wasn’t there to lose. Indeed, I gave Mosley the last round. Who would the judges give the entire fight to, however?

Ultimately, it went to Avanesyan, who won by scores of 114-113, and, inexplicably, 117-110 on two of the judges’ cards. Avanesyan claimed afterward he could best Keith Thurman. Mosley, on the other hand, was a class act in defeat.

Posted on 05/26/2016

CBS Sports Net Boxing Preview: Mosley vs. Avanesyan
By: William Holmes

On Saturday night “Sugar” Shane Mosley’s GoBox Promotions will present a televised card on CBS Sports Net live from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Shane Mosley will be featured in the main event of the evening when he takes on David Avanesyan for Avanesyan’s WBA Interim Welterweight Title.

Several prospects will be featured on the card, including Dimar Ortuz (10-0), Shane Mosley Jr. (6-1), Victor Castro (16-0), and Luis Oliveras (10-0). The only other bouts scheduled to be televised will be Victor Castro against Carlos Zatarian (6-2-2) in the lightweight division as well as Dimar Ortuz (10-0) against Ricardo Campillo (9-9-1) in the cruiserweight division.

Several pre fight activities were planned this week. The promotion attempted to break the Guinness world record for the largest boxing lesson in history on May 24th and they held a ring girl search on May 25th. The promotion will also hold a public workout on May 26th with celebrity guests.

Additionally, the official weigh in will be open to the public on May 27th at the Westfield Shopping Center and a publicized flash mob will be held on the same date following the weigh in.

UFC fighter Brendan Schaub and boxing journalist Steve Kim are the scheduled broadcasterse for the bout.

The following is a preview of the main event of the evening.

David Avanesyan (21-1-1) vs. Shane Mosley (49-9-1); WBA Interim Welterweight Title

Despite the fact Shane Mosley is forty four years old and has nine losses on his record, he gets another shot at a world title when he faces David Avanesyan for the WBA Interim Welterweight Title.

The winner of this bout will be next in line to face the winner of Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman which is scheduled for June 25th in Brooklyn, New York. The winner, no matter who it is, will be a significant underdog against Porter or Thurman.

Avanesyan is seventeen years younger than Mosley, but will be giving up a half an inch in height and approximately two and a half inches in reach. On paper, Mosley appears to have more power than Avanesyan. Mosley has stopped forty one of his opponents while Avanesyan has only stopped eleven. However, Molsey’s last two fights were stoppage victories in 2015, but before that he hasn’t had a stoppage win since 2009. Avanesyan last two fights were also by stoppage victory.

Mosley has the better professional resume and amateur resume. Mosley won the US Amateur Championships as a lightweight but failed to qualify for the 1992 Olympics when he lost to Vernon Forrest in the light welterweight semifinals.

Mosley’s recent record has been subpar as he defeated a clearly past his prime Ricardo Mayorga and fringe contender Pablo Cesar Cano. His other notable victories came earlier in his career, and include Antonio Margarito, Luis Collazo, Fernando Vargas, Oscar De La Hoya, Antonio Diaz, and Jesse James Leija.

Mosley’s nine losses have come against some of the best in boxing. They include Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright twice each, Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, and Anthony Mundine.

Avanesyan lone defeat was to Andrey Klimov early on in his career. His notable victories pale in comparison to Mosley, but they include Charlie Navarro, Dean Byrne, Kaizer Mabuza, and Carlos Herrera.

Mosley has hired the legendary Roberto Duran to be his trainer for this bout and they are calling themselves the “Sugar and Stone” team. Mosley is clearly past his prime, and he hopes that pairing up with Duran will help recapture that magic he had earlier in his career.

If this bout happened five years ago Mosley would be a clear favorite. But his recent fight against Mayorga was considered by many to be a farce and he looked terrible in his loss to Anthony Mundine.

Avanesyan doesn’t appear to have the power to stop Mosley, but the seventeen year difference in age should make a difference if the bout goes all twelve rounds.

It’s a tough fight to pick, but father time is not on Mosley’s side.