European Welterweight champion David Avanesyan successfully made the fourth defense of his crown by scoring an impressive second round stoppage of Liam Taylor on Saturday night at the Wembley Arena in London, England. Taylor had some success in the opening round by landing some body shots on the champion, but Avanesyan as is his custom, applied steady pressure on his challenger and dropped Taylor late in the first round with a short right hand to the head. At this point in the fight, Taylor made a decision that seemingly said that if he could not box against a steady pressure fighter like Avanesyan, his strategy would be to go toe to toe.
This proved to be very costly for the challenger as trading punches with the champion played right into Avanesyan’s hands and following a right hand, left hook combination that appeared to momentarily make Taylor go limb, Referee Mark Lyson stepped in and stopped the fight before any further damage could be done. Official time of the stoppage was 2:18 of round two. David Avanesyan advances to 28-3-1, with 16 Knockouts. Liam Taylor falls to 23-2-1, with 11 Knockouts.
Also on this card:
Women’s Featherweight Ebonie Jones successfully made her professional debut in scoring a six round decision over Vaida Masiokaite. Jones pressed the action from the outset and with consistent pressure and combination punches, she was able to get the decision victory. As all non-title bouts held in the United Kingdom and Ireland that do not impact regional or world rankings are scored solely by the referee officiating a bout, Referee Chas Coakley scored this bout 59-55 in favor of Jones. Ebonie Jones advances to 1-0, with 0 Knockouts. Vaida Masiokaite falls to 2-11-4, with 1 Knockout.
In a British English Super-Middleweight championship elimination bout, Germaine Brown outworked Jamal Le Doux to earn a ten round decision. Referee Lee Every scored the bout 99-92 in favor of Brown. Brown now moves in position to challenge current English Super-Middleweight champion Charlie Schofield in a step that should lead to a British title challenge if he were successful against Schofield. Germaine Brown advances to 10-0, with 3 Knockouts. Jamal Le Doux falls to 8-2, with 4 Knockouts.
Cruiserweight Richard Riakporhe had a stern test on his way to improving to 12-0 in his career by scoring an eight round decision over Krzysztof Twardowski. Twardowski made things difficult for Riakporhe including bloodying his nose throughout, but Riakporhe held his ground including landing a flush right hook to the head that dropped Twardowski late in the eighth and final round. Referee Chas Coakley scored the bout 78-72 for Riakporhe. Richard Riakporhe advances to 12-0, with 8 Knockouts. Krzysztof Twardowski falls to 9-3, with 6 Knockouts.
Undefeated Middleweight prospect Linus Udofia scored a third round stoppage of Xhuljo Vrenozi. Official time of the stoppage was 2:39 of round three. Linus Udofia advances to 17-0, with 9 Knockouts. Xhuljo Vrenozi falls to 17-4, with 4 Knockouts.
Unbeaten Cruiserweight Mikael Lawal scored a third round knockout of Benoit Huber. Official time of the stoppage was 1:36 of round three. Mikael Lawal advances to 14-0, with 8 Knockouts. Benoit Huber falls to 7-2, with 5 Knockouts.
Originally, this bout was to be headlined by former two-time IBO Super-Middleweight world champion Chris Eubank Jr., who was to have faced Anatoli Muratov. Despite both men weighing in successfully yesterday, the bout was cancelled on the morning of the fight due to what was reported by numerous Boxing media outlets outside of this one including Boxing Scene as medical concerns surrounding Muratov that was raised by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC). While as of this writing there is no further information as to why the BBBofC stepped in seemingly at the eleventh hour to cancel the fight, the absence of Eubank-Muratov on this card allowed a fighter who was originally supposed to be the co-main event attraction to step firmly into the spotlight.
The 147lb. Welterweight division is some might argue in a period of transition with the retirement earlier this week of future Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao as well as many top fighters in the division all vying for the number spot at the top of the Welterweight mountain. David Avanesyan has flirted with the top of the division before having previously held interim/regular champion status in the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Welterweight ratings. Now on the strength of five straight victories and four successful title defenses of his European crown, where he has scored impressive knockouts in all five of those bouts including the fight where he won the European championship, he has made a strong argument as being possibly a potential challenger for the winner of the upcoming WBO Welterweight world championship bout between undefeated champion Terence Crawford and former two-time Welterweight world champion Shawn Porter. While there is certainly no shortage of potential challengers for any of the current world champions in the division, five consecutive knockout victories in a relatively short timeframe is just about as convincing an argument as a top world contender could make as having earned an opportunity against the upper echelon of the division.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
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