Russia’s dangerous European welterweight champion David Avanesyan will finally meet Sunderland starlet Josh Kelly on January 30, at a venue to be confirmed, after previous postponements caused bad blood to boil over.
A December 2018 meeting at the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield was scotched after illness forced Kelly to withdraw on the morning of the fight. Avanesyan (26-3-1, 14 KOs) subsequently won the EBU 147lbs title from Bilbao’s fancied Kerman Lejarraga in March 2019 before annihilating the Basque fighter in the opening round of their September 2019 return.
The Avanesyan-Kelly bout was rescheduled for March 2020 at the O2 Arena, only for the outbreak of the coronavirus to nix the fight again. Now a simmering grudge match should be settled in the New Year.
“This fight has been a long time coming and it’s finally time to silence my doubters,” said Kelly (10-0-1, 6 KOs). “He is the favourite heading into the fight. He has proved how good he is in his last three fights. It’s going to be a good fight, but one I’m quietly confident about.
“I feel like this is a turning point in my career. When I win, then I take it to the next level. A lot in the future is lying on this fight. Two fights ago I fought Ray Robinson [and drew], which was a massive step-up. I don’t think people realised how big of a step-up that was, but now I’m fighting Avanesyan, I should get the credit I deserve.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn added: “What a way to start the year with this heavily-anticipated grudge match. This is a huge step up for ‘PBK’ and Ava has looked like a wrecking ball over the past few years. In 2021, we are going for gold and this is the perfect way to start the year – expect a thrilling fight!”