There are lots of people within the sport nonetheless reeling from the truth that an undisputed welterweight championship isn’t happening subsequent.
Included amongst those that absolutely anticipated that combat to have landed on the calendar is David Avanesyan, the fighter in opposition to whom Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford will as an alternative defend his WBO welterweight title.
“I didn’t know there was no probability of the combat taking place till they known as me,” Avanesyan admitted to BoxingScene.com. “I assumed Spence-Crawford would have been an awesome combat. I needed them to combat earlier than they provided it to me.”
Naturally, Avanesyan didn’t hesitate to leap on the alternative of a lifetime. An instantaneous sure from the Armenian-Russian contender which adopted the collapse of a modern-day superfight paved the way in which for this Saturday’s headliner at CHI Well being Heart in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska (BLK Prime Pay-Per-View/PPV.com, 9:00 p.m. ET, $39.99).
Those that proceed to help Crawford (38-0, 29KOs) are joyful to see the switch-hitting three-division champ obtain his first hometown affair in additional than 4 years. Nevertheless, there’s a massive faction of the game let down by the truth that unified WBA/WBC/IBF welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22KOs) gained’t be standing within the nook this weekend.
Avanesyan has a easy answer.
“I promise, after I knock out Terence Crawford, I might be joyful to combat Errol Spence subsequent,” promised the streaking Avanesyan, who has gained his final six fights—all inside the gap.
Previous to the purpose of getting the telephone name from supervisor Neil Marsh, Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17KOs) was already in coaching camp for a deliberate protection of his EBU welterweight title versus Spain’s Jon Miguez. Mockingly, the bout was on account of happen on November 19—the identical date initially focused for Spence-Crawford.
Avanesyan’s group was already getting ready to usher in sparring companions to their UK camp by the point they discovered of the Spence-Crawford collapse. His trainers as an alternative needed to spherical up the very best southpaws accessible to assist put together for an elite pound-for-pound expertise in Crawford (38-0, 29KOs), who is an ideal 16-0 (13KOs) in title fights spanning three weight divisions.
Weirdly, it was a dialog for which Avanesyan was already mentally ready.
“I all the time felt prefer it was my future to combat Terence Crawford,” insisted Avanesyan. “Even going into this coaching camp, I felt like this combat was going to occur. I went to coaching camp in October to organize for a combat on November 19. The day I get to coaching camp, they requested if I needed to combat Terence Crawford.
“My supervisor Neil Marsh known as me and I informed him sure instantly. It was not possible to say no. It is a very massive combat and I’m very joyful to return. That is such a giant alternative for me, for my household.”
Jake Donovan is a senior author for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox