Josh Kelly beaten by David Avanesyan as European welterweight title bid fails

David Avanesyan proved too strong for Josh Kelly
Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
George Flood21 February 2021

Josh Kelly’s attempts to dethrone European welterweight champion David Avanesyan ended in defeat on Saturday night.

The Sunderland fighter rocked his battle-hardened opponent in round two of an entertaining contest at The SSE Arena, Wembley, but ultimately could not deal with the relentless ensuing pressure and trainer Adam Booth threw in the towel after some heavy punishment administered in round six.

The defeat was the first of 2016 Olympian and accomplished amateur Kelly’s 12-fight professional career, while Avanesyan will hope to return to world title contention after the third successful defence of his European belt.

Kelly’s loss follows that of fellow Matchroom fighter Josh Warrington, who was stunned by little-known Mexican Mauricio Lara at the same venue seven days ago.

‘PBK’ made a strong start to Saturday’s main event - an eagerly-anticipated showdown that was three years in the making, having previously been postponed on multiple occasions.

Despite blood oozing everywhere from a cut to the back of his head sustained during an accidental clash, the 26-year-old looked stylish early on and was impressing with his greater speed.

He was producing the cleaner, crisper shots and some eye-catching combinations, hurting Avanesyan in the second round with a stinging left hook that landed flush on the jaw.

However, ‘Ava’ bounced back from that blow very quickly, swiftly landing some heavy punches of his own and constantly piling the pressure on Kelly, whose speed slowed notably as he approached the middle rounds.

The pressure was relentless and sapped away at Kelly’s energy as he began to take some real punishment.

Avanesyan was switching his powerful attack between the head and body during round six, with Booth making the wise decision to throw in the towel after two knockdowns inflicted on his fighter.

The towel also came in after eight rounds of the chief support act of the night, with Florian Marku - despite a shock knockdown - defeating Rylan Charlton in another absorbing welterweight battle before promptly calling out Conor Benn, who was on punditry duty for Sky Sports.

Robbie Davies Jr lost a majority decision after a gruelling contest against Mexico’s Gabriel Valenzuela, who deservedly claimed the vacant IBF Intercontinental super-lightweight title.

The much-anticipated professional debut of heavyweight prospect Johnny Fisher ended in first-round stoppage of Matt Gordon, while Jordan Gill survived a tough test against the experienced Cesar Juarez to reclaim the vacant WBA International featherweight belt.

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