Crawford vs. Avanesyan Preview
The WBO welterweight title is on the line Saturday, December 10th. Pound for pound great Terence Crawford will defend his title in his own backyard of Omaha, Nebraska against former WBA champion David Avanesyan.
Crawford is coming off a 10th round TKO of Shawn Porter last November giving him his fifth straight successful title defense. Crawford was originally scheduled for a unification bout with Errol Spence Jr. to take place in November, but the fight fell through yet again. While there has been plenty debate on who is to blame for the fight not happening, at the end of the day the blame lies on both fighters.
Crawford is not letting the failed fight with Spence phase him and he is totally focused on Avanesyan. “David Avanesyan is a good fighter, Crawford said. He’s on a good winning streak, and beat a guy in the U.K., in Josh Kelly who people thought was going to be a star. I have to train like I am facing King Kong on December 10th, because Avanesyan has everything to gain and nothing to lose. I know he is going to bring everything on December 10th, so I’m not looking past him. This will be the best Avanesyan, so I have to be the best Terence Crawford.”
The 35-year-old is ready to put on a show in Omaha. “My goal is to remind the world that world I am the best fighter on the planet so everyone needs to tune in December 10 on this new BLK Prime PPV platform. I am fighting not just to be the best, but to give fighters fair and equitable treatment in negotiations moving forward.”
Aside from Porter, Crawford has key wins over Kell Brook, Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez Jr., Jeff Horn, Julius Indongo, Felix Diaz, John Molina Jr, and Viktor Postol. Hopefully a convincing win on Saturday gives he and Spence the proper motivation to finally ink the fight that the boxing world is waiting for.
Avanesyan has won six straight fights since being TKO’d in 2018 by Egidijus Kavaliauskas. He won the vacant WBA interim welterweight title in 2015 and defended the belt one time against hall of famer Shane Mosley in what is still the biggest win of his career. He was promoted to regular champion but would lose the belt in his next fight by unanimous decision to Lamont Peterson.
The 34-year-old wants to prove his critics wrong. “American fans see that I lost to Egidijus Kavaliauskas and that he lost to Crawford. I’m a quality fighter. I’m 34 years old. I’m focused on this fight.
“I need to win this fight. There’s a good chance. I am happy. I show before six times.
The Russian fighter went on to say, “My focus is December 10th against Terence Crawford. You know Terence Crawford is a good fighter, and I know he’s a good fighter. Many boxing fans know he’s a good fighter. This is good for me.”
If Avanesyan can shock the world on Saturday, could he be set up for a unification bout with Spence? There are several unknowns heading into this fight especially with contractual obligations to a rematch, but a Crawford loss would certainly throw a monkey wrench into a welterweight unification.
