Once he smells blood he doesn’t let you off the hook.
That is the 11-word assessment of Carl Greaves of his European champion, David Avanesyan, who prepares to put his welterweight title on the line against Josh Kelly, not to mention his impressive array of world rankings.
Greaves has been involved in some of the 32-year-old’s best moments in the sport after the Russian moved to Newark in 2015 and is confident more are on their way, providing he deals with his opponent from Sunderland.
Avanesyan has certainly dealt with everything put before him on the Euro stage.
He clinched the EBU’s welterweight crown in style in Spain with an eighth-round/ninth-round stoppage of Bilbao’s Kerman Lejarraga.
When they met six months later in a re-match, the execution was even more decisive, Ava winning inside the first three minutes.
The former WBA world champion was just as deadly when he made his second defence, again in Spain, thumping another Spaniard, Jose del Rio, to defeat in the opening round.
Those results prompted promoter, Matchroom Sport’s managing director Eddie Hearn, to say he “has looked like a wrecking ball” while Sky Sports commentator and the satellite giant’s head of boxing development, Adam Smith, described him as a “dangerous puncher”.
Is Avanesyan a ruthless one-squeeze-of-the-trigger assassin or does he pepper his opponent with shots? Punch-lines asked the man who takes him on the pads on a daily basis.
“David hits solid with both hands,” said Greaves. “I wouldn’t say he was a one-punch knockout artist.
“But he hits hard and he’s very accurate and once he smells blood he doesn’t let you off the hook.”
The threat of the canvas was brought sharply into focus at the weekend when another unbeaten Josh, ex-IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington, was floored twice and stopped my heavy-handed Mexican Mauricio Lara in the same Wembley ring Avanesyan and Kelly will be sharing this Saturday.
Greaves says Team Ava are not chasing a KO – the eyes are only on a victory whether that’s points or a stoppage.
It will be the ninth bout in charge for the 44-year-old whose excellent nine-year career brought him a 32-7 record and two shots at the British super-featherweight title.
“I was chucked in at the deep end,” laughed Greaves whose debut with Ava was a WBA Interim world title triumph over Charlie Navarro in Monte Carlo.
Since then he’s been world champion and lost it and has been beaten twice, by Lamont Peterson and Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and there’s been no shame in that.
Avanesyan was due to challenge Kelly for Pretty Boy’s WBA International title in December 2018, only for the belt holder to take ill at the 11th hour.
“It was probably a blessing in disguise,” Greaves admitted. “David was on a bit of a bad patch at the time.
“He learned a lot from the Kavaliauskas fight and since then he’s won three European title fights and is even more confident now.
“It’s a great fight and an interesting fight with some good animosity from the first time.
“A win should get David a world title fight, 100 per cent.
“This should be an eliminator, both are highly-rated, world-ranked boxers.”
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
