Shane Mosley vs. David Avanesyan this Saturday night

By Boxing News - 05/23/2016 - Comments

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By Jeff Aranow: #3 WBA Shane Mosley (49-9-1, 41 KOs) will riding his two-fight winning streak into his clash this Saturday night against interim WBA welterweight champion David Avanesyan (21-1-1, 11 KOs) in their fight at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The Mosley-Avanesyan fight will be televised on CBS Sports net. The start time is at 10:30 ET/7:30 PT.

This should be a tough fight for the 44-year-old Mosley, because he’s fighting one of the better welterweights in the division in 27-year-old Russian Avanesyan. Mosley hasn’t fought a fighter as good as Avanesyan since making his comeback last year. It’s going to be a tough test for Mosley because the last time he fought a good fighter in 2013, he was beaten by Anthony Mundine by a 7th round stoppage after his back froze up on him.

In Mosley’s two-fight comeback, he’s beaten 41-year-old Ricardo Mayorga and non-contender Patrick Lopez. We don’t know how good Mosley is because he hasn’t beaten anyone of note since his comeback. But by fighting Avanesyan on Saturday, we’re going to find out quickly whether Mosley still has anything left in his game or not. If he doesn’t, then this is going to be an unpleasant experience for Mosley and for his fans that are hoping that he can capture another world title.

The winner of this Saturday’s Mosley vs. Avanesyan fight will become the mandatory for the June 25th fight between WBA World welterweight champion Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. They’ll be facing the winner of that fight next. The thought of Mosley potentially fighting Porter or Thurman isn’t a good.

If you remembered how one-sided Mosley’s fights against Manny Pacquiao and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez both were, you probably don’t want to see Mosley fighting the Thurman-Porter winner. Some boxing fans believe that Mosley was rejuvenated with his two years off from the sport after his loss to Mundine in 2013. It doesn’t look like Mosley has gotten any younger or improved in any way.

The only thing that seems to have changed is he’s been fighting weaker opposition since he started his comeback. Before Mosely’s two year layoff from the sport, he was fighting – and losing – to Pacquiao, Canelo and Mundine. Since Mosley has made his comeback, he’s fought 41-year-old Mayorga and the little known Patrick Lopez.

You can only say whether Mosley has become rejuvenated or not if/when he starts beating top talent in the welterweight division. Until then, you should be skeptical of a 44-year-old being any better than he was two years ago, especially if he’s not fought anyone good in his comeback.

Not much is known about how good Avanesyan is because he’s not been fighting high caliber opposition during his seven-year pro career. Avanesyan’s toughest fights have come against Kaizer Mabuza, Charlie Navarro, and Dean Byrne. Those are not major players in the top contender ranks. Those are more like fighters from yesterday or guys that never did anything on the world stage.

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The WBA has Avanesyan ranked No.1 with their organization, but there’s nothing on his resume that would suggest that he deserves to be ranked higher than #7 WBA Errol Spence Jr., #6 WBA Dmitry Mikhaylenko or #6 WBA Jose Benavidez. Those fighters look better than Avanesyan.

Avanesyan should win the fight over Mosley based on his youth, but his lack of experience could hurt him in this contest. This is such a big jump up for Avanesyan in terms of quality. He might not be ready for a fighter of Mosley’s experience and talent, even though he’s clearly not the fighter he was 15 years ago. Avanesyan has been facing too many lower level fighters and he’s no preparation for this fight.

The WBA is doing Avanesyan no favors by giving up a No.1 ranking with their organization based off the type of fighters he’s been facing. Avanesyan should probably be ranked No.15 with the WBA rather than No.1 when you examine the guys he’s been fighting since he turned pro. But then again, having Mosley at #3 is an odd ranking as well by the WBA. That ranking is more based on the fighter that Mosley was in the past than what he’s accomplished in his comeback. He’s only beaten 41-year-old Mayorga and Lopez since making his comeback, and those aren’t good enough fighters to rate a #3 ranking in my view.