WBA orders Thurman-Porter winner to face Mosley- Avanesyan winner

By Boxing News - 05/19/2016 - Comments

mosleyBy Jeff Aranow: The World Boxing Association has ordered the winner of the June 25 fight between WBA World welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) and “Showtime” Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) to face the winner of the May 28 fight between interim WBA welterweight champion David Avanesyan (21-1-1, 11 KOs) and #3 WBA Shane Mosley (49-9-1, 41 KOs).

If the winner of the Thurman vs. Porter fight had hopes of getting a bigger name for their next fight, they’re going to be pretty much handcuffed by having to fight the winner of the Mosley vs. Avanesyan fight due to the WBA ordering that.

Mosley used to be a big name at one time, but he’s now nearing 45, he clearly isn’t a huge name in the 147lb division among the younger fans of the sport.

Mosley and Avanesyan will be fighting on May 28 at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Avanesyan recently captured the interim WBA 147lb title after beating 36-year-old Charlie Navarro by a 9th round knockout in his last fight.

It’s unknown why the WBA made it so easy for Avanesyan to win the interim WBA title by fighting a no longer relevant fighter in Navarro. That name was relevant many years ago but he hasn’t done anything in years. The WBA should have at least had Avanesyan fight someone like Errol Spence for the interim WBA title rather than Navarro.

If Mosley beats Avanesyan, he could find himself facing the hard hitting Thurman in 2016. That would be a really bad fight to watch because Mosley is really up there in age and he’s not the fighter he was in the past. A prime Mosley would have been a nightmare for Thurman, but not the soon to be 45-year-old version. There is no guarantee that Mosley beats the much younger 28-year-old Avanesyan because this promises to be a very difficult fight for Mosley. Avanesyan can punch and he has some skills.

Thurman might not get past Porter. Thurman cannot fight on the inside, and he seems to have a chin problem, as we’ve seen in his fights against Diego Chaves and Jesus Soto Karass. Both fighters had Thurman buzzed at one point. Thurman even had problems standing in the pocket against Robert Guerrero.

Thurman took many shots and he seemed bothered by Guerrero’s punching power. If Porter can stay near Thurman and not let him hit and run all night long, we could see Thurman capture the WBA title from him. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that’s what happens. Thurman can dish it out but he doesn’t seem to be able to take it too well.

By the WBA ordering the winners of these two fights to face each other, they get rid of the interim WBA title in the process. When the smoke clears from these two fights, there will be one champion.

The WBA’s rankings are kind of ridiculous at the moment with Mosely ranked ahead of Spence. I’m not sure there are too many people who believe Mosley could hang with Spence right now. The fans that do believe Mosley can beat Spence are probably fans that aren’t too familiar with Spence to know how much better he is than Mosley.