Former WBA regular champion and former EBU European welterweight champion, 35-year-old Russian David Avanesian (30-4-1, KO 18) On July 13 in Philadelphia he will fight the famous 27-year-old American Jaron Ennis (31-0, KO 28), for whom it will be the first defense of the IBF welterweight belt.
A correspondent spoke with Avanesyan on the eve of the high-profile fight and asked him to assess the opinions of fans who, to put it mildly, do not really believe in his prospects against Ennis. True, according to Avanesyan, the meeting with Jaron will not be the loudest in his career – in December 2022, the Russian met Terence Crawford. That fight ended with the American’s victory by knockout in the sixth round and a glove manipulation scandal.
After this meeting with Crawford, published an interview with Avanesyan with the headline: “They wanted to kill me. The blows were like brass knuckles.” And if you followed the link to this document, take a close look at Crawford’s torn gloves. Naturally, we remember those events now, but we focused more on the meeting with Ennis, which Avanesyan learned about only a month in advance – initially, the American’s opponent was supposed to be his compatriot Cody Crowley, but he dropped out of the fight due to injury.
“I can’t say I planned on fighting Ennis.”
— David, how do you collect megafights?
– They find me themselves (laughs). I can’t say that I planned to fight Ennis. The plans were to arrange a fight for WBC Silver. I take fourth place in the ranking. If you remember, at the end of December I had to fight urgently. The WBC called and declared the need to quickly get into the ring, because after the meeting with Crawford I had not fought for a year. Otherwise, I would have been kicked out of the WBC ranking. And I urgently packed my things and flew to England.
While I was flying, several opponents changed. And they offered me an opponent that I beat in 2017: Serge Ambomo. At the time, he was a pretty serious guy, and now I looked at his record (in July 2024, the statistics of a Cameroonian living in England count 63 defeats, 13 victories and three draws. – Note “”)… He already works part-time as a companion, even if he sometimes breaks some perspectives.
To this proposition I said: “Are you kidding me? After Crawford, what an opponent!” And the manager replied: “I have called more than twenty boxers, and no one wants to fight you. Should I put on gloves myself? You just had to fight to not go down in the rankings.
In December, I had a fight with Ambomo. And then he stayed in shape, waiting for an offer to fight for the WBC Silver belt. Eventually, something went wrong.
Then there was the possibility to fight for the EBU European title, because I am number one in Europe. But I boxed six times for this belt. And after such prospects, I got a little upset and decided to take a break, I thought about going to Armenia, Russia.
And then five days go by… The call: “Fight with Ennis for the IBF.” I just asked what happened, and then – as an experienced boxer – I understood that title fights are not offered every day. I didn’t think twice. Even though time was short, I was notified only four weeks in advance. Usually, I immediately packed my things and flew to England and organized a quick camp. And I’m already in America.
— What was the most important thing for you in accepting this fight at such short notice – the name of the opponent, the status of the fight or the financial conditions?
– Big fight, big chance for me. I know from experience that it is very difficult to get the right to box for the world champion belt. And I have already boxed in title fights. And the Lord God gave me another chance. It would be a mistake to refuse a fight like the one with Ennis.
“They don’t believe in my chances? When did they believe in me?”
“I’m sure you see the quotes from the bookies and the opinions from the pundits and the fans before this fight. To put it bluntly, they don’t believe in you.
– When did they believe in me? Let’s start with this. Did they really believe in me against Josh Kelly (in 2021 in London, Avanesyan beat the Briton earlier than expected. – note)? Did they really believe in me against Lejarraga (Avanesyan beat the Spaniard twice earlier than expected in Bilbao in 2019 – Editor’s note: )? I was an outsider everywhere. This attitude motivates me even more.
– Good. How do you plan to beat Ennis?
— I try to box with strong guys, I never refuse fights. What’s the point of having ambitions? Then you can become a journeyman and fight every week in England and earn money. If only money was a priority. And now I have a real chance to win the world champion belt in a fight with a strong and worthy opponent. Why not?
“Ennis’s statistics are impressive, to put it mildly. The American is perhaps best known to the Russian public for his early victory over Sergei Lipinets in April 2021.
“I will try to defeat him by all possible means.” I will have several plans. After all, you can prepare for one scenario, but everything can turn out completely differently. We must do our job and look for gaps in our opponents.
— From the outside, it seems that Ennis doesn’t perceive you as a serious opponent: he films videos on mountain bikes, promises to take care of you easily, etc.
– It’s a normal process of promoting a fight. I don’t pay attention to such moments. I saw Ennis for the first time on Tuesday when we had a staring duel.
“Crawford is a good boxer, but I can’t say he’s a good person.”
– In terms of status, which fight is better for you – with Ennis or Crawford?
– It’s better with Crawford. Ennis is not Crawford.
– What if there was a fight between them?
“I can speculate on that after our fight.” I think Crawford would have won.
But every time I start talking about Crawford, I have bad memories. Crawford is a scoundrel, judging by the way he personally treated me in the fight. A great boxer would never do that. You have to have certain human qualities, because we know what the consequences of such actions with gloves can be. You go into battle with torn gloves… Crawford for me… Let’s think and believe that Ennis is not like that. And now the organizer of Matchroom. I don’t think they will allow this.
— Your team filed a complaint with the Nebraska Athletic Commission about this glove scandal. I understand it’s all secret?
“It turned out that the manufacturer took it all on himself, confirming that it was his defect. Well, then the lawyer called: ‘Do you understand that this is Nebraska, this is Crawford? If you are willing to go further in terms of money… But we make no promises.’ Well, that’s it.
“And now Crawford has won all the junior welterweight and welterweight belts and on August 3rd he will fight for the WBA junior middleweight belt. Plus, Terence is a top 3 fighter in all weight classes.
– If you take away these moments from the fight with me, then Crawford, of course, is strong. He has excellent speed, a great sense of distance and opponent. He is like in Matrix. But other qualities… He is a good boxer, but I can not say that he is a good person (laughs).
“So what characterization can you give to Ennis?”
“I repeat, I saw him for the first time on Tuesday. A young man… And Crawford is already an experienced fighter.
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Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
