David Avanesyan is the 2021 TSS Comeback Fighter of the Year

It wasn’t too long ago that David Avanesyan was judged to be a journeyman on the wrong side of the hill. That was the assumption after he was stopped in the sixth round by Egidijus Kavaliauskas. It was Avanesyan’s second loss in 52 weeks, despoiling whatever cachet he had gained with his upset of 44-year-old Shane Mosley.

That assumption proved to be premature. The Russian globetrotter, now 33 years old, has won five straight since his setback to Kavaliauskas including three more upsets.

Avanesyan was a candidate for this award in 2019 after winning and then successfully defending a European welterweight title belt with back-to-back knockouts of previously undefeated Kerman Lejarraga on Lejarraga’s turf in Spain, but the feeling was that Lejarraga’s style was tailor-made for Avanesyan and that beating the same guy twice didn’t measure up to upending two different guys of equivalent standing. Hence, Avanesyan was nosed out by Pablo Cesar Cano.

This year, after his momentum was stalled by the coronavirus – he missed all of 2020 — Avanesyan the road warrior picked up where he left off with knockouts of Josh Kelly and Liam Taylor.

Avanesyan burst Kelly’s bubble in February at Wembley Arena. The undefeated (10-0-1) Rio Olympian won the early rounds, but couldn’t withstand Avanesyan’s unrelenting pressure. The end came in round six. Kelly was down twice before his corner tossed in the towel.

Another Brit, Liam Taylor, was Avanesyan’s next victim and this fight too was at Wembley. Taylor was 23-1-1 heading in and undefeated in  his last 13 starts, but he was easy meat for the Russian. Avanesyan finished him off in the second round.

Avanesyan has a lot of options going forward. Michael McKinson, an undefeated but feather-fisted southpaw, is next in line for a crack at Avanesyan’s regional title, but rumor has it that McKinson has accepted a fight with Golden Boy knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. The carrot for the winner is a date with Avanesyan and the winner of that fray becomes the mandatory opponent for WBC belt-holder Errol Spence Jr.

So, don’t be too surprised to see Avanesyan in the ring with Spence in 2022, a well-deserved payday for the 2021 TSS Comeback Fighter of the Year.

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