Sugar Shane Mosley will be back in action on May 28 at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, facing interim WBA welterweight titleholder David Avanesyan, Mosley announced today.
"He's the interim champion, a very tough, Russian guy. We're gonna do it. We're gonna fight. The fight's gonna be held in Arizona, it's gonna be a great fight. He's a tough guy, works very hard, he's strong. It's gonna be at the Gila River Arena. I'm excited, I can't wait."
Mosley, 44, returned to action last year with two wins, beating an out of shape Ricardo Mayorga in August, and then traveling to Panama to beat Patrick Lopez in December.
Avanesyan (21-1-1, 11 KO) is, indeed, a solid fighter, and plenty good enough to beat Mosley at this stage of Mosley's career. This is far from a gimme for Mosley, and was probably the best available fight out there for the veteran. The lone pro loss of the 27-year-old Russian's career came in his second pro fight back in 2009, and it was against Andrey Klimov, who isn't a bad fighter himself.
If Mosley does win, he would also be in line for a shot at the full WBA title, which is currently held by Keith Thurman, who will defend against Shawn Porter on June 25. Interestingly, Mosley was trained by Shawn's father Kenny Porter last year, and those two could wind up fighting if both win these upcoming fights.
Mosley will be trained by the legendary Roberto Duran for the upcoming fight.