WBA orders winners of Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter and Shane Mosley vs. David Avanesyan to fight

The WBA's quest to reduce the number of extraneous belts in play continues, as the organization has ordered the winner of Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter, which is for the regular welterweight title, to face the interim titleholder decided by Shane Mosley vs. David Avanesyan.

Thurman presently holds the regular WBA belt while Avanesyan holds the interim version.

This is one of those "awful consequence of good idea" situations. Mosley is forty-four and his best win since 2009 came against Pablo Cesar Cano. I sincerely hope Avanesyan rolls over him, because the idea of Mosley taking on a monster puncher like Thurman or a seek-and-destroy bully like Porter is cringe-inducing.

Of course, with mandatory challengers being about as hard-and-fast a rule as the Pirates' Code, disaster could be averted even if "Sugar Shane" does manage to take out Avanesyan. Perhaps this ongoing travesty can be used for good.

Or perhaps we're going to see an old man get his molly thoroughly whopped. It is boxing, after all.