David Avanesyan to defend European title against Liam Taylor

Per the European Boxing Union’s (EBU) website, UK promoter Boxxer won the purse bid for welterweight champion David Avanesyan’s ordered title defense against Liam Taylor. As a result, we can expect to see the two lock horns on Sky Sports later this year.

Avanesyan (27-3-1, 15 KO) has been on a rampage since a 1-2 skid saw him drop a decision to Lamont Peterson and get battered into submission by Egidijus Kavaliauskas. He knocked out then-unbeaten Kerman Lejarraga while down on the cards to claim the belt, crushed him in 2:26 in the rematch, and notched another first-round finish against Jose del Rio in his second defense. Then came a long, frustrating series of attempts to stage a fight with Josh Kelly, which finally came to fruition in February when Avanesyan survived some early trouble to beat him down in six.

Unbeaten since 2015, Taylor (22-1-1, 10 KO) saw the British and Commonwealth belts slip through his fingers when a headbutt ended a very promising title shot against Chris Jenkins in 2019. He returned to action with a narrow, entertaining decision over Darren Tetley last August and will have a tune-up this Saturday in Manchester.