European welterweight champion David Avanesyan 26-3-1 (14) is excited to finally get his chance to face Josh Kelly 10-0-1 (6) after multiple postponements.
The pair were originally scheduled in December 2018 before Kelly fell ill and subsequent attempts to reschedule the fight fell through. They will now meet at the SSE Arena in London on Saturday night.
“I hope now they don’t change the fight date. Four times now,” Avanesyan said to The Ring.
“I was over here [in England] for six weeks before the March [2020] postponement. Then I went back home and was told the fight was going to happen in September and it never happened. Then I was told October, then finally November 27th. We heard Kelly wouldn’t be ready in time.
“Then it got moved to December 12 on the Anthony Joshua-Kubrat Pulev card but that didn’t happen.
“It got moved to January 30th. It’s been very frustrating. I’ve been in and out of camp, they’ve messed me about. Flew in on December 20, went home for a week after the [January 30] postponement. Trained at my house [in Russia] every day.”
Trainer Carl Greaves shared Avanesyan’s frustration at getting the fight made but said he is glad it is finally happening.
“The first time Kelly pulled out three hours before we were leaving for the show,” he said. “They’re saying he was sick, I don’t quite believe it myself but that’s in the past.
“It should have been rescheduled not long after that but for one reason or another it dragged on. Once David won the European title [against Kerman Lejarraga in March 2019], Kelly became the mandatory. The fight was scheduled for March [2020] and then that felt through with COVID and was scheduled again for January 30th this year and obviously it’s finally happening on February 20th.”
The 32-year-old Russian praised Kelly as a fighter but said he has a gameplan in place to come out victorious.
“Josh Kelly is a good fighter,” Avanesyan said. “Good amateur career, he’s fast, has good movement. It’s a good experience for me.
“I don’t want to give too much away but I’ve seen things I can exploit.”
Both Avanesyan and Kelly have spent more than a year on the sidelines with their last fights taking place in December 2019. Avanesyan knocked out Jose del Rio in one round in Barcelona, Spain, while Kelly won a wide points decision over Wiston Campos in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Let’s be honest, this fight should have been put to bed a long time ago,” said Greaves. “I just hope we can finally get this fight on. Hopefully David will have a great performance and push on to a world title fight.
“I think the fans are looking forward to this fight. It’s very, very intriguing, there’s a lot of talk about it, a lot of animosity from the pull outs in the past. It’s built into a very good fight. It’s a lot bigger fight than when it was scheduled to happen in 2018.
“He’s a very good fighter, so you have to give him a bit of credit but his last performance against Wiston Campos, he’d didn’t look great at all. David’s on a roll and we’re very, very confident.”
