Frank Warren promotes from the Wembley Arena this Saturday night, as David Avanesyan makes his debut under the promotion, and defends his European welterweight title for the fifth time against the unbeaten Oskari Metz in the main event.
Avanesyan vs Metz will be broadcast live on BT Sport in the UK.
Avanesyan (28-3-1, 16 KOs) is on the cusp of a second world title shot and is fast becoming an avoided man in the division after a string of devastating performances.
The Russian who resides in the UK had a tilt at world honours back in 2017, but came up short on the cards against Lamont Peterson for the WBA belt.
Two fights later he was stopped by Egidijus Kavaliauskas, but since then ‘Ava’ has been on a charge, starting with an upset ninth round stoppage of Kerman Lajarraga in nine to take the European strap.
The 33-year-old proved the win was no fluke in a rematch, taking under a round to stop the Spaniard, and he knocked out Jose del Rio in a round to retain.
Avanesyan continued to impress and next swarmed over Josh Kelly to stop the Sunderland man in six in February 2021.
He was last out in October, and it was another early win, halting Liam Taylor before signing with Warren later that month.
Fight week for European welterweight champion @DavidAvaBoxer watch the most exciting fighter on British soil live on @BTSportBoxing Saturday from 7pm @neilmarsh3 @frankwarren_tv 🥊 pic.twitter.com/FHgMbNqmn2
— Carl Greaves (@CarlGreavesPro) March 14, 2022
Next comes Finland’s Metz (15-0, 5 KOs), a man who has never been past eight rounds as a professional, and looks like he is stepping up several levels here.
The unbeaten 30-year-old from Helsinki barely scraped past Emanuele Cavalluci in his last outing, in August last year, taking a split decision over eight.
Prediction: Avanesyan will want to get the job done in good fashion here and move closer to the boys at ten stone seven. He can score a win inside the first four rounds with another impressive stoppage.
Sheeraz meets Smith
The undercard sees Hamzah Sheeraz go for the vacant WBC International Silver middleweight title, as he takes on Jez Smith over a scheduled ten rounds.
Sheeraz (14-0, 10 KOs) had been making serene progress until his last fight, when Bradley Skeete looked set for victory, but was controversially stopped in nine rounds.
Sheeraz looked behind in the fight, but dropped Skeete in the eighth, only to land several more blows while the veteran was on the canvas.
That turned the fight on it’s head, and the 22-year-old scored the stoppage a round later, but could consider himself fortunate to not have been disqualified.
It was a particularly off night for the man based in Ilford, and he will look to put in a strong performance here.
Smith (13-4-1, 6 KOs) has plenty of heart, but has lost four of his last six outings, albeit in good company.
The 28-year-old was stopped in nine by Caoimhin Agyarko in 2020 and dropped Kerman Lejarraga twice before being stopped in seven in April last year.
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He was last in action in October, losing by just two points over eight to Bradley Rea after being dropped in the opener.
Prediction: Sheeraz will have learned a hell of a lot against Skeete and he will be keen to iron out the mistakes he made in that performance. I expect him to impress, but he may need the cards to take victory.
Chamberlain clashes with Ofori
Mark Chamberlain (9-0, 6 KOs) takes part in his first ten rounder, and the Portsmouth lightweight gets a good test in the form of Jeff Ofori (11-3-1, 3 KOs).
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Prediction: Ofori has only been halted by Ohara Davies, so I can see Chamberlain taking this one on the cards.
Noakes faces Finiello
Sam Noakes (8-0, 8 KOs) defends his WBC International Silver lightweight title for the first time and looks to maintain his perfect record against Vincenzo Finiello (15-4-2, 1 KO).
The Italian lost four on the spin in 2015/16, but has won five on the spin since.
Prediction: Noakes went nine rounds last time out in a stoppage win against Shaun Cooper, and he can win early here too.
McCann tackles Tondo
The exciting Dennis McCann (11-0, 6 KOs) is in action and ‘The Menace’ goes for his first professional title with the vacant WBO Youth bantamweight belt on the line against Charles Tondo (12-4-2, 5 KOs).
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Prediction: The Tanzanian took Tommy Frank all eight rounds in December and McCann may need the eight round distance to take victory here.
Remaining Undercard
At super lightweight, Henry Turner (6-0) can take a points win over six against Ivan Njegac (13-22, 4 KOs) and at super featherweight, Masood Abdulah (3-0, 3 KOs) can stop Sandeep Singh Bhatti (6-2) before the six round distance.
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Sonny Ali (2-0) should take a six round points win against Lee Glover (11-8, 3 KOs) at super lightweight, and Royston Barney-Smith makes his professional debut and it should be a points win over four for the Ben Davison-trained super featherweight against Adan Martinez (0-2).
