Former WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley could have earned another world title fight if he won his third straight fight against Russian welterweight challenger David Avanesyan Saturday night at the Gila River Arena Glendale, Arizona.
It appears that age is now taking its toll on the 44-year-old Mosley as he succumbed to the power and stamina of Avanesyan, his 27-year-old Russian opponent. Mosley, who once shared the spotlight with elite fighters that include Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, lost to Avanesyan via a unanimous decision. Judges scorecard: 114-113, 117-110, 117-110, all for Avanesyan. Mosley is coming off two straight wins since losing to Anthony Mundine by way of a referee technical decision at Allphones Arena, Sydney, New South Wales in 2013. In the first two rounds, Mosley was doing well and was seemingly headed for a dominant fight but Avanesyan was able to make the necessary adjustments starting on the third round when he found success in blocking Mosley’s jabs with right counters that found their targets. Avanesyan was successful in landing on his counters and occasional heavy shots that found their mark starting on the fourth to the middle rounds. There were a number of close encounters which would have gone either way in the middle to late rounds but it was Avanesyan who delivered the heavier punches. Mosley tried to catch up in the last two rounds with a flurry of punches that landed on targets but it was too late for him to recoup as he was clearly behind on points at the end of round 12. With the win Avanesyan, who is the interim WBA interim welterweight champion, became the mandatorfy challenger to the winner of the Shawn Porter-Keith Thurman WBA welterweight title fight scheduled for June 25 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.
