Saturday night at the CHI Health Center in Omaha sees the first 2022 appearance of the gifted Terence Crawford, and he defends his WBO welterweight title against the dangerous David Avanesyan.
BLK Prime televise Crawford vs Avanesyan live on pay-per-view.
Crawford (38-0, KO29) is high in the pound-for-pound lists, but is yet to secure that truly career-defining fight, having seen a meeting with Errol Spence Jr elude him.
The Omaha native is a three-weight world champion, and has served as WBO welterweight boss since 2018, when he stopped Jeff Horn in nine.
Five successful defences have followed, the last one of his toughest arguments to date, where he was forced to dig deep to stop Shawn Porter in ten rounds last November.
Avanesyan (29-3-1, KO17) is no stranger to UK fans, under the tutelage of Nottinghamshire-based Carl Greaves.
A former WBA interim champion, the Russian last lost in 2018, halted in six by Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and has been in solid form since.
The 34-year-old has six straight early wins since that loss, winning the European title along the way, and was last out in March, stopping Oskari Metz in a round.
Prediction: Although Avanesyan carries power and is in great form, Crawford is on another level, and I feel that ‘Ava’ will find this tricky to handle. I fancy Crawford to break his man down for a stoppage win after halfway.
Khegai battles Baez
Arnold Khegai (18-1-1, 11 KOs) takes part in the sole ten rounder on the bill at featherweight, and the Ukrainian should have enough to take a decision win against Eduardo Baez (21-3-2, 7 KOs), who is coming off a knockout loss to Emanuel Navarrete in a world title challenge in August.
View this post on Instagram
Nelson returns
In the sole eight rounder, Crawford’s stablemate Steven Nelson (17-0, 14 KOs) makes his return after over two years out and he can remain unbeaten with a stoppage win against James Ballard (10-4, 3 KOs).
View this post on Instagram
Remaining Undercard
In six round contests, Robert Rodriguez (10-1-2, 5 KOs) can outscore Jose Lopez (3-2-1) at super bantamweight, and at super lightweight, Boubacar Sylla (12-0, 7 KOs) can do the same against Javier Mayoral (4-2, 1 KO).
Heavyweight hope Jeremiah Milton (7-0, 6 KOs), a previous sparring partner of Tyson Fury, should win early against Dajuan Calloway (5-1, 5 KOs), and at light heavyweight, Eden Gomez (6-0-1, 6 KOs) can do the same against Joseph Aguilar (4-1-1, 2 KOs) in their rematch.
View this post on Instagram
The final six rounder is at lightweight, where Alan Garcia (7-0, 6 KOs) can halt the experienced Eduardo Pereira Dos Reis (24-10, 19 KOs).
In four round bouts, at super welterweight, Cris Cyborg moves over from MMA to make her boxing debut, and she can outscore Gabrielle Holloway (0-2).
Also at super welterweight, Alton Wiggins can win on debut against Phillip Carmouche (2-3).
