Crawford was hoping to pair his WBO welterweight title against the three others held by Errol Spence in what would have been a superfight but when negotiations failed to work out, Crawford decided to defend against Avanesyan, a solid top ten-fifteen welterweight that is most remembered for his victory over Shane Mosley that ended the career of the Hall of Famer.
Crawford's eleventh-round knockout of Shawn Porter last November was his last ring appearance and should a Spence fight work out for next year, it's a good idea to have some ring work in order to be at his peak.
Over on ESPN in the evening, former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez continues his comeback against Spanish veteran Santor Martin.
Martin will be the second opponent for Lopez since his loss to George Kambosos last year, having knocked out Pedro Campa in seven rounds in August.
Martin is a late replacement for long-time contender Jose Pedraza and is the fighter that surprised Mikey Garcia in what may have been the upset of the year for 2021.
In the co-feature, Top Rank's promising heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson makes his first step towards contender status as Anderson will battle veteran Jerry Forrest in Anderon's first scheduled ten-rounder.
Anderson has knocked out all twelve of his foes and only one (Kingsley Ibeh) has survived past the fourth round.
Forrest lost a close decision to Kubrat Pulev in his last fight and his previous two fights were draws to contenders Michael Hunter and Zhilei Zhang, either of which could have been given to Forrest (especially the Hunter fight) and lost a split decision to Jermaine Franklin, who gave Dillian Whyte fits a few weeks ago.
Forrest has only been stopped once in his career, by Gerald Washington in 2013, so should Anderson take Forrest out, it would be an impressive debut against better competition for the young star.
Earlier in the day, ESPN plus will feature the return of featherweight Michael Conlan, who was leading my pick for fight of the year against Leigh Wood in March before Wood scored a spectacular knockout in the final round driving Conlan outside the ring.
Conlan knocked down veteran Miguel Marriaga three times in his August return but was rocked again in the final round, showing perhaps he hasn't quite gotten past the loss to Wood.
Conlan's opponent, France's Karim Guerfi, is a former bantamweight contender but has been stopped in two of his last four fights.
DAZN is in Leeds, England for the IBF featherweight title tilt as hometown champion Josh Warrington defends against mandatory challenger Luis Alberto Lopez.
Warrington won the IBF title for the second time in his last fight stopping Kiko Martinez although he suffered a broken jaw along the way.
Lopez burst on the scene in 2021 when he busted the career of then-undefeated and hot prospect Gabe Flores and viciously knocked another undefeated prospect in Issac Wood out in seven rounds to earn the mandated title try.
I like Lopez's chances in this one as Mauricio Lara knocked Warrington cold and there are some similarities in styles and power between the two.
Boxing Challenge
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