David Avanesyan surpasses slow start to stop Josh Kelly in round 6 (video)

Josh Kelly looked fantastic for the first two rounds of his welterweight bout against David Avanesyan, but Avanesyan wore him down for the stoppage.

Welterweights David Avanesyan and Josh Kelly finally met in the boxing ring two years from their originally scheduled bout, and things didn’t go Kelly’s way.

Kelly had to pull out the day of their 2018 bout because of illness, but the fight with Avanesyan finally happened on Saturday, Feb. 20, from the SSE Arena in London.  Kelly got out to a hot start, but Avanesyan quickly extinguished the British boxer as the fight went on.

Kelly (10-1-1, 6 KOs) has been a prime boxing prospect for years, but his stock dipped over his last few bouts with subpar performances against Ray Robinson and Wiston Campos. He hoped that a win over Avanesyan would prove that he was the real deal, but the 2016 Olympian’s professional potential looked like an illusion.

Avanesyan (27-3-1, 15 KOs) came into the fight with three losses on his record. The last one came in 2018 against Egidijus Kavaliauskas, where Avanesyan was stopped in round 6. Avanesyan made the Kavaliauskas bout a distant memory and was the one who stopped his opponent in round 6 this time around.

Kelly had a big round 1. His boxing skills were on full display as he popped Avanesyan from the outside and made Avanesyan miss with his attacks. His movement was excellent, and he found a home for his left hook.

David Avanesyan rebounded from a slow start to down Josh Kelly in round 6

In round 2, Kelly almost dropped Avanesyan with his left hook. Avanesyan was wobbled with 1:45 left in the round but regained his senses and fought back to avoid the fight snowballing out of control.

There was a cut from the back of Kelly’s head the poured blood, but a bad gash would soon join it over his right eye in round 3. Avanesyan and Kelly’s heads collided, which opened up the cut on Kelly.

Kelly’s team did a nice job of managing the cut over his eye, but Kelly’s confidence was shaken, and Avanesyan applied continuous pressure that started to break Kelly down.

In round 6, Avanesyan was hitting Kelly cleanly. His right hand dropped Kelly with 1:08 left in the round. Kelly got up but was tired and hurt. Avanesyan charged and put Kelly back down to the canvas with a left, right combination. Kelly’s team saw enough and threw in the towel, giving Avanesyan the round 6 TKO victory.

Avanesyan retained his EBU European title and is in the hunt for another big fight. Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. rule the division, but Avanesyan could be a tough go for some of the other welterweight contenders.

Kelly’s career isn’t over, but this loss deflates the hopes that he could mature into a world champion. He’s got the skills, but his power can’t keep the division’s best away. Avanesyan was a test that Kelly failed.