By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Keith Thurman made it clear that the fights that interest him most are a welterweight championship unification fight against Danny Garcia and a rematch against Shawn Porter.
Unfortunately for Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) and fight fans, the most likely opponent for the Clearwater, Florida, native’s next fight is David Avanesyan. The WBA has ruled that Russia’s Avanesyan, its interim 147-pound champion, is the mandatory challenger for Thurman’s WBA world welterweight title.
“Everyone’s talking about what’s next, what’s next, what’s next,” Thurman said following his fan-friendly, unanimous-decision victory over Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“Obviously, we’ve got to sit down and talk to [adviser] Al [Haymon]. Outside of that, there’s definitely potential for a possible rematch. I’ve got to look over this WBA-issued mandatory that was talked about way prior [to Saturday night]. So we’ll see what happens in the future. But if the fans want [a rematch], the fans will most likely get it.”
The 27-year-old Avanesyan (22-1-1, 11 KOs) won the WBA’s interim welterweight title when he knocked out Venezuela’s Charlie Navarro (25-9, 20 KOs) in the ninth round November 7 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He defended it by beating 44-year-old Shane Mosley (49-10-1, 41 KOs, 1 NC) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder May 28 in Glendale, Arizona.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
