David Avanesyan defeated Kerman Lejarraga in the first round
Carl Greaves trained David Avanesyan (25-3-1) from Newark, Nottinghamshire, retained his European welterweight strap with a blistering first round stoppage over former champion Kerman Lejarraga (28-2) in Bilbao, Spain.
It was repeat for Team Ava and no revenge in sight for Team Revolver, as the Spaniard was defeated in devastating fashion for a second time in six months by the same man who took his title in March with a ninth round stoppage.
The 31-year-old Russian shocked the entire Bilbao Arena that night in Spring to take the title from a dominant, unaten champion who had stopped Frankie Gavin (26-4) in the fight before. He repeated the same surprise when he went back to the same setting, taking just one round this time to inflict the same method of victory.
Avanesyan dropped Lejarraga moments into the fight with a right hand and jumped on him to score a second knockdown moments later, this time with a left hook, before the contest was waved off by referee Anssi Perajoki with just 30 seconds to go on the clock.
In March, Avanesyan overcame a difficult start to fire back and halt Lejarraga in an action packed half an hour. However, on this night he simply plowed through his opponent in startling and devastating fashion, not keen on spending too much time in there with the fearsome puncher who boasts 23 knockouts from 28 wins. The fight actually started quite tentatively with each fighter peeking out from behind a high guard. Avanesyan, however, was far sharper and countered quickly with right hands that Lejarraga wasn't prepared for. When 'Ava' saw the Spaniard shocked and hurt by his quick hands, he instantly moved in to punish him further, resulting in an early night for former world champion.
The Russian had risen to prominence earlier in the decade when he beat an aged 'Sugar' Shane Mosley to win the interim WBA world welterweight title and then gave Lamont Peterson an exciting fight before ultimately losing a hard-fought but unanimous decision.
This latest impressive win either see Avanesyan defend his European strap in another big fight or see the stylish fighter head back towards a world title shot.