Shane Mosley returns to fight David Avanesyan in Arizona.

This Saturday night Shane Mosley returns to action against David Avanesyan, as the 44-year-old former three-division titleholder looks to will himself back into the title mix at 147 pounds, fighting for an interim WBA belt and a possible shot at Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter later this year.
David Avanesyan is more famous as a pro boxer for being the guy who caused a rib injury to Kell Brook last October, which canceled Brook's scheduled December title defense against Diego Chaves.
The Russian turned pro a couple of months before his 21st birthday in 2009, lost his second pro fight to the very capable Andrey Klimov in a six rounder, David would go on to win his next twelve before drawing with another competent fighter, Aslanbek Kozaev in 2013.  For his last three fights, Avanesyan has had to travel overseas, beating Laszlo Fazekas and fading Irishman Dean Byrne in the United Kingdom, followed by a win in Monaco last November over fringe contender Charlie Navarro.
The fight with Navarro earned Avanesyan the interim WBA welterweight title.
Avanesyan does not have any career defining wins but victory on Saturday would certainly slide the Russian into mainstream vision.  We all know about Shane's placement in the history books, but most of those glorious victories were over a decade ago...  Shane was 37 years old when he last looked even close to his best, January 2009, when he destroyed Antonio Margarito at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Mosley was the underdog in that fight, and for good reason. Margarito was coming off of a big win over Miguel Cotto, who had beaten Shane in 2007, and Mosley was coming off of a poor showing against Ricardo Mayorga, where he looked flat and off his game before scoring a sensational KO in the final seconds of the bout.  A year later Mosley found himself in the long awaited fight with Floyd Mayweather, rocking the champion before dropping a unanimous decision. Mosley followed the Mayweather fight with a dreadful draw with Sergio Mora, and losses to younger fighters Manny Pacquiao and Saul Alvarez in his last two meaningful bouts..  Shane flirted with retirement but returned for bouts in 2015, a meaningless spectacle against Ricardo Mayorga and a points win over Patrick Lopez, that shows that Shane still has fire in his belly, plus he's recently hooked up with the legendary Roberto Duran who can only add a positive spin on preparations..    The 2016 version of Sugar Shane won't be vintage..  But it may have enough to beat the comparatively mediocre Avanesyan..