David Avanesyan makes short work of Liam Taylor after Chris Eubank Jr main event falls through

The vaunted new era for Sky Sports Boxing, a major force in the sport for so long, failed to get off to the best of starts when Anatoli Muratov, himself already a replacement opponent to meet Chris Eubank Jr in the Wembley Arena main event tonight, was prevented from fighting by the British Boxing Board of Control. A medical issue, as-yet unspecified, was the cause and Muratov, like the Covid-afflicted Sven Elbir before him, was forced out of combatting Eubank jr, who must now wait for his debut under Wasserman Boxing and Boxxer.

Elevated into main event status, the European welterweight title fight between champion David Avanesyan, a world-level pressure-fighter from Russia and talented Middleton challenger Liam Taylor, more of a boxer, proved exciting while it lasted; which wasn’t long.

The first round was absolutely pulsating. Fortunately for the fans, Taylor somewhat surprisingly opted to tackle the strong Avanesyan head-on. He came off worse in the opener, albeit landed some good shots, but some of Avanesyan’s blows, particularly uppercuts, were brutal, and a counter right dropped the challenger late in the session.

Taylor was accurate with long, straight punches and hooks downstairs, but was rarely afforded the room to make his height and reach advantages tell. Midway through round two, a left hook-right hand-left hook had Taylor in trouble against the ropes, and the referee dived in with the Lancashire man looking glassy-eyed.

Formerly world-rated cruiserweight Richard Riakporhe returned from two years out to shed some rust against average Pole Krzysztof Twardowski. The rangy Londoner, undefeated and previously the British champion, understandably laboured, feeling his way back in and not taking many risks. He rarely worked in combination and took plenty of shots, sustaining a badly damaged nose as his opponent came on strong in the second half of their eight-rounder. Powerful Riakporhe made sure of victory with a big right-hand knockdown in the final session. He won 79-72.

In a 10-round eliminator for the British super-middleweight title, another undefeated Londoner, Germaine Brown, the Southern Area ruler, took on once-beaten Midlands titlist Jamal Le Doux. In a competitive scrap, Brown proved the faster and busier for the most part, triumphing 99-92.