European welterweight champion David Avanesyan made an emphatic statement in a stunning fifth defence of his EBU belt at the OVO Arena, Wembley on Saturday night.

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His previously unbeaten opponent Oskari Metz had no answers once Avanesyan got to work and the Finn never recovered from a brutal knockdown and was finally saved from himself by the referee with just two minutes on the clock.

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The champion, 24-4-1, will now await a ruling from the WBC - where he is ranked No.2 - over his passage to a shot at the champion Errol Spence jr.

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In the co-main event, Hamzah Sheeraz was also making statements and putting down a marker in a new division as he secured the WBC International Silver title with a second round knockout of Jez Smith.

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Smith promised to bring the heat but was brutally picked off by the unbeaten Sheeraz, now 15-0 (11 KOs).

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A sweet left hook planted Smith on the canvas in round one as Sheeraz asserted authority in his first fight at middleweight. He was down again at the beginning of the second and failed to beat the count just as his trainer Josh Burnham rightly threw in the towel.

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