Meet David Avanesyan, the man aiming to knock out Terence Crawford

David Avanesyan's manager Neil Marsh is backing him to look from the shadows of boxing and marque a sanction for himself by pulling disconnected a daze knockout triumph against Terence Crawford connected Saturday.

Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17 KOs) volition ascent done the ropes to look WBO satellite welterweight champion Crawford arsenic a large underdog successful beforehand of the American's location fans astatine the CHI Health Center successful Omaha, Nebraska.

Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs), 35, from Omaha, is ESPN's No. 1 pound-for-pound combatant and Avanesyan is lone getting this accidental due to the fact that a much-anticipated combat against Crawford's rival welterweight champion Errol Spence did not materialize.

But boxing's nonaccomplishment is Avanesyan's summation and Marsh, who has steered Avanesyan from obscurity to satellite rubric contention, believes the unheralded Armenian-Russian tin nutrient the biggest daze successful boxing successful 2022.

"David tin knockout anybody, I complaint Crawford the champion retired the 147 pounds batch but connected his time if David catches him, thing could happen," Marsh told ESPN.

"We are nether nary illusions. It's a hard task but we are going for 1 thing, the KO, and I'm assured David volition bare everything it trying to triumph this fight."

Avanesyan -- No. 9 successful ESPN's welterweight rankings -- has been grooming successful Newark, adjacent Nottingham, with manager Carl Greaves successful England for the past 7 years and is successful bully signifier aft recovering from 2 setbacks astatine elite level. The 34-year-old father-of-two, who lives successful Pyatigorsk successful the Caucasus mountains successful confederate Russia erstwhile helium is not successful England preparing for fights, has registered six consecutive stoppage wins, including 3 successful the archetypal round, since a points decision to Lamont Peterson and a stoppage nonaccomplishment to Egidijus Kavaliauskas successful 2017 and 2018 respectively.

"David has massively improved since those defeats, I deliberation the results person shown that," Marsh told ESPN.

"Not lone that, his ringing trade is overmuch amended present nether Carl Greaves. Don't hide -- particularly the Peterson combat -- they had lone been unneurotic little than 2 years truthful it's took clip to bring everything out."

Ranked astatine No. 6 with the WBO, Avanesyan has been avoided by rivals successful the UK according to Marsh and successful 2019 helium had 3 fights successful Spain.

"It's been unspeakable astatine times to get him fights," Marsh told ESPN. "Forget what others accidental erstwhile they effort to get their sanction astir David due to the fact that cipher has wanted a portion of him. It's been truthful frustrating, but we kept going.

"The Kerman Lejarraga combat successful Spain was a squad gamble we each thought we could win. At the clip Kerman was blasting done radical and held apical 5 rankings successful each governing body. We chased the combat arsenic we knew we could bushed him, but the prize was large and it got america close backmost up there. We were held to a rematch and past we had a regular combat successful Barcelona successful mentation for Josh Kelly, which was different large triumph for David."

Avanesyan made his nonrecreational boxing debut successful Sochi, the Russian metropolis connected the Black Sea seashore successful 2009. He had an unremarkable commencement to his vocation -- helium mislaid his 2nd pro combat implicit six rounds connected points -- and fought exclusively successful his location federation for the adjacent 5 years earlier his vocation changed course.

In 2014, Avanesyan turned up connected a paper successful Liverpool, England, and not galore took overmuch announcement of his ten-round points triumph implicit Hungarian journeyman Laszlo Fazekas. Someone who did instrumentality an involvement was Marsh, who signed Avanesyan successful 2015 and has been moving with him since.

"An cause offered him to maine erstwhile I was doing a batch of promoting tiny hallway shows," Marsh told ESPN. "We did a campy with him and a bout with Dean Byrne [in June 2015] to spot however helium performed earlier committing, and helium was outstanding to accidental the least. I was being precise cautious arsenic it was large concern a overseas boxer who we believed had satellite level successful him."

Later successful 2015, Avanesyan stopped Venezuela's Charlie Navarro successful 9 rounds for the WBA interim rubric successful Monaco aboriginal successful 2015 to acceptable up a combat against "Sugar" Shane Mosley successful May 2016. Mosley, past 44, had been the No. 1 pound-for-pound combatant successful the satellite during the aboriginal 2000s, but was a faded mentation of his erstwhile superb aforesaid by the clip helium met Avanesyan.

A unanimous points triumph implicit Mosley successful Arizona was meant to gain Avanesyan a changeable astatine the victor of WBA satellite champion Keith Thurman versus Shawn Porter. But that didn't happen, and alternatively Avanesyan was elevated to afloat champion presumption and faced Peterson successful a archetypal defense. Peterson conscionable astir did capable successful a adjacent fight, winning scores of 116-112 (twice) and 115-113 successful Cincinnati successful February 2017.

Avanesyan, who sparred England's Kell Brook erstwhile helium was IBF satellite welterweight champion, suffered different setback a twelvemonth aboriginal erstwhile helium was stopped successful six rounds by US-based Lithuanian Kavaliauskas. Crawford would halt Kavaliauskas successful 9 rounds 2 years later. Since then, Avanesyan has impressively rebuilt his vocation and insists helium volition daze the boxing satellite connected Saturday.

"I cognize going successful that I'm a immense underdog and nary 1 is giving maine a chance, but fto maine archer you, I'm going to astonishment everyone watching," Avanesyan said. "I've had capable clip to prepare, truthful I'll beryllium acceptable for the southpaw. I request to instrumentality to the crippled program we person successful place, and if adjustments request to beryllium made during the fight, I volition person to marque them.

"The atrocious habits that plagued maine aboriginal successful my career, are present fixed. Today I'm a wholly antithetic combatant successful the ring, and my past six fights person shown my maturation erstwhile it comes to my powerfulness punching. I judge my assertive benignant is going to springiness Crawford problems."