On Saturday, November 7, at Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo, David Avanesyan, a 27-year-old who fights out of Russia (21-1-1, 11 KOs) stopped Charlie Navarro by TKO to win the interim WBA World welterweight title. Referee Stanley Christodoulou stopped the fight at1:50 of the ninth. Thirty-six-year-old Navarro of Venezuela (25-8, 20 KOs) was only stopped once before, by Javier Alberto Mamani via 10th-round TKO in May 2005. Navarro and Avanesyan had been ranked, respectively, ninth and 10th by the WBA.

Ranked ninth by the WBA, 27-year-old Youri Kayembre Kalenga of France, by way of the Congo (22-2, 15 KOs), knocked out Roberto Feliciano Bolonti at 1:35 of the ninth. The rugged Bolonti, a 36-year-old who fights out of Argentina (36-5, 25 KOs), had never been stopped before, though this was the former light heavyweight’s first bout at cruiser.

Thirty-two-year-old Kazakh Zhanat Zhakiyanov (26-1, 18 KOs) took the interim WBA World bantamweight title from Yonfrez Parejo by split decision. Judges Stanley Christodoulou and Giuseppe Quartarone scored it 115-113 and 116-113, respectively, for Zhakiyanov, while judge Levi Martinez scored it 116-112 for Parejo. The 29-year-old Venezuelan (17-2-1, 8 KOs) had won the belt in August 2014 by stopping Luis Hinojosa via 11th-round TKO. Parejo and Zhakiyanov had been ranked, respectively, first and second by the WBA.

Jun Qiu Xiao, a 25-year-old who fights out of China (19-2, 9 KOs), won the vacant WBA International super bantamweight title by stopping Amor Belahdj Ali via 11th-round TKO. A southpaw, the 29-year-old Frenchman (14-4-1, 2 KOs) had never been stopped before.

This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.