Armenian-Russian welterweight contender David Avanesyan will become Jaron Ennis’ opponent for his July 13th homecoming to Philadelphia as announced today by Matchroom. The Matchroom-promoted show will not only see Ennis make his debut for the promotion, but he will further be able to defend his IBF 147 lbs title for the first time since being promoted to world champion last year. Avanesyan replaces Cody Crowley who withdrew from his title bout with Ennis after he was not medically cleared.

David Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 KO’s) most recently fought December 20th last year where he cruised to a 4th-round stoppage win over Cameroonian opponent Serge Ambomo (13-61-3, 4 KO’s). Roughly a year before his last match against Ambomo, Avanesyan had challenged Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) for his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title but suffered a slightly controversial knockout (KO) loss to the pound-for-pound American champion.

With the Armenian contender’s last fight having occurred against Ambomo―a fighter with an extremely high losing record, there will be doubts as to his current position as a title challenger for Jaron Ennis (31-0, 28 KO’s). While Avanesyan did challenge for a title when he faced Crawford two years ago, he had accumulated a relevant resume prior to his first world title fight; having been on a six-fight stoppage/knockout streak and been decently active having fought twice over the course of 14 months.

Notably, Avanesyan’s activity since losing to Crawford has severely diminished, fighting only once over the last 14 months against a bottom-tier fighter rather than the [fringe] contenders he faced prior to challenging for the WBO title.

For Jaron Ennis himself, his upcoming fight with David Avanesyan will likely not suffice as an actual world title fight in the eyes of his contemporaries, and while it will formally be considered as such, the absence of any active top contender he could face will diminish his potential title victory over Avanesyan―drawing questions as to whether he truly is an elite fighter or merely is perceived to be one due to his talent.

The rest of the fights scheduled on the card will continue as planned, with the Ennis-Avanesyan title bout set to headline the Matchroom card at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.