A fan-friendly junior featherweight firefight should be in store when former world title challenger Azat Hovhannisyan and up-and-coming prospect David Picasso meet on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s exhibition match against John Gotti III on Aug. 24.
The 12-round all-action pitting between Hovhannisyan (21-4, 17 KOs) and Picasso (28-0-1, 16 KOs) will take place on a Zanfer Boxing card at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on DAZN.
Hovhannisyan will return to action for the first time since his fight-of-the-year front-running knockout loss to Luis Nery in February 2023. The defeat snapped a seven-fight winning streak for the 35-year-old Armenian who lives in Los Angeles and trains out of the Brickhouse Boxing Club with trainer Julian Chua. “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan lost his only shot at a title in 2018 in a competitive fight against Rey Vargas.
“David is a great and deserving opponent and the kind of fighter I’m looking forward to beating to bring me back to a world championship opportunity,” Hovhannisyan told BoxingScene. “I’m also looking forward to giving the fans in Mexico City exactly what they demand from boxers with my crowd-pleasing fighting style. Everyone around the world who will be watching will enjoy a great performance.
Picasso is a high-volume puncher and heralded prospect from Mexico with great fanfare. Many prognosticators believe Picasso has the makings to be the country’s next great champion. The 23-year-old turned pro at 16, is signed to Fernando Beltran’s Zanfer Boxing, and is ranked as the WBC’s No. 1 challenger to Naoya Inoue, the undisputed 122-pound champion.
Picasso made his United States debut in January and overcame a rib injury after a blistering start to beat Erik Cruz. In May, on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia undercard, Picasso scored a fifth-round technical knockout of Damien Vazquez. Outside of boxing, Picasso is studying neuroscience at the La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).
The July 2023 exhibition between Mayweather and Gotti III ended prematurely and in a melee last year. The 47-year-old Hall of Fame fighter Mayweather will look to settle the score against the 31-year-old MMA fighter Gotti III, grandson of the infamous crime boss.
Also set to be featured on the card is former Mayweather rival Victor Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs) in an eight-round junior middleweight matchup against Rodrigo Damian Coria (13-6, 2 KOs).
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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