David Avanesyan — trained by Newark's Carl Greaves — destroys Finn Oskari Metz in fifth European welterweight title defence

It took David Avanesyan just two minutes to stop the unbeaten Oskari Metz as the adopted Newaker defended his European welterweight title for a fifth time on Saturday night at Wembley Arena.

Avanesyan (29-3-1, 17 KOs) who is trained by Newark’s Carl Greaves, walked through the Finn, now 15-1 (5 KOs), as he recorded a first-round technical knockout following a flurry of combinations.

Trainer Greaves said it was a ruthless performance from the powerful punching 33-year-old.

“That is six stoppages in a row now, it is unbelievable,” said Greaves.

“His power has developed so much over the past few years.

“And not only that, he just knows where to hit them.

“He hurt that kid with a body shot and then he went upstairs and caught him on the temple.”

But the victory was not without its drama as referee Guiseppe Quartarone opted to offer a standing-count to Metz — rather than stopping the fight — as Avanesyan looked for the finish.

“I thought the refereeing was bad,” said Greaves.

“It should have been stopped a lot sooner. He (Metz) took unnecessary punishment and it was worrying at times.

“When he gave him a standing count, I had no idea what was happening because you’re not even allowed standing counts in professional boxing.

“That is a bit of a negative, but on a positive, I am so proud of David — let’s get this world title, we need this world title.”

When questioned who Avanesyan’s next opponent would be, Greaves said: “If he is going to be taking the final eliminator for the WBC world title, which he is ordered to do, then we are just waiting for them to announce an opponent.

“David is number two, Keith Thurman is number three, let’s make that fight.

“It is a great fight for David and one I am confident of winning.

“It would set him up nicely for a big world title fight.”