Art "Lionheart" Hovhannisyan to fight Arash UsmaneeMay 22, 2013 - 17:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - On Friday, June 14, Vito Mielnicki of GH3 Promotions and Greg Cohen of Greg Cohen Promotions (CGP), in association with First Round Promotions, will proudly present an exciting night of world-class professional boxing, live from the Richard J. Codey Arena at South Mountain in West Orange, New Jersey and broadcast worldwide on ESPN Friday Night Fights, BoxingScene.com reported. In the 10-round main event, IBF #14-rated featherweight Arash Usmanee of Montreal, Canada (via Afghanistan) will face once-beaten contender Art "Lionheart" Hovhannisyan (15-1-2, 8 KOs) of Glendale, California (via Armenia). And in the exciting 10-round heavyweight co-feature, WBA #2-rated Luis "El Mercedez" Ortiz (19-0, 16 KOs) of Miami, Florida (via Cuba), will take on WBA #11-rated Travis "The Truth" Kaufmann (24-1, 18 KOs) of Reading, Pennsylvania in a WBA Heavyweight Elimination Bout with the winner positioning himself for a title shot. 31-year-old Usmanee has already won the NABA and WBC Continental Americas Championships as a professional. As an amateur he was a five-time National Canadian Champion. Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Usmanee and his family moved to Alberta, Canada, when he was three years old. He now resides in Montreal. Usmanee's only career defeat was a highly controversial 12-round decision to fellow contender Rances "Kid Blast" Barthelemy on January 4 of this year. As an amateur, 31-year-old Hovhannisyan gained extensive international experience and was a four-time Armenian National Champion, going 163-12. He moved to the United States in 2007. He is coming off the only loss of his promising career, a very close decision to Alejandro Perez last February. Hovhannisyan has served a sparring partner for former pound-for-pound #1 Manny Pacquiao. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |