Vanes Martirosyan to take on Andrey Tsurkan

PanARMENIAN.Net - World championship boxing monopolizes Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, June 27 with "Latin Fury 9." The pay-per-view extravaganza will be headlined by two world championship fights - World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel "Juanma" Lopez defending his title against undefeated North America Boxing Association (NABA) super bantamweight champion Olivier Lontchi and WBO bantamweight champion Fernando "Cochulito" Montiel defending his crown against former world champion ERIC "Little Hands of Steel" Morel.. The televised portion of the card also features former world champion Paulie "The Magic Man" Malignaggi taking on undefeated "Mile-High" Mike Alvarado in a 10-round junior welterweight rumble and Vanes "The Nightmare" Martirosyan risking his undefeated record against Andrey Tsurkan in a 10-round junior middleweight battle. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Caesars Atlantic City, "Latin Fury 9" will be broadcast Live on Pay-Per-View from the Adrian Phillips Ballroom, beginning at 9 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. PDT. These eight sluggers boast a combined record of 224-10-2 (135 KOs), a winning percentage of 95% and a victory by knockout ratio of 60%.



Martirosyan (23-0, 14 KOs), a native of Armenia now living in Glendale, Calif., returns to the ring reunited with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and his assistant trainer former light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion Michael Moorer. Known as "The Nightmare," the 2004 U.S. Olympian, whose amateur resume boasts victories over world champions Andre Berto and Timothy Bradley, is on the verge of breaking through professionally in the competitive junior middleweight division, where he is currently word-rated No. 12 by the IBF and No. 19 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).



Tsurkan (26-4, 17 KOs), a Ukrainian native now living in Bronx, NY, enters this fight having won seven of his last nine bouts, including NABF super welterweight championship knockout victories over Hector Camacho, Jr. and Sammy Sparkman. In his last bout, the rugged Tsurkan became the only fighter to extend undefeated No. 1 contender Alfredo Angulo beyond the sixth round, making it into the 10th stanza, which was broadcast by HBO, eastsideboxing.com reported.