27.09 - NABO featherweight champion WILLIAM "THE CONQUEROR" ABELYAN returns to the ring, Friday, October 11, in a 10-round rumble in Tulsa, OK, against Armando Guerrero. The fight, which is being promoted by Holden Productions, in association with Gary Shaw Productions, will be televised live nationally on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights,", beginning at 9 P.M. ET.
Abelyan, 23, from Las Vegas, NV, a southpaw with a 20-4-1 (11 KOs) record, is riding a two-year, 10-bout winning streak, which includes six knockouts.
Last year, Abelyan garnered the attention of the boxing world by destroying the WBC's No. 1 contender, Guty Espadas, 34-3, via a unanimous decision. Abelyan knocked Espadas down twice in the fight en route to victory with scores of 99-90, 98-90 and 97-90. The most amazing thing was Abelyan took the fight on just four days notice!
Abelyan has followed that epic win with three more victories this year -- a unanimous decision over Jesus Salud, 63-10, and knockouts of Alvin Brown, 17-5, and Orlando Soto, 32-8, for the NABO featherweight title in August. All told, Abelyan's last four opponents had a combined record of 146-28, and a winning percentage of 84%! Abelyan's stock has risen with every victory. He is currently world-rated No. 5 by the WBO, No. 8 by the IBF and No. 9 by the WBC.
"He is ready to take on any of the champions right now and beat them," said Abelyan's promoter Gary Shaw. "Hamed, Barrera, Tapia. You're going to see why he's called William The Conqueror. He's going to storm the division!"
Guerrero, 19-3-4 (11 KOs), from Austin, TX, captured the Texas State super bantamweight title in his last fight, a unanimous decision victory over Sal Garcia, last June, in San Antonio. He has gone 9-1-3 (5 KOs) since November 1999, with the only blemish being a decision loss to undefeated contender Joan Guzman.
