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Local boxer resumes title quest

January 20, 2006|By From Staff Reports

Sports NotebookGlendale resident Kahren Harutyunyan to face Nonito Donaire in super flyweight championship bout at Pechanga Resort and Casino.GLENDALE -- The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene:

Title run

Glendale resident Kahren Harutyunyan has already won a title in his young professional boxing career.

He'll try to win his second crown when he takes on Nonito Donaire of Castro Valley for the vacant North American Boxing Federation super flyweight title today at the Pechanga Resort and Casino near Temecula.

Harutyunyan's bout in the 115-pound division replaces the previously scheduled main event, which was supposed to feature a lightweight championship match between Roland Reyes and Diego Corrales.

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Corrales suffered a rib injury and had to postpone the bout.

Tonight's card includes two other scheduled 10-round bouts, including a women's fight. The first bout will be televised by Showtime at 8 p.m.

Harutyunyan (13-2-3) will step into the ring seeking his second championship in less than a year.

Harutyunyan won a 12-round unanimous decision against Tatsuo Hayashida on April 1 to capture the vacant North American Boxing Organization Junior Bantamweight championship at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello.

He then defeated Juan Alfonso Keb Baas in an eight-round unanimous decision at the same site July 15.

Harutyunyan, who has yet to knock out an opponent, will take on a fighter who has eight knockouts on his résumé. Donaire, nicknamed the "Filipino Flash," is 13-1 in his career and has won his past 12 fights. Seven of those have come via knockouts.

Harutyunyan is trained by Freddie Roach, the trainer for Glendale resident Vanes Martirosyan, a rising welterweight fighter who represented the United States in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

OUT FOR THE YEAR?

When Hoover High boys' basketball player Shara Babakhanians sprained his left ankle, he thought he'd be out two weeks.

Two weeks has come to pass, and Babakhanians is still out.

On Thursday, Babakhanians, a sophomore, said he likely won't play again this season.

"I tried to tape [my ankle] and practice on it, but it hurt too much," said Babakhanians, who injured his ankle while playing pick-up basketball. "I've been thinking about it everyday.

"I let my whole team down."

Tornado Coach Vigen Jilizian said his team, which is 2-1 in the Pacific League, has lost a step on offense without Babakhanians, its second-leading scorer, not on the court.

"But defensively, we haven't lost a step," Jilizian said. "We have other guys who need to step up. We'll just go on and keep doing what we're doing.

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