Main Event

With just a few weeks to go until the Women's Council of Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation hosts The Main Event on Saturday, Oct. 21, organizers have been delighted with the level of support from the community. The hospital's annual benefit, which will take place at the Oakmont Country Club beginning at 6 p.m., includes dinner, dancing, live and silent auctions, and live entertainment. Titled "Dreams of Fall," the aim of this year's event is to raise money for the hospital's new digital record and image tracking system called ACCESS.

For those who have followed the promising boxing career of Art "Lionheart" Hovhannisyan, they have come to expect a couple things - an all-out, entertaining fight and some bumps in the road to stardom. Now 31, the Glendale slugger remains unbeaten, but a slew of injuries and fight cancellations have impeded his progress. The latest setback was when opponent Logan McGuinness was forced to pull out of their bout - for a possible World Boxing Assn. contendership and the North American Boxing Assn.

Nothing ever seems to go as it's supposed to when it comes to the burgeoning boxing career of Art "Lionheart" Hovhannisyan. Long hampered throughout his unbeaten career by injuries - in large part due to his hard-hitting style in the gym - and untimely fight cancellations, Hovhannisyan was set to face Logan McGuinness in the main event of Showtime's “Showbox” series on Feb. 22 from the Morongo Casino in Cabazon. But, McGuinness is out, according to Hovhannisyan's manager, George Bastmajyan.

GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene. BERNETSYAN TO DANCE AT BALLROOM Rookie boxer Artur "The Punisher" Bernetsyan will look to close out his impressive initial pro campaign when he headlines the "Battle in the Ballroom" at the Irvine Marriott Grand Ballroom on Thursday. Bernetsyan will take on Los Angeles' Demetrio Soto in the six-bout hybrid card's six-round, junior welterweight main event. Bernetsyan, an Armenian native who resides in Glendale, is 5-0 with a pair of knockouts, all five of his fights coming in this year.

Hospital gears up for 'Main Event' The Women’s Council of the Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation will host “The Main Event,” the hospital’s annual fundraising event at 6 p.m. Oct. 7, at the Oakmont Country Club, 3100 Country Club Drive, and will include dinner, dancing, live and silent auctions and entertainment. Titled “Dreams of Fall,” the aim of this year’s “The Main Event” is to raise funds for the purchase of digital mammography equipment at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

In the afterglow of the historic and riveting UFC 157 main event Saturday night in Anaheim, Ronda Rousey's grim prefight demeanor had drastically turned into a winning smile. With Rousey, who trains at the Glendale Fighting Club, and opponent Liz Carmouche entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship's octagon for the first-ever women's fight, Rousey emerged just the same as she always has in her mixed-martial-arts career - with her hands raised in victory. “I don't know how many adjectives I have right now,” said Rousey of her emotions at the postfight press conference Saturday not long after she defended her UFC women's bantamweight title.

For those who have followed the promising boxing career of Art "Lionheart" Hovhannisyan, they have come to expect a couple things - an all-out, entertaining fight and some bumps in the road to stardom. Now 31, the Glendale slugger remains unbeaten, but a slew of injuries and fight cancellations have impeded his progress. The latest setback was when opponent Logan McGuinness was forced to pull out of their bout - for a possible World Boxing Assn. contendership and the North American Boxing Assn.

GLENDALE - On a sunny, sleepy Saturday morning, all looks calm outside the Glendale Fighting Club. But a closer look inside the windowed walls of the Brand Blvd. training center reveals a bustling gym housing a pair of fighters putting in the final preparations for what are arguably the most monumental bouts in their burgeoning careers. Taking center stage is Ronda Rousey, the first-ever and newly crowned Ultimate Fighting Championship women's bantamweight champion. Rousey, an undefeated phenom inside the cage and fast-rising superstar outside of it, will headline Saturday's UFC 157 “Rousey vs. Carmouche” pay-per-view on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim in the organization's first-ever women's bout.

Nothing ever seems to go as it's supposed to when it comes to the burgeoning boxing career of Art "Lionheart" Hovhannisyan. Long hampered throughout his unbeaten career by injuries - in large part due to his hard-hitting style in the gym - and untimely fight cancellations, Hovhannisyan was set to face Logan McGuinness in the main event of Showtime's “Showbox” series on Feb. 22 from the Morongo Casino in Cabazon. But, McGuinness is out, according to Hovhannisyan's manager, George Bastmajyan.

Thus far, Art "Lionheart" Hovhannisyan's road to boxing glory has been a bumpy one, slowed by a myriad of injuries and bout cancellations. Still, the action fighter with an unbeaten record finds himself poised once more to knock down the door of opportunity and become a title contender. Hovhannisyan is slated to fight Logan McGuinness on Feb. 22 in a “Shobox” main event with a possible World Boxing Assn. championship bout as the winner's prize. “We cannot be fighting the Joe Schmoes anymore,” said George Bastmajyan, Hovhannisyan's manager and cut man. “We need a career-defining fight.

BURBANK - When Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White speaks, people tend to listen. It's hard not to, often times. There's rarely a topic he shies away from and he's not afraid of saying something controversial. And one person he doesn't seem to tire of talking about is Ronda Rousey, the newly christened and first-ever UFC women's bantamweight champion. The fact that Rousey rarely hesitates to say what's on her mind - among myriad more characteristics that have many calling her a fighter that's the total package - is likely a reason White so quickly warmed up to the prospects of Rousey headlining February's UFC 157 event.

With an ear-splitting roar, hundreds of motorcyclists cruised down San Fernando Road on Sunday morning for the 29th Love Ride. Organizers billed the annual event as the longest continually running motorcycle rally in the country “and maybe the world,” in the words of founder Oliver Shokouh. Shokouh, the owner of Glendale Harley-Davidson, started the event in 1984. Participants began arriving as early as 5:30 a.m., with hundreds on hand by 7:30 a.m. to catch the music of Strawberry Alarm Clock, which delighted the leather-and-tattoo set with the 1960s anthem “Incense and Peppermints.” Those who continued on to the main event in Castaic Lake were treated to performances from George Thorogood & The Destroyers - whose 90-minute set included “Bad to the Bone” and selections from his new album - and Canned Heat.

Love will rumble on the open road this weekend. The 29th annual Love Ride will kick off at Harley Davidson of Glendale at 7:15 a.m. Sunday with a performance by Strawberry Alarm Clock before bikers jump on their motorcycles and rumble to the main event in Castaic Lake. The Love Ride, founded in 1984 by Oliver Shokouh - owner of the local Harley-Davidson dealership - will benefit the USO this year, which provides support and morale-boosting programs and services to military troops and their families.

Opening night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, revealed a strikingly diverse audience of delegates, activists and guests cheering even for the earliest speakers of the evening. Leading up to the night's scheduled main event -- a speech by First Lady Michelle Obama -- the speaker lineup was filled with women (including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi), Latinos (including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, the convention's keynote speaker)

MARTIROSYAN COULD FIGHT COTTO With rumors swirling around the boxing world that a much-hyped rematch between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito could be called off, undefeated Glendale boxer Vanes Martirosyan's name has surfaced as a possible replacement for Margarito, according to multiple boxing websites. "Getting someone to step in and replace Margarito on short notice will be much easier than thought. Two names instantly stand out, those being Vanes Martirosyan and Pawel Wolak . Both are in shape," Jack Hirsch wrote on boxingnewsonline.net.