Glendale resident Alexios Halebian headed to Roland Garros Junior French Championships
The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene.
HALEBIAN AMONG
TOP U.S. JUNIORS
Glendale resident Alexios Halebian was among seven boys’ players picked to represent the United States in the 2012 Roland Garros Junior French Championships, the United States Tennis Assn. announced in a press release on Wednesday.
Currently ranked a career-high No. 12 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, Halebian will compete in the singles main draw, which will begin Saturday and extend through June 10 at Roland Garros in Paris.
Halebian, who was the runner-up in singles in the recent Easter Bowl, is currently training full-time at the USTA Player Development Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla.
LIONHEART BACK
ON SHOBOX
Hard-hitting crowd pleaser Art “Lionheart” Hovhannisyan, according to manager George Bastmajyan, is set to make his return to the boxing ring and Showtime’s Shobox series on July 20 when he will face Miguel Acosta in a main event.
Acosta, 34, stands at 29-5-2 with 23 wins by knockout, but has lost two of his last three bouts.
Glendale’s Hovhannisyan, whose style and just plain bad luck has led to a bevy of injuries, is set to fight for the first time since fighting to a technical draw in August of 2011 against Cristobal Cruz on ESPN.
The 30-year-old “Lionheart” is 14-0-2 with eight KOs and enjoyed the biggest win of his career on June 10, 2011 with a sixth-round knockout over Archie Ray Marquez in a Shobox bout.
Thus far, the fight hasn’t been announced, but Bastmajyan said it will be soon.
RETURN CONTINUES
FOR TARVERDYAN
After a return to combat and a debut in the arena of mixed martial arts, Edmond Tarverdyan, a Glendale High graduate and the proprietor of the Glendale Fighting Club, looks to make a quick return for his second MMA bout.
According to friend and manager George Bastmajyan, Tarverdyan will fight at Chaos at the Casino 2 on July 27 at the Hollywood Park and Casino. Tarverdyan won his debut with a spectacular first-round knockout via knee strike on May 5 against Phil Nunez at the inaugural Chaos at the Casino at the same venue.
A week later on Aug. 4 at the UFC on FOX 4 from the Staples Center, Glendale-trained MMA fighter Manny Gamburyan (11-7), who’s normally cornered by Tarverdyan, will take on Michihiro Omigawa (13-11-1).
SIERRA EARNS FIRST-TEAM HONORS
A sore arm didn’t prevent Alex Sierra from putting up big numbers for the Flintridge Prep baseball team.
While the Rebels finished 7-16, 3-9 in the Prep League to tie for last place with Rio Hondo Prep, Sierra enjoyed a breakthrough senior season that saw him earn all-league first-team accolades for the first time.
The University of Puget Sound-bound Sierra, a first baseman/designated hitter, batted .426 overall and .425 in league.
“He had an arm injury during the offseason while playing for his club team,” said Flintridge Prep Coach Buzz Cook, who resigned after the season. “There wasn’t anything structurally wrong, but it was sore.
“He went out there and had some great games for us. He was one of the lone bright spots for us.”
Sierra led the team in runs batted in (22) and doubles (seven).