William Abelyan To Battle Jose Luis Tula March 21

04.03 - NABO featherweight champion WILLIAM "THE CONQUEROR" ABELYAN makes his 2003 debut, in a 12-round title defense, Friday, March 21, at The Aladdin Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Abelyan will rumble against Jose Luis Tula, in a fight promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, which will be televised nationally on tape-delay by CSI SPORTS.

Abelyan, 24, a southpaw with a 21-4-1 (11 KOs) record, is riding a three-year, 11-bout winning streak, which includes six knockouts.

An Armenian now living in Las Vegas, Abelyan garnered the attention of the boxing world by destroying the WBC's No. 1 contender, Guty Espadas, 34-3, via a unanimous decision, August 5, 2001. 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 four more victories last year -- a unanimous decision over Jesus Salud, 63-10, knockout victories of Alvin Brown, 17-5, and Orlando Soto, 32-8, the latter was for the NABO featherweight title, and a 10-round decision over Armando Cordoba, 17-8-1. All told, Abelyan's last four opponents had a combined record of 163-36-1, and a winning percentage of 82%! Abelyan's stock has risen with every victory. He is currently world-rated No. 3 by the WBO, No. 6 by the IBF and No. 8 by the WBC.

"He is ready to take on any of the champions and top contenders right now and beat them," said his promoter Gary Shaw. "Hamed, Barrera, and Marquez . You are going to see why he is called 'William The Conqueror.' He is going to storm the division!"

Tula, 15-8-2 (10 KOs), from Mexico City, Mexico, has held FEDCENTRO and Mexican National featherweight titles during his career. Currently rated No. 12 by the NABO, Tula will be making his U.S. debut.