• Back in Training after September fight
• SURPRISE FIGHT SET FOR JANUARY 28, 2005
• Art Simonyan fights for IBF title December 28, 2004
• Karo Parisyan fights in UFC February 5, 2005
• Edmund Tarvedyan looses very controversial fight Nov. 20, 2004

Well, my cut has healed completely by now and I have been able to catch up on unfinished projects at www.hondaonly.net , so I have been back in training for a few weeks now with Peter Cunningham and Rick O’ Kane, anxiously awaiting for Kru Nokweed to return from Thailand.

I am proud to say that I have a nice surprise fight scheduled for January 28, 2005 with location TBA to start the new year off with a BANG. I will post the location up next month on the Home Page of my site for all to, so be patient.

As far as other fights scheduled for next year. I have two promoters that I will be fighting for in local shows to keep busy and also to allow my fans to see me without traveling far distances. These are sanctioned boxing events that will feature me as the only kickboxing fight on the show thanks to Cota and Scraptime promotions.

My trainer, Peter has coached me through the sparring sessions with Art Simonyan twice a week at TRU Boxing Gym in Hollywood to keep my reflexes sharp. Art is preparing for the fight of his career for the IBF title taking place in San Diego on December 28, 2004 that will be televised live on Showtime. His profile at Banner Promotions and at Boxrec.com.
Another Armenian fighter Karo Parisyan is currently training to fight in the UFC February 5, 2005 www.ufc.tv/.
Im sorry to announce that two other Armenian fighters have lost their last fight due to controversy. A boxer, Karen Harutunyan lost a fight due to being cut in August where he was ahead on points Boxrec.com and kickboxer Edmund Tarverdyan lost a decision which many people thought he had won. www.kickbox.com/ .

I am currently in search of sponsorship for my upcoming fight … anyone or company interested and would need to see a price sheet you may e-mail me at shawn@shawnyacoubian.com . I am currently ISKA world ranked #10 and have an unstoppable desire to win the title belt within the next two years. /www.iska.com kickboxing ratings

Shahan Yacoubian

I arrived in Las Vegas on September 9 and had my last training session before the fight on the 11th. The weigh-ins went great, both my opponent and I weighed in at 143 lbs to fight for the IKKC light welterweight Young Guns title.
I would like to thank all my sponsors who have had made it possible for me to prepare for this fight.

Honda Only Auto Dismantling www.hondaonly.net
Autobahn Paint & Body
Precision Chiropractic Center
Arzni Mineral Water www.arzni.com
Thai Boxing Gear www.twinsgear.com
The Noodle House www.noodle-house.com
Somatic Nutrition www.somaticnutrition.com.

For those of you who missed it I was a guest on the Armenian Channel, www.amga.tv , it went very well. The show was on September 5th at 8 p.m. and replayed the following 2 days at 2 p.m. The show was hosted by Armen Hagopyan, the founder of Silver Star Belt Company www.championshipbelt.com. Myself and my trainer Peter Cunningham, the promoter Dennis Warner www.kickbox.com , and WCK’s announcer Chris Gregory www.voiceoverking.com were the guests of the show sponsored by Arzni Mineral water www.arzni.com.

The night of the fight was electrifying ……. I had been training for this one for a few months now. I was originally going to fight on the K-1 show www.k-1usa.net back on April 30th when I tore my calf muscle during training, then I was scheduled to fight the next K-1 show August 7th; that fell through because we were in the middle of negotiations of the fight when Cung El www.cungle.com got hurt in training and Japan replaced my fight with a heavyweight bout in case there was an injury during the tournament. I then called Dennis Warner, the WCK promoter, who then had told me about the fight on Sept. 11 for the Young Guns title with the use of full muay thai rules. I jumped to the proposal and continued training for this event with my coaching team Peter Cunningham, Rick O’ Kane, Nokweed Sriampai and Jimmy Beilowitz.
The strength training by my sponsors at Somatic Nutrition twice a week with Jimmy Beilowitz had gotten me in excellent shape. The tricks and techniques from Peter Cunningham were implanted within my reflexes. The lateral movements along with the Dutch style kicking were well practiced with Rick O’ Kane. The nonstop neck wrestling and knee attacks were perfected working with Nokweed Sriampai. I felt like I was in the best shape I have ever been in. With my injuries healing at 100% I was excited to perform.
My bout was 2nd to last as I made my entrance with my trainers and sponsors toward the ring. The air was electrifying as the crowd rose to their feet in the excitement of seeing “the fight of the night”, unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way for me.
I won the first round on points and was probably still ahead in the second round when I was hit with a right elbow that cut the left side of my face. The blow that had cut me wasn’t hard at all, considering the adrenaline pumping at this stage in the fight. It was the severity of the cut that concerned the ringside doctor who stopped the bout immediately. I was very pissed off at the outcome of the fight, hell, we were both still warming up, eager to be “the fight of the night”. I had a brief flashback of the fight had in November 2003 with Joe Srkissian; I almost knocked him out in the second round and in the third we accidentally clashed heads from the awkwardness of his style and the fight came to an end with the judges ruling a NO CONTEST.
I looked at this fight with Mike Mananquil as a great opportunity to show more skills, since he himself is a skilled fighter, but not as strong. This being my fist fight with elbows, I made the mistake of being a bit careless with the range I put myself against my opponent instead of having my hands higher and being more aware of elbow attacks, event though the blows might not be hard hits at times, they still can cut you. I give him credit for sticking to his game plan during the period the fight had lasted and of course a rematch will happen in the future.
I got a 60 day suspension notice from the doctor so I took a couple weeks off for the cut to heal and have started training again without contact. As I said before, I was in great shape at the time of the fight and I do not intend to mope around and get depressed the fight didn’t go my way.
I made the mistake of staying within distance when I was ahead on points, the outcome was a loss by TKO. I would have rather gotten battered and KO’ed than being cut and not being able to continue, but it’s over with now. I look ahead to my next fight in December or January.

Shawn Yacoubian

Sparring Artyom Simonyan @ Athletic Club (left to right - Peter Cunningham, Art Simonyan, Me & Jon Bray)

Cotta Productions Boxing @ the Burbank Hilton August 2004

watching the fights @ the Burbank Hilton

Strength trainer Jimmy Beilowitz from Somatic Nutrition Supplements

* K-1 FIGHT CANCELLED DUE TO LEG INJURY

* April 24 Demonstration www.genocideevents.com

* Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding film debut

* Karo Parisyan wins WEC world title with unanimous win over Shonie Carter www.wec.tv/

* Artyum Simonyan wins the IBF eliminator fight unanimously against Narongrit Pirang http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=023796

* House of Champions annual in-house tournament on June 26 www.houseofchampions.com

* Grand Opening of Kim Khauv’s Noodle House in Garden Grove, Ca

For those of you that may not have know ……. I had injured my leg during a training session and ended up not fighting at the K-1 show April 30th. I was so psyched out and ready for the fight up until the day of the injury. I went to Las Vegas to watch it anyway and had a great time. Scott Coker always puts on a great show and I am looking forward to fighting on it on August 14, 2004. I have been taking care of the injury from the moment it happened with the help of my trainer Rick O’ Kane and Aram Farhadyan. It is healing quite nicely but I wont be fighting on two shows I was planning to do (May 21 www.wec.tv and Dennis Warners show on June 19 in Upland, Ca).
April 24 has always been acknowledged by the Armenian race as the memorial day of 1.5 million Armenians being massacred by the hands of the Turks; therefore I feel it is my duty to take part in protests along with other things to bring recognition to this “silent” genocide. There have been a numerous books and movies on this subject but yet it has not been recognized like the Jewish Holocaust is. April 24 is also the day of my birth, which also seems to surprise many people who didn’t know. I view my birth date as a blessing more than a “curse”. I understand how many Armenians were killed on this very day in 1915, but I look at the day of my birth as a new beginning and all the more reason why I aim to succeed in becoming a popular Armenian fighter. A funny thing is, my brother Raffi is also born on the same day.

This year I went to the memorial statue in Montebello, Ca with Hyekatchdo, an Armenian Martial Arts Gym in Van Nuys, Ca www.hyekatchdo.com . I was very displeased with the turnout but no doubt ran into many people I knew from school and other organizations. I haven’t been to Montebello to pay my respects in about 5-6 years when I was apart of the AYF youth organization. Back then the property was so full of people that it was hard to move, but for some reason this years attendance was cut to half; when I asked around as to the reason of this I was answered that there were so many meetings going on that everyone cant be in one place at the same time. After Montebello we all proceeded to the Turkish Consulate where I was very pleased with the number of protestors demanding justice; this in fact made me proud. The good thing that happened that day was that Canada recognized the date of April 24 as the memorial day of the Armenian Genocide.

I had a great time when I went to the grand opening of one of my sponsor’s restaurant in Garden Grove. If you live around the area you might want to stop by and try some Vietnamese food that tastes great and prices just right. The Noodle House has 2 kinds of noodles to try, egg and rice. Its located at 10141 Westminster Ave. Suite J Garden Grove, Ca 92843; phone # 714-537-3386.

On a different note, a dear friend of mine, Tony Travis has produced a film called Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding. Tony was actually the first person to introduce my dad into enrolling me into martial arts. Tony has had many parts in films and Broadway and has stepped up to his own film. I watched the debut screening of it this week and couldn’t stop laughing. The film is basically a comedy of an Italian Wedding. More info can be found at www.emergingpictures.com .
Here is a review as well from VARIETY.COM www.variety.com
Posted: Wed., May 5, 2004, 7:23pm PT

Tony & Tina’s Wedding Poster

Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding

A Greenwich Street production in association with Drewmark Prods. Produced by Roger Paradiso, Michael Tadros, Tony Travis, Mark Lipsky. Co-producers, Justin Morrit, Glen Trotliner, Pat McCorkle. Directed, written by Roger Paradiso, based on a play by Artificial Intelligence.

With: Joey McIntyre, Mila Kunis, Priscilla Lopez, John Fiore, Krista Allen, Kim Director, Richard Portnow, Daisy Eagan, Dean Edwards, Guillermo Diaz, Matthew Saldivar, Adrian Grenier, Richard Robichaux, John Bernthal, Mary Testa, Letty Serra, Clement Fowler, Donnie Keshawarz, Tony Travis.

By RONNIE SCHEIB

A rousing, hilarious Bacchanal of family togetherness, Roger Paradiso’s brilliantly cinematic adaptation of the second-longest running play in Off-Broadway history might be the best of the recent rash of wedding pictures. “Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding” never lets up, dynamically orchestrating seeming chaos with beautifully timed detours. By presenting over-the-top ethnic stereotypes subjectively, from the bride’s and groom’s point of view, Paradiso never has to blunt the satiric slapstick punch of a picture that, a la Christopher Guest, presents people of all persuasions as equals in idiocy. If auds could be persuaded to RSVP to one more nuptial, “TNT” could take off theatrically, particularly with crossover, non-chick-flick auds.
Tony (Joey McIntyre) and Tina (Mila Kunis) have seriously considered eloping to escape their respective families. Tina’s widowed mother (Priscilla Lopez) and Tony’s divorced father (John Fiore), who once dated in high school, now hate each other’s guts, (squaring off in escalating confrontations throughout the proceedings).

Picture opens with “Lady of the Lake”-type subjective camerawork that alternates between bride’s and groom’s-eye view. In a pristine suburban house, mint green garbed bridesmaids’ hover while mama paces, growing steadily more commanding and hysterical. Meanwhile, in semidarkness, sodden buddies passed out all over the family’s strip joint resist the groom’s attempts to wake them as macho dad makes lame jokes with meatballs.

The camera remains uncomfortably subjective through the bride’s ride to church through affluent Long Island streets — and the groom’s through the less-picturesque areas of Queens. Paradiso mocks the suspense surrounding the traditional first appearance of the bridal couple by allowing the audience no glimpse of either bride or groom until their respective vehicles pass in front of the viewfinder of the wedding videographer (Guillermo Diaz).Later, further helping to open up the proceedings, the videographer, a gay Hispanic who works in 16mm film and has his own cameraman, flits into the picture at intervals to call attention to some particularly explosive or juicy detail.

There are early rumblings of thundering motifs to come: the loud sobbing of Tina’s mother, which virtually drowns out the vows; the tumultuous entrance of Tina’s old flame, Michael (Adrian Grenier) forcibly restrained during the “if anyone can show just cause” part of the ceremony; the rollicking Baptist intonations that occasionally bubble up and take over the black priest’s (Dean Edwards) otherwise Roman Church-like delivery.

Things really begin to roll downhill at the liberally liquored reception, where “Wedding’s” huge ensemble cast all contribute to the magnificently choreographed mayhem, captured in long sweeping takes through the room. Lenser Giselle Chamma picks up simultaneous action in several parts of the frame in the best Altman tradition: When bridesmaids aren’t passing out in the rigatoni or making cow eyes at the band’s lead singer, or when the father of the groom isn’t crashing through the scenery with his latest stripper or the ex-b.f. splashing down on the wedding cake, they all take time out to deliver boozy, sentimental addresses to the camera for the videographer.

Meanwhile, Tony and Tina’s conflicted loyalties over their increasingly combative dad and mom begin to divide the less-than-happy couple, as they contemplate the ultimate familial nightmare — that they will become their parents. The gags may not be unique or brilliant, but their layering is so well timed that the laughs never cease. The whirlwind of comic detail encompasses everyone in the huge cast, from the one-hit bandleader whose integrity won’t allow him to cover the play list, to the owner/emcee of the stucco Coliseum whose stale patter seems older than the Roman original.

Camera (color, Super 16mm), Giselle Chamma; editor, Jennifer Davidoff Cook; music producer, Joey Carbone, executive music producer, Tony Travis; production designer, Patricia Woodbridge; costume designer, Richard Owings; choreographer, Lisa Shriver; supervising sound editor(Dolby Digital), Robert Hein; associate producers, Michael Tadross Jr., Terry Ladin. Reviewed at Tribeca Film Festival, May 3, 2004. Running time: 108 MIN.

Shahan Yacoubian

Taking calls during the LIVE interview show

Taken after Live TV broadcast @ the AMGA channel

Live on AMGA TV in Glendale, Ca to promote Title Fight

I have a few good announcements this month…………………….

I was asked to do a live interview with AMGA channel in Glendale, CA with the help of Armen Hagopyan of Silver Star Promotions and world famous chiropractor and massage therapist Aram Fahradyan, www.amga.tv . The interview was a great success taking live phone calls from so many people. I thank everyone for their hospitality at the AMGA studio and look forward to doing some more in the future.

SOMATIC NUTRITION PRODUCTS have decided to sponsor me. www.somaticnutrition.com offers a good line of supplements ranging from protein powder to multivitamin packs. Sponsorship consists of a nutritional program along with company products and training 3 times a week with Jim Belowitz at Powerhouse gym in Chastworth, California. The strength-training schedule (light weight, multiple reps) are all apart of a strategy to elevate my body to its fullest capacity along with bringing out a new form with tone and definition.

James Robertson of Robertson Photography www.rmapco.com has agreed to sponsor me with my next edition of promotional fight cards. I met James at the K-1 show May of 2002, he is undoubtedly very easy to work with because he takes his time to complete every last detail. Robertson Photography has done promotions for K-1 and other events because of their quality.

I will be making an appearance at the grand opening of my chiropractor Dr. Kim Khauv’s Noodle House Restaurant on March 27th www.noodle-house.com . Dr. Kim Khauv of Precision Chiropractic Center www.percisionchiropracticcenter.com will be hosing the event along with some other special guests. The Noodle House is located at 10141 Westminster Ave. Suite J Garden Grove, Ca 92843; phone # 714-537-3386.

I started taking jujitsu at Gokor Chivichyan’s Hayastan Academy in LA, Ca once a week www.gokor.com . I enjoy doing NHB and possibly looking to compete sometime in the future. I was pleased to meet many students, fighters and trainers such as Karo Parisyan of the UFC and others. I have been taking basic jujitsu at HyeKatchDo in Van Nuys, Ca and Brazilian Jujitsu at House of Champions for quite some time from Free Tylor who has a vast Machado background.

A friend of mine who is also a fighter, Walter “Sleeper” Mcowski has opened up a gym in Pasadena, California where I go twice a week to work with Kru Nokeed. Nokweed has been an incredible help with my Muay Thai skills. I have excelled dramatically over the last couple years due to fact I have added him to my training team. www.protraininginc.com .

An article of one of my trainers, Krew Nokweed can be found in the February issue of Martial Arts Magazine.

I have finished the book “The Burning Tigris” by Peter Balakian. The book was written in a periodic format dating from 1900 to 1920. Peter explained in detail about the fall of the Armenian race to the hands of the Turkish. This book is basically an addition to the other dozens of books written to prove the point that the American government has not excepted to recognize till this day; it was mainly written from the point of view of people other than Armenians who experienced and spoke out at the outrage of systematic genocide of the Armenian race.

There is a new Armenian magazine called Mosaix www.mosaixmag.com . Check it out!!

I have been training 3-5 days a week for the past couple months with Rick O’ Kane, Peter Cunningham and Krew Nokweed. I thank Pat and PJ Goosen for allowing me to train at Victory Boxing gym in Van Nuys. That is where I work with Peter “Sugarfoot” Cunningham on Boxing and punching counters along with a whole array of kickboxing techniques.

My next fight has not been confirmed yet but I hope to fight on the K-1 show on April 30th at the Bellagio.

On a very sad note, a sensei and friend of mine, Steve Clark passed away a week ago. Sensi Steve Clark was a 6th degree black belt Tang Soo Do Karate teacher at the House of Champions. My sincere condolences to his family. He was a great man who showed eagerness for teaching and compassion for people in need. He was, I can say in a physical aspect, one of the toughest men I’ve known. He will never be forgotten. Funeral services were held at a church in Woodland Hills where there was a large showing for support.

Shahan Yacoubian

Training in Las Vegas was great. Even though I ended up staying a bit longer than I intended I’m glad I did because it paid off well. I mainly trained out of One Kick Nick’s gym www.onekickgym.com where I had a whole stable of sparring partners with different fighting styles who were also training for upcoming competitions

There was Dewey Cooper www.blackkobra.com, Tony Valante who fought on the K-1 Max show a few days before my fight, Phil “The New York Bad Ass” Baroni www.nybadass.com (a UFC fighter) and Julio Garcia {I was training with him when he was getting ready to fight Masato on a K-1 Max show in Japan, unfortunately he did not continue training and had to go back to Cuba due to his mother’s illness}.

I thank everyone who worked with me at the gym such as Alfie Alcarez , David Smith and everyone else, but most of all Master Nick Blomgren for his hospitality.

While I was in Vegas I got to meet with many people in the sport of fighting in general. We (Rick and I ) went over to the Nevanda Partners Community Center at least twice a week to get boxing sparring from Richard Steele’s Gym located within the Community Center (Richard Steele is a retired world class referee/judge who has begun promoting boxing fights in Las Vegas) www.steeleboxing.com , this was one of the gyms that William Abelyan trains at http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=033459, unfortunately I wasn’t able to meet him due to my busy schedule.

Rick and I also went to John Lewis’s Gym (a retired UFC fighter), Fairtex Gym located in Gold’s Gym (what a concept!), Master Toddy’s Gym and the private UFC gym located in same building of the head office, that is where I met with the president of UFC, Dana White, Chuck Lidell, Cabbage and Tim Silva. Rick and I watched along as Chuck Lidell sparred with Phil Baroni, both who had events coming up, Chuck with PRIDE www.pridefc.com and Phil with UFC 45 www.ufc.tv.

When I got back to L.A. I quickly continued my training with Rick, but also adding Kru Nokweed and Peter Cunningham. I found myself training twice a day like I had done in Thailand in June of this year. The training I did had paid off so well I ended up feeling in great shape.

Due to fact that my original opponent Josh Bendell had pulled out a week before the fight, Dennis Warner (the promoter) informed me that the only opponent he had was at a higher weight class of 147lbs against Joe Sarkissian of Victorville. I hesitated to take this fight because I am a 142 lb. fighter and that he was of Armenian descent, but due to fact that he was the only fighter left I agreed to it only if he would come down and meet me at 145 lbs. At the weigh-in the day before the event, I weighed in at 141 lbs and he weighed 145 lb

The day of the fight was really cold, especially in the arena we were in. I was the semi-main event, which was for the IKKC California State Welterweight Belt. I had originally made arrangements with Aram Farhadyan, a masseuse who specializes in athletes, to give me massages before and after the fight. When I went outside to give him the backstage pass to enter the venue, to my surprise a small crew from the Armenian Channel was there to greet me as well, that is where I did the pre-fight interview.

Soon after my incredible warm-up massage and interview I began the process of getting ready for the fight beginning with Rick O’ Kane holding the pads. Due to the fact I was up second to last, I separated my preparation strategically. To my surprise I was sharing dressing rooms with my fellow Armenian fighter Ivan who fights out of Ken Arotunian’s gym in North Hollywood, CA USA. I continued my preparation until it was my time to perform. One of my trainers, Peter Cunningham, couldn’t make it so I asked a dear friend and owner of the Van Nuys Muay Thai Academy, Kru Rex to guide me as one of my corner men. Kru Rex has been there alongside with me every training session with Nokweed so he knew what I was capable of in order to direct me during the fight.

I entered the arena as the audience cheered and even some booed.(I knew my opponent was going to have a very strong fan base with him that night). The announcer, Chris Greggory, recited the intros for both of us and so it was on along with the InDemand Pay-per-view crew hosted by commentary with Blinky Rodriguez and Phil Stone.

The first round Joe came out like an animal, he tried jumping half way across the ring with a kick to my head as I quickly blocked and defended with some punches that were deflected by him smothering me. Basically the first round was a bit sloppy due to fact he was smothering a lot and trying to land some punches and kicks while I was feeling him out and calculating his next movements. I finally started landing some shots at the end of the round as I warmed up and even noticed Joe possibly burning himself out because of his wild style, but in my opinion he had won the round given that he was the more active one even though I wasn’t hurt at all. I was told by my corner to watch out for the head butts, I had already gotten a little (unintentional) nick on my left eyebrow from his awkwardness.

The second round was very exciting as I came out strong and felt my strength increasing as the fight went on. There was a lot of holding from Joe after every strike executed which allowed me to use my knees to his midsection.(this was great because so far I have showed the audience that I have great punching ability, good combos with hands and feet and now I can show them I have knees and neck wrestling as well). Midway through the second round I had my distance down and was able to let my hands go with combos along with knees. I had Joe almost knocked out when he was luckily saved by the bell. At this point I knew it was a matter of time for a KO to occur because I was getting more relaxed as he was fatiguing. The third round was going to be the one.

We both came out in the third exchanging, when I saw his head coming in I quickly turned my head to avoid his head butt to my eye when all of the sudden we clashed. I felt hot liquid protruding from my head as referee Cecil Peoples checked Joe’s eye for any damage. I walked over to my corner hoping to wipe off the blood from the cut on top of my head so that we could continue, that is when I felt the blood wasn’t going to stop. The doctor came to the ring to check my cut and had to stop the fight because the cut was too deep. The fight was ruled a No Contest (neither of us wins or looses).

I wasn’t too happy about them stopping the fight because I was on a roll but, I like to think that there are always good points to every thing that happens. First off it was taped by pay-per-view and will be shown across the nation within 6 months for all to see that I was wining the fight. I had won the crowd after the fight because it was, as always, the most exciting fight of the night and gained more fans because of my style and personality. The Armenian Channel loved me and wanted to do a continuation of the interview along with the other fighters who are raising stars to familiarize the Armenian public … Art Simonyan, Edmund Taverdyan, William Abelyan, Karo Parisyan and some others. The only bad points were that I wasn’t awarded the IKKC belt by increasing my record by a KO win and I had to get stitches on my eye and head.

I must thank my sponsors ( www.hondaonly.net , www.percisionchiropracticenter.com , Autobahn Auto Body & Paint , Executive Limo Services ) and Hector Estrada for taking pictures at the venue. Id like to thank all my fans and those who have helped me this year and look forward to bringing some exciting performances in years to come as I strive to accomplish my goal of becoming the NEXT ARMENIAN WORLD CHAMPION.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year …………………….. 2003

   Shawn

Clinching with Mailapet @ North Hollywood Muay Thai as he trained to fight Duane Ludwig