idence, feel a little better about yourself when youre hitting balls and getting ready for the tournament.That confidence showed in his match with Cilic. Although Murray got off to a rocky s

Light heavyweight contender Vyacheslav Slava Shabranskyy made his name as a fighter to watch in the division largely on the basis of a decision win against formidable Yunieski Gonzalez in December 2015.Now Shabranskyy (17-0, 14 KOs), 29, a Ukraine native living in Los Angeles, hopes to further enhance his growing reputation, and perhaps put himself in line for a world title shot, with a win against the best opponent of his career in Sullivan Barrera, whom he will fight in a 10-round match on Friday (HBO Latino, 10 p.m. ET/PT) at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.It feels great [to be in the main event], Shabranskyy said. Its a huge accomplishment for my career. It shows me that I am close to the level that I want to be at, and that I am closer to the fights I want. It is a step in the direction of where I desire my career to go.Sullivan is one of the toughest opponents I have faced yet, Shabranskyy said. Hes faced fighters like Andre Ward and has gone the distance and has demonstrated his skill. Knowing that he needs [to win] this fight will make him even more hungry in the ring, and we are expecting him to come forward. With this fight, I [might] get the opportunity to face opponents like Andre Ward. But first things first -- I have to finish Barrera.We never say we are going for the knock out. Thats not my style. We train to go the distance, especially knowing he has been under the care of a new trainer, so we dont know what kind of Barrera we are going to get.Shabranskyy attributes much of his improvement from the amateur game to professional boxing to trainer Manny Robles, who has had a breakout 2016 thanks to the world title victories of featherweight Oscar Valdez and junior featherweight Jessie Magdaleno, not to mention the continued development of rising middleweight prospect Jason Quigley, who will appear on Fridays non-televised undercard.Since coming here, meeting Manny Robles, and becoming a professional, its completely different [than training in Ukraine]. Its completely changed me, said Shabranskyy, who began boxing at age 13. When I first came here, my mentality was to just come and fight and get inside the ring. Manny had to tell me to take it easy, to refocus, and take it one fight at a time. Los Angeles isnt a pit stop. Its become my second home.Shabranskyy also picked up valuable experience when he served as a sparring partner for Bernard Hopkins before his 2014 loss to Sergey Kovalev in their light heavyweight unification fight.I learned so much sparring with Bernard. He is a very smart fighter inside the ring, Shabranskyy said. After every sparring session, we would sit down, and he would explain to me everything that he knew. I was so excited to be in training camp with him. Bernards fight against Sergey Kovalev was not an easy fight, and Bernard gave him a tough 12 rounds. Bernard was able to adapt and strategized every round to last the 12 rounds.Now Shabranskyy faces Barrera, who was a standout amateur on the Cuban national team before coming to the United States. He has a tricky style and vast experience.Ive never fought anyone with his type of style. Although Ive seen many of his videos fighting, you never know who you are going to get in the ring, Shabranskyy said. We know that he has switched up his training camp, hes moved to Miami, which means we could see him fight a little different.We will tell what kind of Barrera shows up in the ring that day. It doesnt worry me that much, though. All I know is that I am training hard and will be prepared for it. Ill be able to tell you after the first round how its going.The 34-year-old Barrera (17-1, 12 KOs), a Miami-based Cuban defector, is coming off of a lopsided decision loss to Ward in March, and he is hoping to get back in the title hunt quickly.He will go into the fight with a new trainer, having split from Abel Sanchez, the 2015 Boxing Writers Association of America Trainer of the Year, in favor of Derik Santos. The reason for the switch, according to Barrera, is because he was more comfortable training in Miami than traveling to train at Sanchezs compound in Big Bear Lake, California.I had known about Derik for a long time, since I came to this country, Barrera said. My team and I thought this was the best decision to work closer to home. Camp is going great -- we had a long camp. It worked out perfect because I got time to really learn a lot of things from Derik.I must take advantage of my opportunity and do what I do best. It would be great to get a knockout because I know I am going into his home turf and his promoters home turf [and it is] going to be very tough to get a decision. My goal is to knock him out.The bout headlines a Golden Boy-promoted tripleheader that also includes two other 10-rounders:Junior welterweight Antonio Relentless Orozco (25-0, 16 KOs), 29, of San Diego, the No. 1 contender for unified world champion Terence Crawford, will risk his status against Fidel Maldonado Jr. (22-3-1, 19 KOs), 25, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.Welterweight Eddie Gomez (19-1, 11 KOs), 24, of Bronx, New York, will face Rashidi Ellis (16-0, 11 KOs), 23, of Lynn, Massachusetts, in the opener.Scarpe Asics Outlet . 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Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls.Novak Djokovic has historically basked in the glow of the spotlight at the Londons O2 Arena, but for Andy Murray, the glare during the ATP World Tour Finals has usually been harsh, exposing his weaknesses and shortcomings.It might be a different story for the new world No. 1 this year.On Monday, Murray launched his campaign to consolidate the No. 1 ranking he lifted from Djokovics hands a little more than a week ago in Paris. He crushed Marin Cilic in the first match of the round-robin stage, 6-3, 6-2, in an hour and a half. Afterward, Murray admitted in his on-court interview, Its one of the best matches I have played here.It also was one of the most timely demonstrations of the hardworking 29-year-old Scots rewarding, but often frustrating, career.Like Rafael Nadal, a fellow member of the Big Four, Murray has never won the eight-man ATP grand finale. Unlike Nadal, Murray hasnt even made a final at the year-enders despite his expertise on hard courts. Its surprising when you consider the adulation from a besotted British crowd beaming down at him and the hybrid round-robin format that allows a player various backdoor ways to advance.Murray has qualified for nine finals (eight at the palatial O2 Arena), but his win against Cilic barely nudged him over the .500 mark in his year-end career (12-11). Murrays 6-0, 6-1 loss to 33-year-old Roger Federer in 2014 was a career low point -- and a painful embarrassment.Meanwhile, Djokovic is working on his fifth consecutive and sixth overall WTF title.The O2 arena is basically deep enemy territory for Murray. Djokovic has every right to pound his chest (as we know, hes not above it) and bellow, This is MY house! Chez Djokovic isnt exactly the place Murray would choose to turn his fortunes around, but recent events have conspired to turn this tournament into just that -- a showdown for the No. 1 ranking, as well as the even more precious year-end No. 1 ranking.Murray is the 26th man to reach No. 1 on the ATP computer. But only 16 have finished a calendar year as top man. Murray needs to go one round further than Djokovic (or to beat him in the final) to secure the honors.Until he actually became No. 1, Murray hadd been protesting that hitting the summit was not really his goal this fall.dddddddddddd He declared he might have a better shot at in next spring. Far from the O2 Arena. Far from Chez Djokovic.Forget the prattle about how tough everyone is in the draw; this one was a gift handed to the beleaguered Djokovic. He is 24-0 against the three other players in his group --?Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem (whom Djokovic beat Sunday) and Gael Monfils.Meanwhile, Murray was a solid but vulnerable 27-12 against the men in his field --?Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Cilic. To top it off, Cilic hit his career-high ranking of No. 7 just a week ago, and he hammered Murray in the Cincinnati final the last time they met.I dont feel any different this week than I did the week before when I get up in the morning and stuff, Murray said in the pretournament news conference in London.It was an uh-oh moment, saved only when he almost grudgingly elaborated on the effect of becoming the top player: Maybe when you step on court, you have a little more confidence, feel a little better about yourself when youre hitting balls and getting ready for the tournament.That confidence showed in his match with Cilic. Although Murray got off to a rocky start, smacking errant forehands and jabbering at his players guest box, he soon settled down, breaking Cilic to take a 3-1 lead. Murray won 59 percent of his second-serve points, and his aggressive return game paid off with four breaks in five break-point chances. Cilic also had five break points but converted just one.Murray attributed his sharp response to critical moments to the confidence he has accumulated in the course of a winning streak that now stands at 20 matches. Hell probably need to puff himself up even more assertively in the coming days because of the stakes in play.Winning this event is a very tall order for Murray, but he has been handling such demands with great resolve all fall. He has landed more squarely in the spotlight than ever before -- and the glare didnt seem nearly as bleak on Monday. ' ' '