Gevorg Khatchikian tries to win American hearts in bout against Gilberto Ramirez

Nothing would please Gevorg Khatchikian more than to see Gilberto Ramirez overlook him in Friday night's 10-round super middleweight fight at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The Netherlands native who was born in Armenia isn't well known. He's 23-1 with 11 knockouts, the one loss coming to James DeGale in England. But a strong performance tonight against Ramirez (32-0, 24 KOs) on truTV will make Khatchikian a lot more familiar to American boxing fans. At the same time, he can derail Ramirez's plans for a title fight with Arthur Abraham next year. Ramirez is the mandatory challenger for Abraham, who currently holds the World Boxing Organization belt. Abraham defends his title Saturday in Germany against Martin Murray.

"I've trained 19 years to make it to this level," Khatchikian, 27, said. "It's a big chance for me if can beat Ramirez. I can get a title shot."

Perhaps there's a title shot down the road for Khatchikian if he wins. But not immediately. Still, if he's serious about contending for a world title at some point, he needs a win Friday night at The Chelsea.

"I know he's a good boxer and a hard puncher, but I'm ready for him," Khatchikian said. "I have power too. But I can also be a good technical boxer."

Khatchikian said getting stopped by DeGale in the 11th round of their scheduled 12-round fight back in March 2014 wasn't the worst thing for his career.

"It showed me about fighting a southpaw and (Ramirez) is a southpaw, so I gained a lot of experience and I should be much more comfortable," Khatchikian said. "James DeGale is a big fighter. I don't think Ramirez is as good as DeGale. DeGale, he is 10 times better than Ramirez."

Boxing isn't big in the Netherlands. But Khatchikian said he has his fair share of fans who follow his career and he said a win tonight might encourage more of his countrymen to follow boxing in general and himself in particular.

"I would love to win for the Netherlands — and for Armenia," he said.

This is Khatchikian's first time fighting in Las Vegas and only his second time fighting outside of the Netherlands. The loss to DeGale was his first fight outside his country. He's hoping for a different outcome tonight.

"Every fighter's dream is to fight in Las Vegas so this is very special to me to make it here," Khatchikian said. "I like the city. The people are very nice.

"But I'm coming here to win. And it's going to be a big mistake if (Ramirez) thinks it's going to be an easy fight for him."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj