By Jake Donovan
In July 2006, a brand new boxing series was presented by Top Rank on Outdoor Life Network (which would later become VERSUS). The evening’s main event saw then-undefeated prospect Kelly Pavlik stop former junior middleweight titlist Bronco McKart in six rounds.
Pavlik would fight once more on the series before graduating to the contender level. He eventually went on to become the World middleweight champion, 14 months after the launching of what would become the VERSUS Fight Night series.
Even with Pavlik going through peaks and valleys over the past year and change, it can still be said that his stay at the top (which is still in progress) outlasted the series, as Top Rank and VERSUS parted ways in 2008.
However long their latest venture (“Top Rank Live”, to run on Fox Sports Español) lasts, there is one fighter in particular - undefeated junior middleweight prospect Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosysan - who hopes that awaiting him is a similar fate enjoyed by Pavlik, sans the peaks and valleys, of course.
Whether or not history proves to repeat itself remains to be seen. On paper, the same blueprint is being followed. Top Rank launches their latest series this weekend, live from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas (Saturday, Fox Sports Español, 10PM ET/7PM PT).
As was the case with Pavlik some 3 ½ years ago, awaiting Martirosyan (26-0, 17KO) in the opposite corner will be a former junior middleweight champion who is believed to provide the toughest test to date for Top Rank’s prized prodigy. Awaiting him will be Kassim Ouma, who’s on the wrong side of his prime, but anxious for one last shot at the top level.
Before Ouma is dismissed as cannon fodder, it’s worth mentioning that Bronco McKart was expected to assume the role of sacrificial lamb in his fight with Pavlik. Instead, he landed nearly half of his punches in the fight and was even credited with a knockdown before being stopped in six.
If there was a lesson learned from that fight, it’s that a cagey veteran is often at his most dangerous when his back is against the wall.
The lesson certainly wasn’t lost on Martirosyan.
”For Kassim, it’s a big fight, his chance to make something happen in his career once again,” states Martirosyan, born in Armenia but moved to the states at age four and represented the United States in the 2004 Olympic Games. “It’s a big fight for both of us.”
It’s the biggest to date for Martirosyan, who faces his first former titlist as he closes in on five years as a prizefighter. The upgrade in competition has been gradual but steady over the past couple of years, though you wouldn’t know it by watching his fights, as he continues to dominate whoever is standing in the opposite corner.
The most telling sign of how much Martirosyan has grown as a prizefighter came just last month, when he tore through resurging southpaw Willie Lee on a Top Rank pay-per-view undercard. Lee had been stopped before, but was on a respectable three fight run entering the fight, including an upset of former junior middleweight contender Alex Bunema.
Martirosyan should both his ability to box and bang in the fight, coming out smoking in the early going, then slipping the incoming whenever Lee attempted to rally. The end came in the third, when Lee was decked twice, the latter knockdown prompting a mercy stoppage.
The win marked his 26th as a professional and perhaps his most impressive to date. It also came on the heels of his longest period of inactivity, having not fought in nearly six months prior to the bout.
Needless to say, it came as a pleasant surprise when Martirosyan received a phone call the very next day to return less than a month later.
“I wasn’t hurt in the fight, and am always in great shape, so I took the fight.”
Actually, he took the fight date. Who he was actually fighting wouldn’t be revealed for a few more days, when he found out it would be Ouma. It honestly didn’t matter who he was fighting, though. All he cared about was that he’d be back in the ring sooner rather than later, just the way he prefers.
“This pace is great for me,” insists Martirosyan. “If it were up to me, I’d fight every month. I’m always on the phone with Bob (Arum) and Shelly (Finkel, Vanes’ manager), telling them that I always want to fight. The sooner the better for me. If they want me to fight a week later, I’d love to fight.”
This fight in particular was part of a chain of events that fell perfectly into place for the transplanted Armenian. The debut of “Top Rank Live” was originally scheduled to star Joshua Clottey, who chose to pull out of the show upon the belief that he is above appearing on regional network fight cards.
He proved to be correct, as he was eventually named as the alternate opponent of choice for Manny Pacquiao, with whom Martirosyan trains at the famed Wild Card Gym.
While Martirosyan joins the rest of the boxing world in being disappointed that Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather aren’t tangling anytime soon (“When it comes to stuff like that, they should just fight and get over it. Too much drama.”), he’s appreciative of the silver lining that came of the darkest possible cloud that could hover over the sport.
“Everything happens for a reason. This fight is a big fight for me, time to make a statement. After that, Bob Arum and Shelly Finkel have promised me big things this year. After this, the sky’s the limit; the rest is all up to me to perform, and take advantage of the opportunity that’s been given to me.”
If anyone has proven to make the most of what’s offered, it’s Martirosyan, who has done so from the moment he first donned a pair of boxing gloves at age seven. Just over a decade later, he became the first ever fighter out of his hometown of Glendale, California to serve as a member of the U.S. Olympic boxing squad.
He made is as far as the second round of the tournament, losing to eventual silver medalist Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba. It was his final fight of an amateur career in which he went 120-10 overall. He managed to avenge all but one career loss, the one to Aragon in the 2004 Summer Games.
Five years into his pro career, he continues to show maturity beyond his 23 years of age. However – and by his own admission, it required a journey of self-discovery to finally come full circle.
Martirosyan began his pro career under the watchful eye of Freddie Roach, before leaving the gym in 2007. There was no falling out, just a fighter believing he needed a more appropriate surrounding than the distractions and chaos that came with training at Wild Card.
“We went to Houston and trained with Ronnie Shields because I was more distracted here (at Wild Card). It was just personal stuff with me. It wasn’t personal; Freddie told me on my last day that the door was always open whenever I wanted to return.”
That day came last year. Martirosyan enjoyed his time spent with Shields, continuing to improve as he remained unbeaten, but eventually reached a point where he felt it was time to go home.
“As I got older, I matured. I thought about who brings about the best in me. Ronnie is a great trainer and has a great team and I enjoyed the success I had with him. But I decided in the end that for me personally, the right guy for the job was Freddie.”
The move comes as Martirosyan enters the optimal prime of his career. Most stars tend to develop in the first four or five years of their career before truly hitting their stride. After watching one Olympic teammate (Andre Ward) enjoy a breakout year and another (Andre Dirrell) come damn close to his first championship, Martirosyan believes he’s not only ready to add to the credentials of the Class of 2004, but that his progression remains right on schedule.
“Every fighter develops different. Pros are different from the amateurs. You don’t know how good you are until you get that truly big fight. It has to do a lot with the promoter and manager. They’ve done a good job with the Andres. Now it’s my time. It’s time for me to show what I can do.”
His arrival comes at a time when the super welterweight division is ripe for star power. The division has for years been in disarray, but received a huge boost late last year when Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez threw down in 12 of the best rounds of 2009. That the fight took place above the 154 lb. limit means little; both are recognized as top junior middleweights – and both of whom are within Vanes’ sights as he prepares for what he believes will be a championship run this year.
He’s already made himself familiar with Martinez, as the two waged a war of words through the final quarter of 2009. His hopes are to parlay the war of words into a real live war in the ring, though that journey begins with an impressive enough showing this weekend.
“There’s no pressure for me, because I already know what I have to do to get to where I want to go. You go into the fight in front of you with your best game. You have to put on a good enough performance to get your next fight. All I have to listen to Freddie and box the way I do, and it should be an easy night.”
That’s not to dismiss Ouma as an opponent, mind you; more so an insistence that a Vanes Martirosyan at his absolute best is too much for any fighter to handle.
“I respect him. He’s a great (former) champion. But I don’t know why he took this fight. If he’s looking to bounce back, he made a big mistake. When I win, I move on to bigger and better things.
He’s coming in thinking the same thing; that beating an undefeated contender puts him back in the mix. That makes him dangerous enough for me to take seriously.”
What he also hopes is, in the same manner in which Top Rank’s Fight Night series helped boxing fans get better acquainted with Kelly Pavlik on the road to middleweight supremacy, Top Rank Live helps introduce to the people boxing’s next potential superstar.
“Kassim The Dream had his run. It’s time to get to know The Nightmare.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
