Visiting Vanes Martirosyan’s Gym

Junior middleweight at Main Event Sports Club

Undefeated fighter Vanes Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs) has already worn a lot of hats during his youthful 24 years. He was a former amateur standout with over 130 bouts. He was a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team. And he is currently trained by the most famous boxing coach in the universe, Hall of Famer Freddie Roach.

And earlier this month, Vanes, nicknamed the “Nightmare,” added one more title to his list of accomplishments–Brand New Gym Owner.

I had a chance to visit this week with the junior middleweight at his Main Event Sports Club located in Glendale, California. The new proprietor greeted me, pro fighter George Moreno and trainer/sculptor Steve Harpst with a friendly, “Come on in! Let me show you around the gym.”

The spacious building features a large weight training area, a cardio room, a mat workout zone, heavy bag section, an MMA training cage, and a boxing ring, of course. There’s also a “mini-museum” with glass cases and wall displays of championship belts, fight posters, awards and other fight memorabilia from both the new owner’s career as well as his fellow fighters’ victories who train at Main Event.

Also training at the gym were two well-known faces, Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Sevak Magakian. You can catch Sevak in the current season of Spike TV’s “Ultimate Fighter 12: GSP vs. Koscheck.” The lightweight says he enjoys training at Vanes’ gym. “It’s great here! This gym was my friend Roman’s gym,” Magakian explains. “So I love it; I always come here.” He’s a member of the tough Team Hayastan and has a whole legion of new fans since competing on the hit series; previews for next week’s episode show Sevak and “Bruce Leroy” getting into some sort of scrap outside the cage!

This trio of fighters have an easy rapport between them. Continuing to chat with Vanes, the Armenian boxer expresses with enthusiasm that his gym, which recently had its Grand Opening, offers something for everyone–from kids to adults, both male and female, and all levels of skill from novice to champion fighter. “We have everything; you can come to learn combat sports or just to stay in shape,” he tells me. “And yes, we have classes for women too! I train people along with several other trainers and coaches, including my father and little brother.”

I ask the NABF, WBO NABO, WBA Light Middleweight titlist if anything has surprised him as he takes on this additional role of gym owner. He thinks for a second and replies, “Well, it doesn’t really surprise me but one nice thing is that I get to see a lot of talent early, like Freddie Roach saw in me. And it’s great working with the kids. We’ve got about 150 kids coming in; it’s packed. To see some of their talent, it’s a gift.”

Vanes is a homegrown hero in the City of Glendale and I wonder if most of the children at his gym are local kids from the area. “The kids come from all over,” he answers with a smile. “We have some coming in from Hollywood and even Orange County!”

“And how has the fight community and your fellow boxers responded to your new gym?” I say.

“They all love it and they’ve given me a lot of support,” Martirosyan, who sports tattoos inked across his torso, shoulder and forearm including Asian characters and the Latin phrase “Veni, Vidi, Vici,” says. “A lot of people had been asking me to do this for a long time.” The Main Event gym already offers boxing, MMA, wrestling, personal training and even Yoga. Karate, combat classes and self-defense classes are in the works to be added.

We also chatted a bit about one of his former opponents, Kassim Ouma, who Vanes bested in their January bout. He says he’s known Ouma for a while and is also friendly with Joey Gilbert, who was just defeated by Kassim last weekend. Vanes’ own last victory was against the previously unbeaten Joe Greene during the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman undercard at Yankee Stadium.

There’s been a lot of online speculation that the contender may be traveling to the Philippines to spar with the most infamous Congressman ever, Manny Pacquiao. And there’s also been talk of a December battle on tap for Vanes, promoted by Bob Arum, on another high-profile main event. While the Armenian-born wanted to keep the focus on his gym, he did confirm, “I will be fighting again before the end of the year.” As of this morning, reports are that Pawel Wolak could be the SoCal fighter’s next challenger.

During our conversation, Vanes acted like any other busy man-in-charge: He kept an eye on all the activity in his spotless and state-of-the art venue while fielding phone calls, meeting new guests, assisting his coaches, training alongside boxers, and even stepping in to spar with the visiting George Moreno!

Moreno took a layoff from boxing during in which time he got married and began his own business as a “Handyman Extraordinaire” as likes to say with an easy grin. He first met Vanes when he was just a small boy. “We trained at the same gym in Glendale; but back then Vanes was in junior high!” he explains, as he warms up. “He might have been just 11 years old then but we were stablemates. He started out way smaller than me, and then Vanes just got taller and taller!”

George also recalls the lanky Martirosyan’s natural talent, “Even when he was an amateur he had that speed and accuracy. Pros would come in, good pros, and he would just spank them!” They were also both friends with former bantamweight champ and current boxing promoter Kahren Harutyunyan. “I think that’s one of the last times I had seen Vanes was at Kahren’s fight at the Quiet Cannon when he got his title.”

Through the years Moreno would run into the fighter, “I would see his dad and him, or through common friends and boxing circles but it had been a little while since their last meeting. Going four rounds of sparring with Vanes, George had all he could handle from the fierce champ. “We had sparred once before, a long time ago,” remembers Moreno. “But THIS time, my hands felt like I had 10-pounds weights on them!”

Assessing Martirosyan’s world-class skills with his footwork and speed, his sparring mate of the day told me, “He’s super fast! He’s got that great jab and he’s got that good movement.” And even though the two hadn’t seen each other for a while, Moreno was impressed with Vanes’ warm welcome. “He was so gracious the way he received us, I really appreciated it,” George said. “Even though I’ve known him for a long time but really hadn’t seen him lately, he welcomed me with a great attitude.”

The facility really began to fill up during our stay. I noticed young boys working side by side with pro fighters, and trainers of all ages assisting the gym members. For two of the trainers, this business really is a family affair. Norik and Vic Martirosyan are Vanes’ father and younger brother. The duo are fixtures at the new gym.

The patriarch of the family, Norik was an amateur boxer, “I fought in Iran” he says while putting in his son’s mouthpiece. He now works with the youth amateurs that flock to the gym and who look up to Vanes as a role model. As we all watched the action up in the ring, I stood next to Vanes’ dad whose eyes carefully follow his six-foot tall son’s crafty moves on the canvas. “He looks great,” I tell the elder Martirosyan. “You must be proud of both of your sons–and the new gym.”

Norik smiles and says “Merci,” which means thank you in his native tongue. He then then looks around the gymnasium, points toward the ring and says, “Boxing is my life!”

Clearly, it’s in the genes. His second boxing son, Vic (whose given name is Vatche), also shares their passion and has already made a name for himself in the amateur ranks. I’ve seen him fight at local shows around town and this 140-pounder also has plans to go pro, just like his older bro. Just 18, he’s already a Desert Showdown and Golden Gloves champion and says he’s hoping to compete in the amateur National PALS in January.

While at the gym, he is also the Physical and Conditioning Coach coaching pro and MMA boxers. Since the sweet science is obviously a labor of love for the whole clan, I ask if there are other relatives who box. “We have and older brother who’s 27 and a sister who’s 26,” Vic says. “But they don’t box, just me and Vanes.”

Any sibling rivalry between the two sluggers? Vic laughs and shakes his head. “He’s great; we’re like any other typical siblings!”

“He’s casual and humble,” he adds. “and with this environment of boxing, this brings us even closer as a family!” Proud of their Armenian heritage, a flag of their homeland hangs prominently, along with international flags from Mexico, the U.S., Japan and others countries.

With the popularity of cross training with many athletes blending boxing workouts with MMA training, Vic says Vanes has fun with the two. “There’s always that Boxing vs. MMA argument between everyone, like what sport is better? So he likes getting in the MMA ring a lot and having fun!” Vanes’ brother also adds that the gym has really taken off in the community with its central location.

As the gym continued to get more crowded by the minute, I could hear the hard thumping of the bags, the whoosh of the jump ropes, the grunts from the guys doing ground work, and the slap of from gloves connecting in the boxing ring. For new gym owner Vanes Martirosyan, this must make him both proud and happy to have such a thriving opening month.

Teeming with activity, you can really feel the hard work, adrenaline and determination from all the fighters. Seeing all these fit athletes, you can’t help of wanting to be part of the action. After checking out the Main Event Gym, I think it’s definitely a cool place for both rookies to pros who want to work out in a loose and friendly atmosphere with flexible hours. For those who want to try something new or challenge yourself, Vanes’ place just might be for you too. And for all aspiring fitness buffs, you can always say you train in the same gym as the champions!

For more info:

Main Event Sports Club
818-551-0777

Photos by Michele Chong