Vanes Martirosyan’s Big Victory

Team “Nightmare” Speaks!

In a real crowd pleaser that still has people talking, Vanes Martirosyan (30-0, 19 KOs) remains unbeaten after an exciting back-and-forth battle with Saul Roman (34-9, 29 KOs) Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The bout, scheduled for 12 rounds, was for the vacant WBC Silver Light Middleweight title and was featured on the undercard of the Sebastian Zbik vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. main event.

While it didn’t air on the HBO broadcast, this thrilling matchup, which was broadcast on the Top Rank Live site, sure had the attention of everyone in the arena and beyond.

And the rangy boxers captured the crowd’s attention immediately. In the opening round, Martirosyan was caught by a right-left combo from the Mexican challenger that had Vanes on the canvas, stunning the hometown fans as cheers for the underdog from Tijuana began to build. But Vanes, nicknamed “The Nightmare,” came back with a vengeance, intent on not going down again. Good movement and a good jab from Roman kept Martirosyan off the attack. In the third round, with Vanes’ face visibly marked up, Roman gestured, “What you got?” as Martirosyan continued to move forward, coming at the game opponent.

As the fans roared, Roman kept busy and had Vanes on the ropes. But in rounds four and five, the Armenian boxer dug deep and landed solid overhand rights as he regained control in the bout. With Vanes surging forward, the Mexican slugger slowed a bit, moving backward as Martirosyan mounted his assault. But in round six, Roman seemed to get a second wind in a much busier and successful round for the Mexican foe, who has 29 knockouts on his ledger.

The tide turned again in the seventh stanza. With cheers erupting for the tough pair of sluggers, the fight had been close and competitive. Everything changed near the end of the seventh. Martirosyan, who at the time was not winning the round, dug even deeper while turning his rage and fury toward his foe. Landing a hard right, Roman was deposited through the ropes and issued a ten count. With Vanes smelling blood he went in for the kill. With Roman against the ropes, head snapping back and cornrows flying, referee John Schorle stepped in with the TKO coming at 2:58 in the seventh.

The timing was perfect for the former 2004 U.S. Olympian. After six rounds, the official scorecards from the judges had it 57-56 for Martirosyan, 57-57 draw and 55-58 for Roman.

With cuts near his eye and with his nose bleeding, Vanes came through seven rounds of war with the W–staying undefeated. And with this big victory against a very tough slugger from Culiacán, Martirosyan also adds a WBC strap to his NABF, WBO NABO, and WBA titles. With his Top Rank promoter Bob Arum beaming by his side right after the win, look for the “Pride of Glendale” ready to shine again soon. Saturday’s bout was a 12-round WBC title eliminator for the undefeated rising star, trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach out of Wild Card and co-trained by Edmond Tarverdyan at the Glendale Fighting Club.

During the post-fight press conference, Team Nightmare, while celebrating the impressive victory, was also already thinking ahead. After this convincing performance against Saul Roman, the team hopes to take on another Mexican fighter named Saul, as in “Canelo” Alvarez.

Will he face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez next is just one of the questions in boxing circles. The Martirosyan-Roman bout was called a “semi-final title eliminator” with the winner possibly getting a shot at the redhead sensation from Jalisco, who will be fighting Ryan Rhodes on June 18.

The camp hopes for a Canelo clash but for now are relishing their fresh victory. After his fight, Vanes was surrounded by his camp all wearing blue Team Nightmare jackets, including Edmond Tarverdyan, manager Steven Feder, and the Standing Eight Management team.

“What did you tell Vanes after the knockdown?” I asked his co-trainer Edmond. “It happens. Don’t trade punches with this guy; stick to your jab,” the GFC trainer said of their corner staying calm even after a head butt with Vanes bleeding. “I told him, ‘You’re a boxer, stick to your game plan. Start using your jab, Saul would jump into it. Saul was backing up to try make Vanes come at him and catch Vanes with a big shot. So I told Vanes to stand in the middle of the ring and call him for it.

“There’s a point in the fight where Vanes stands there and Saul comes forward and when he jumped in, I told Vanes keep the punches nice and short–and he did! It was great. Saul’s a big puncher throwing bombs but Vanes is so much faster.”

The team remained calm and confident in the corner. But Edmond does admit with a grin that after the victory he was excited. They had planned to pick Vanes up on his shoulders but in their elation and with adrenaline flowing, the co-trainer accidently slipped with his prized pupil slipping off his shoulders as well. Quickly laughing it off, not even an in-the-moment mishap like that could steal their joy. “I was calm in the corner and it turned out perfect, but after the fight I was excited!” the boxing trainer admits with a laugh.

I also spoke with Vanes’ manager Steven Feder, who touched on what it was like after their fighter was knocked down in the first three minutes of the collision.

“You want to have a defining fight and this was a ‘gut check’ fight. Saul Roman is tough and he kept coming,” says the boxing manager. “But after Vanes hit the canvas, he showed us what kind of fighter he really is. He wasn’t shaken at all and he was right on target thinking, ‘Okay, now I’m two points behind, LET’S GO!'”

Feder says that the camp kept their cool thinking after the knockdown. “From that point on, we told him, ‘That’s YOUR belt, Vanes. Go get it!’ And he kept picking up speed and confidence, and was cool in the corner,” Steven assesses. “It was almost like it was good for him, you know? Because he found out he can shake it off. He’s 30 and 0 now; we got the belt. Now I hope the WBC gives him the opportunity he deserves.”

Catching up with Martirosyan himself, I asked the popular Armenian puncher how he feels about bringing the belt home to the City of Glendale.

“Is there any added pressure–or added pride–with you being a high-profile boxer with the Armenian fans?” I asked the brand new champ. Earlier in the night, the boxer was asked by someone in the audience if his nose had been broken during the brawl. “No,” he said chuckling, gesturing toward his nose. “I’m Armenian, this is an Armenian nose!”

So is there any extra pressure to perform well for his thousands of Armenian fans?

“No…There’s no pressure but you just want to fight for your people; and people appreciate a good fighter!” he smiled. “And there were a lot of Mexican fans that were cheering for me tonight too. I think people appreciate a good fight–and a good fighter.”

“There were some fans cheering for Roman and booing for you. Did this spur you on?”

He laughs. “No! I actually like it,” Vanes tells me. “‘Cause that’s how I got my nickname, ‘The Nightmare!'”

As Argentinean knockout artist Sergio Martinez was standing nearby and also surrounded by cameras and microphones, I saw Martirosyan carefully sizing him up. Earlier in the night, there were questions of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. taking on Martinez in the future. Vanes had had a spirited sparring session with Chavez Jr. at Wild Card before both of their bouts. The two share a trainer in Freddie Roach.

“I see you eyeing Sergio,” I say to the 154-pounder. “What are you thinking right now?”

His eyes light up. “I just want to go tell him that if Chavez doesn’t do it (and fight him)…I’LL do it!” says Martirosyan.

And with that, the new WBC titlist walked toward Martinez with his shiny green and gold world championship strap in tow.

Photos by Mary Ann Owen and Marlene Marquez