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Boxing: Is This The Year Of Vanes Martirosyan?

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  • Boxing: Is This The Year Of Vanes Martirosyan?

    IS THIS THE YEAR OF VANES MARTIROSYAN?
    Igor Frank

    411mania.com
    http://www.411mania.com/sports /boxing/96114/Is-this-the-Year-of-Vanes-Martirosya n?.htm
    Feb 5 2009
    TX

    A close look at development of Vanes Martirosyan.

    Boxing needs new stars. Even though Oscar De la Hoya has not officially
    retired, his career is all but over. No matter how spectacular Bernard
    Hopkins looked giving young Kelly Pavlik a boxing lesson last year or
    how incredible Sugar Shane Mosley looked last week destroying Antonio
    Margarito, there is one fight that these legends can not win and that
    is a fight with time.

    Bob Arum of Top Rank is an expert at developing new stars. His record
    speaks for itself; Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are
    prime examples of what Bob can do. Miguel Cotto and Kelly Pavlik
    are the stars on the rise who were both developed by Bob from the
    beginning. Even though Mr. Arum did not promote all of Manny Pacquiao
    fights from the start, he obviously turned him into a superstar that
    he is today. There is a very fine line between creating challenges and
    exposure for a rising prospect and putting him in over his head. One
    wrong move could ruin a career or derail it for a considerable
    amount of time. Couple of examples comes to mind: Miguel Cotto ended
    a career of a very tough Russian, Olympic gold medalist, Mohamed
    Abdulaev, who was never the same after a beating he took from Cotto
    in 2005. Kid Diamond was one of the hottest prospects in 2005, when
    he got manhandled by Nate Campbell, he has been fighting in obscurity
    ever since. Bob seems to have a knack for knowing that balance and
    being able to bring the best out of his proteges. So, who is next?

    One of those prospects is 2004 U. S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan, who
    was signed by Top Rank and started his professional craft in 2005. He
    is a good looking kid with a genuine smile and polite manners. He is
    fast with a good set of boxing skills and he packs a punch. In a way
    he reminds me of young Oscar De La Hoya. A little over a year ago
    Vanes left Glendale, California, a place he called home, and moved
    to Houston, Texas to get away from distractions. He employed the
    services of a much respected trainer, Ronnie Shields, who is also
    training Juan Diaz and Rocky Juarez at Savanough Boxing Club. The
    22 year old Martirosyan is putting in the work that is necessary to
    get to the top. In last couple of fights he has developed a stiff and
    consistent jab that has become a weapon all by itself. Actually, his
    last fight only lasted 80 seconds in which he scored a spectacular
    knock out over Charles Howe, last November at the Mandalay Bay on
    the undercard of Chavez Jr. If you ask Vanes, Chavez Jr should be
    fighting on his undercard. I would have to agree with Vanes. He is a
    decorated amateur, who represented our country in 2004 Olympics and
    he would box circles around slower Chavez Jr, but that fight would
    not take place any time soon.

    So why the development of the future star is so slow. Nothing good
    comes easy. It is like making lavash (Armenian bread): most local
    bakeries in Glendale will bake it in one hour, but if you want the
    real thing you have to go to Armenia where folks make a fire in the
    four feet deep hole, wait for fire to burn off and than bake the
    bread on coals over night.

    "This is my year," exclaimed Martirosyan (22-0, 14 KO'S) over the
    phone; "I feel great."

    He has been working really hard for the past two month, sparring with
    light heavyweights and concentrating on sitting down on his punches,
    which he is going to need to do if he wants finish early against his
    next opponent Billy Lyell, who is known as very tough guy.

    Martirosyan versus Lyell is scheduled to take place this Saturday at
    the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on the undercard of Darchinyan
    vs. Arce and kid Diamond and DeMarco along with featuring a few more
    rising stars. Be there, if you are a boxing fan, tickets are priced
    reasonably and are still available.
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