Vanes Martirosyan


Vanes Martirosyan is an Armenian-American professional boxer. He has challenged twice for a light middleweight world title in 2013 and 2016, and once for a unified middleweight world title in 2018.

Early life

Vanes was born on May 1, 1986, in Abovyan, Armenia. Vanes' father, Norik Martirosyan, was an amateur boxer in Armenia who worked for an industrial company and was also in the army. Vanes has two brothers, one older and one younger, and a sister.
His family moved to Glendale, California when he was four years old. He started boxing when he was seven after his father found out there was a gym in Glendale.
Martirosyan was taken out of junior high school by his father and became home-schooled once it had become clear that he needed to keep his son's fighting confined to the ring.

Amateur career

Martirosyan was an eight-time National Champion and a Golden Gloves Champion.
In 2004, after winning a match against Haiti's Andre Berto in the 1st AIBA American 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tijuana, Mexico, Martirosyan secured a spot in the US Olympic Team. He represented the United States at the 2004 Olympics as a Welterweight. He was on the same olympic team as Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell.
Results were:
Notable boxers Martirosyan defeated as an amateur include Austin Trout, Andre Berto, and Timothy Bradley.
He finished his amateur career with 120 wins and 10 losses. All losses except to Lorenzo Aragon had been avenged in rematches.

Professional career

Early career

At the age of 20, Martirosyan turned professional at 154 pounds with Bob Arum's promotional company Top Rank. Vanes is managed by his uncle, Serge Martirosyan. He is also co-managed by Shelly Finkel, who also manages and advises world champions such as Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, Evander Holyfield, Manny Pacquiao, among others.
Vanes was trained by Freddie Roach, who was voted 2003 and 2006 Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. He trains alongside Roach's other top students, including Manny Pacquiao and Julio César Chávez, Jr..
Martirosyan has also worked with Ronnie Shields, winning his first fight under Shields's tutelage when he knocked out Dan Wallace in one round.
Martirosyan subsequently scored a shutout unanimous decision over Clarence Taylor, and also recorded wins against Billy Lyell, Harrison Cuello, Andrey Tsurkan and Willie Lee.
Martirosyan was scheduled to make his HBO debut on June 5, 2010 in Yankee Stadium on the Miguel Cotto vs. Yuri Foreman undercard. His opponent was fellow undefeated prospect Joe Greene. Martirosyan handed Greene the first loss of his career by way of unanimous decision. With this win Martirosyan, advanced to 28-0 with 17 wins coming by way of knockout.
On March 19, 2011 Vanes made his next appearance in the ring at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. He got an easy win over Mexican Bladimir Hernandez by way of KO in the second round.
His next fight was against veteran Saúl Román in a WBC semi-final title eliminator for the vacant WBC Silver Light Middleweight Championship. The bout was on June 4, 2011 in HBO's televised portion of the Julio César Chávez, Jr. vs. Sebastian Zbik undercard. Román knocked Vanes down in the first round and gave him trouble in the next two. Martirosyan came back in the fourth and fifth. When the seventh round began, Román cornered Vanes against the ropes and landed several blows. Vanes may have caught Román just in time from being stopped. In the same round, Vanes trapped Román against the ropes and knocked him down. After Román got up, Vanes landed a hard right hook on his chin and followed up with a barrage of blows while Román was leaning on the ropes, causing the fight to be stopped and turning what seemed to be near-defeat into victory.
On October 29, 2011 Vanes fought contender Richard Gutierrez. Vanes dominated from start to finish and won a ten round unanimous decision. The judges' scorecards were 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91; Vanes winning all but one round from one judge.
Martirosyan fought veteran Troy Lowry on the Julio César Chávez, Jr. vs. Marco Antonio Rubio undercard. Vanes knocked Lowry down in the first round and stopping him in the third to retain his WBC Silver title.
On November 9, 2013 Martirosyan was defeated on a split decision by Demetrius Andrade who on that day became a winner of the World Boxing Organization title.
On March 21, 2014 he appeared on ESPN's Goossen Tutor Promotions, defeating Mario Antonio Lozano via unanimous decision after 10 rounds in a fight for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental light middleweight title.

Martirosyan vs. Charlo

On February 17, 2015 Showtime announced that Martirosyan would appear on a doubleheader at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on March 28 against Jermell Charlo. The fight was contested over 10 rounds. Martirosyan lost a contentious unanimous decision. He was considered the more aggressive fighter. The scores were 97-93, 96-94, 96-94. Martirosyan felt he won the fight.

Martirosyan vs. Golovkin

On May 5th, 2018 Martirosyan fought unified Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin at the StubHub Center in Carson, California after he was chosen as the late replacement for Canelo Álvarez when Canelo withdrew from the much anticipated Cinco De Mayo rematch in the wake of his failed drug tests for Clenbuterol. With only three weeks of preparation for the bout and almost two years since his last professional fight, Martirosyan faced long odds against the undefeated middleweight champion. Although he performed better than expected in the opening round of the fight, Martirosyan eventually succumbed to Golovkin's power and suffered a quick defeat via knock out in the 2nd round. When speaking of Golovkin's power in the post-fight, Martirosyan said it felt like he was "being hit by a train." Golovkin said, "It feels great to get a knockout. Vanes is a very good fighter. He caught me a few times in the first round. In the second round, I came out all business after I felt him out in the first round." For the fight, Golovkin landed 36 of 84 punches thrown and Martirosyan landed 18 of his 73 thrown. Martirosyan received a purse of $225,000 for the fight. The fight averaged 1,249,000 viewers and peaked at 1,361,000 viewers, making most-watched boxing match on cable television in 2018.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
41Loss36–4–1 Gennady GolovkinKO2, 1:53May 5, 2018 StubHub Center, Carson, California, U.S.For WBA, WBC, and IBO middleweight titles
40Loss36–3–1 Erislandy LaraUD12May 21, 2016 Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.For WBA and IBO light middleweight titles
39Win36–2–1 Ishe Smith10Sep 12, 2015 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
38Loss35–2–1 Jermell CharloUD10Mar 28, 2015 Pearl Concert Theater, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
37Win35–1–1 Willie NelsonUD10Oct 4, 2014 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.Retained WBO Inter-Continental light middleweight title
36Win34–1–1 Mario Alberto LozanoUD10Mar 21, 2014 Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California, U.S.Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental light middleweight title
35Loss33–1–1 Demetrius Andrade12Nov 9, 2013 American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.For vacant WBO light middleweight title
34Win33–0–1 Ryan DavisTKO2, 2:01Jun 15, 2013 American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas, U.S.
33Draw32–0–1 Erislandy Lara9, 0:26Nov 10, 2012 Wynn Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Split TD after Martirosyan was cut from an accidental head clash
32Win32–0 Troy LowryTKO3, 2:53Feb 4, 2012 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.Retained WBC Silver light middleweight title
31Win31–0 Richard GutierrezUD10Oct 29, 2011 WinStar World Casino, Thackerville, Oklahoma, U.S.
30Win30–0 Saúl RománTKO7, 2:58Jun 4, 2011 Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.Won vacant WBC Silver light middleweight title
29Win29–0 Bladimir HernandezKO2, 0:57Mar 19, 2011 Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
28Win28–0 Joe GreeneUD10Jun 5, 2010 Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York, U.S.Retained NABF and WBO–NABO light middleweight titles;
Won vacant WBA International light middleweight title
27Win27–0 Kassim OumaUD10Jan 16, 2010 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Retained NABF and WBO–NABO light middleweight titles
26Win26–0 Willie LeeTKO3, 2:13Dec 19, 2009 Beeghly Center, Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.Won NABF and vacant WBO–NABO light middleweight titles
25Win25–0 Andrey TsurkanRTD6, 3:00Jun 27, 2009 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
24Win24–0 Harrison CuelloTKO1, 2:13May 16, 2009 Star of the Desert Arena, Primm, Nevada, U.S.
23Win23–0 Billy LyellUD8Feb 7, 2009 Honda Center, Anaheim, California, U.S.
22Win22–0 Charles HoweTKO1, 1:20Nov 1, 2008 Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
21Win21–0 Michael MedinaUD10Sep 19, 2008 Star of the Desert Arena, Primm, Nevada, U.S.
20Win20–0 Ángel HernándezUD10Jun 26, 2008 The Orleans, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
19Win19–0 Michi MunozTKO3, 2:20Feb 7, 2008 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
18Win18–0 Clarence TaylorUD6Jan 4, 2008 Alameda Swap Meet, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
17Win17–0 Dan WallaceTKO1, 1:34Dec 20, 2007 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
16Win16–0 Patrick ThompsonUD6Oct 4, 2007 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
15Win15–0 Alexis DivisionRTD3, 0:10Aug 30, 2007 Grand Plaza Hotel, Houston, Texas, U.S.
14Win14–0 Alberto MercedesTKO7, 1:17Jun 29, 2007 Cliff Castle Casino Hotel, Camp Verde, Arizona, U.S.
13Win13–0 Nelson EstupinanTKO2, 2:59Apr 27, 2007 Grand Plaza Hotel, Houston, Texas, U.S.
12Win12–0 Taronze WashingtonTKO2, 2:22Jan 27, 2007 Honda Center, Anaheim, California, U.S.
11Win11–0 Edgar Reyes4, 3:00Nov 18, 2006 Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
10Win10–0 Marcus BrooksUD6Aug 12, 2006 Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
9Win9–0 Oscar GonzalezTKO1, 2:14Jun 3, 2006 Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
8Win8–0 Tefo Seetso3, 0:55Apr 8, 2006 Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
7Win7–0 Juan Pablo Montes de OcaTKO3, 1:21Feb 18, 2006 The Aladdin, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
6Win6–0 Abdias CastilloTKO5, 1:45Nov 12, 2005 Wynn Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
5Win5–0 Tony MoralesTKO1, 2:37Oct 8, 2005 Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
4Win4–0 Gerardo Cesar PrietoUD6Sep 10, 2005 Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
3Win3–0 Fernando VelaUD4Aug 26, 2005 D&I Colonial Ballroom, Houston, Texas, U.S.
2Win2–0 Jovanni Rubio1, 2:55May 28, 2005 Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
1Win1–0 Jesse Orta4Apr 8, 2005 Fort McDowell Casino, Fountain Hills, Arizona, U.S.Professional debut