Martirosyan falls in title bid versus Lara
If Vanes Martirosyan and Erislandy Lara were to box 100 times, it’s likely they would all be close fights, they would all have some controversy and they would all be difficult to watch.
In Martirosyan’s rematch with Lara and his second opportunity at a world championship, the Glendale fighter marched forward, but the Cuban southpaw danced, pot-shotted and claimed a unanimous decision over Martirosyan on Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas in the main event of a Showtime tripleheader.
The bout was scored 116-111 twice and 115-112. The Glendale News-Press had it far closer at 114-113 with the bout tied at five rounds apiece, decided by a controversial low-blow point deduction against Martirosyan in the 11th. On the official scorecards, it did not factor in, however.
“I was chasing him all night,” said the 30-year-old Martirosyan in his postfight in-ring interview. “I put on the pressure, I thought I did enough to win.”
With the win, the 33-year-old Lara (23-2-2, 13 knockouts) retained his World Boxing Assn. super welterweight championship, while Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 knockouts) lost in his second world title bid after coming up short against Demetrius Andrade in November of 2013 in a bout for the then-vacant World Boxing Organization 154-pound strap.
Thus, the future for the former United States Olympian is under question as he was open in the lead-up to the bout that if he did not win on Saturday, world title chances to follow would be hard to come by.
“I’m ready to go – [I’ll fight] anybody. I never ducked anybody. Nobody wanted to fight Lara, I stepped up,” said Martirosyan, whose chief corner was Glendale’s Roma Kalentaryan, though he trained for more than a month and a half in northern California with SNAC (Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning). “I’ll fight him again, I’ll fight him right now. I’ll fight anyone.”
When the two fought the first time in November of 2012, the bout ended as a technical draw in the ninth round, called to a halt after a Lara headbutt opened up a cut on the eye of Martirosyan.
Martirosyan called Lara a “dirty fighter” in the lead-up to Saturday, saying there were plenty of low blows and headbutts the first time around. There was more in the second fight, with at least two headbutts and Martirosyan sustaining a couple low shots, but it was Martirosyan who was warned in the first round and on for low blows by referee Vic Drakulich.
Most of the shots seemed to be right around the beltline, but Drakulich warned Martirosyan in the 10th that the next would be a point deduction.
In the 11th, Martirosyan landed a right straight to the body that Drakulich said was low as Lara acted the part. Television replays showed it was right on the beltline.
“That was not a low blow,” Martirosyan said.
In the end, it didn’t really matter. Both showed phenomenal boxing and stellar defense as Martirosyan came forward and Lara looked to counter, pot shot and dance on the outside, often times confounding Martirosyan as his style has been known to do.
Ahead of the fight, Martirosyan said the key was to be aggressive and sometimes he was, but Lara proved again that getting off punches is a difficult task against him, much less landing them.
The first round was an uneventful, feeling-out processs, though Martirosyan landed some decent shots in the final minute of the stanza. In the second round it was more of the same with little action from either side, but Lara landed a good straight left and a counter upstairs.
In the third, action began to pick up with Martirosyan getting off first and most impressively landing some left hooks to the body. The first apparent headbutt occurred in the third round, with Lara taking the brunt of it as evidenced by a large lump quickly swelling.
There was little action in the fourth, though Martirosyan was the more active boxer.
In the fifth, both landed some good shots, with Martirosyan’s best work coming to the body and Lara landing well to the head, but it was likely Lara’s round.
A good one-two from Lara 40 seconds into the sixth was the most authoritative combo of the fight for the Cuban to that point. Lara’s accuracy from the outside off his backfoot carried the round.
In the seventh, Martirosyan looked to be frustrated as he began to chase, but little happened.
Fifteen seconds into the eighth, Lara landed a beautiful left straight that snapped Martirosyan’s head back.
Having always possessed an underrated chin, Martirosyan marched forward. Lara landed a couple more good lefts to salt away the round.
Martirosyan upped his aggression in the ninth and began putting together some good combinations and putting together one of his best rounds.
For the first time in the bout, Martirosyan maintained his aggression to start the 10th round, but was slowed by a clash of heads, though it didn’t appear it was anything major. Martirosyan kept stalking forward, sometimes chasing, sometimes cutting angles.
With less than 10 seconds left, a looping right hand by Martirosyan was called low and the fight was briefly stopped. Nonetheless, the News-Press gave the round to Martirosyan, tying it on the cards going into the championship rounds.
Just 30 seconds in the 11th, Martirosyan was deducted a point for a low blow. Martirosyan’s anger seemed to rise as he’d been warned all fight for borderline punches, while Lara’s sometimes questionable tactics went without warning. Replays showed the punch was right on the beltline.
In the 12th, Martirosyan was more aggressive than ever before, but many of his combinations hit Lara’s guard. The local fighter won the round, but it wasn’t enough to win the fight.
