Martirosyan ready to take what could be final title opportunity

In a career seemingly forever brimming with potential, but never having reached the pinnacle of it, Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan very much realizes the magnitude of Saturday night.

“I’m very happy. It’s the biggest fight of my life,” Martirosyan said. “It’s the fight of my life. I don’t think I’m going to get another shot and I’m going to take full advantage of it.”

For a second time, Martirosyan will look to realize his dream of winning a world championship.

And for a second time, he will square off with Erislandy Lara, a crafty Cuban southpaw who will look to defend his World Boxing Assn. super welterweight title against Glendale’s Martirosyan in the 12-round main event of Saturday’s “Showtime Boxing” triple-header from Las Vegas’ The Cosmopolitan. The televised card commences at 6 p.m. PST.

“As soon as he tastes my power, I think he’s just going to do, well, what they call his Cuban boxing where he just runs away,” Martirosyan said. “I just have to be more aggressive, I have to make sure, at all times, I have the points.”

The 30-year-old Martirosyan (36-2-1, 21 knockouts), a former United States Olympian, previously fought for the World Boxing Organization title in November of 2013, but lost a split decision to Demetrius Andrade.

The 33-year-old Lara (22-2-2, 13 KOs), who is trained by former Martirosyan trainer Ronnie Shield, won the WBA interim title with a defeat of Alfredo Angulo in June of 2013. That bout followed a nine-round technical draw when Lara and Martirosyan originally clashed.

It was a bout that was halted due to a cut on Martirosyan from a headbutt from Lara. It was one of many fouls in the fight, according to Martirosyan. Lara being a dirty fighter and just who won the first bout remains a hotly debated topic between the Armenian and the Cuban.

“To me, I was winning the fight easily. I was out boxing him,” Lara said on a conference call through a translator. “I felt like I was winning the fight 100% and I was coming on strong. I was winning the last few rounds before the cut and I was on my way to stop it and then, before you know, he decided not to fight. So, I’m looking forward to this fight. I’m very excited to fight and it’s time to put a period on the fight and end it and show everybody why I’m the best 154-pounder in the world.”

Martirosyan disagreed vehemently.

“He was running the first few rounds and then he started running the whole fight. I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Martirosyan said on the call. “I know he felt me in the first fight; he’s going to feel me 10 times more in this fight. He wasn’t stopping s---. If he was stopping, I feel like the headbutt was on purpose. The low blows were on purpose. Fight a clean fight and don’t play with my balls the whole fight and we’ll see who’s going to stop who in this one.”

Since the draw, Lara has established himself as the best in the 154-pound division, with impressive wins over Angulo and Austin Trout followed by victories against Ishe Smith, Delvin Rodriguez and Jan Zaveck. His only loss in that span was a split-decision defeat to Canelo Alverez, a heavier fighter.

Lara is also the top-ranked fighter in the 154-pound class by The Ring, regarded by most in the boxing media as the most legitimate ranking system in boxing, which has four recognized world title sanctioning bodies across more than 15 weight classes. Martirosyan is ranked seventh.

Alas, Martirosyan has been ranked by The Ring for 337 weeks, more than anybody else in the weight class’ top 10, perhaps serving as further proof of how good Martirosyan has been, though he’s yet to hit the pinnacle of greatness that many predicted long ago.

“People will see the best version of me,” Martirosyan said.

Martirosyan has been away from his family for more than a month and a half training with SNAC (Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning) in northern California near Oakland. The group is led by Victor Conte, though Roma Kalentaryan, who heads the Main Event Gym in Glendale and is one of Martirosyan’s most veteran coaches, joined the “Nightmare.”

“I’ve been sparring with world class fighters going into this fight. Every sparring session is like a fight,” said Martirosyan, whose sparring partners have included former foe Andrade. “We’ve been out here just grinding.

“Going into the fight, thank God, I have no distractions, I’m ready to go.”

Against Andrade, Martirosyan landed an early knockdown, but seemed to let up as the rounds went along. To many, he had previously done the same against Lara. So, if he is to gain the greatest victory of his career, he’s well aware that he’ll have to dispel a problem that has long plagued him.

“I did look at it. My trainer has looked at it for what we can benefit from it,” Martirosyan said. “We slowed down the last couple of rounds. That’s on me because I tried to take some rounds off.

“We’re just going to go all out the whole way.”

Also on the televised portion of the card, twin brothers Jermall and Jermell Charlo will compete in 154-pound title bouts. Jermall (23-0, 18 KOs) will defend his International Boxing Federation super welterweight strap against Trout (30-2, 17 KOs), while Jermell (27-0, 12 KOs) will vie for the vacant World Boxing Council belt against John Jackson (20-2, 15 KOs).

Jermell Charlo also trained under Shields when he narrowly defeated Martirosyan on March 28, 2015. The bout was disputed mightily as Charlo won a unanimous decision (the News-Press scored it a draw). Jermell, however, left Shields’ camp after the bout.

But that’s the past for Martirosyan, just like the first Lara fight and previous lost opportunities, and it’s Saturday on which he’s focused and poised to realize his championship potential.

“There was a little frustration, because I think I had it,” Martirosyan said of the first Lara fight, “but that was yesterday.”