Vanes Martirosyan ready for Showtime showdown with Jermell Charlo

Once an undefeated prospect with an Olympic pedigree and the world’s most famous trainer, Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan’s rise was one that was slower than many pundits would have liked and one that sputtered when he finally found a world title shot to be had.

But a chance at gold lost might well have been the turning point to finally cashing in on that potential that Martirosyan has long desired.

“My loss to Andrade has been a blessing,” said Martirosyan of his split decision loss in November of 2011 to Demetrius Andrade for the vacant World Boxing Organization super welterweight title.

PHOTOS: Martirosyan, Gonzalez prepare for Vegas bouts

Since Martirosyan’s lone professional setback, he has responded with arguably his two most impressive performances and looks for the latest on Saturday night, when he faces undefeated Jermell Charlo live on Showtime from The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

“This fight is the fight that’s gonna take us to the top,” said Glendale’s Martirosyan.

Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21 knockouts) will toe the line with Charlo (25-0, 11 KOs) in a 10-round, 154-pound co-main event of a Showtime Championship Boxing event beginning at 7 p.m.

The main event will be a World Boxing Council featherweight title fight between Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs) and Gary Russell Jr (25-1, 14 KOs). Martirosyan’s bout will actually be the middle fight of an overall triple-header for Showtime on Saturday. Airing at 3:15 p.m. PST will be an IBF welterweight title match between Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) and Jo Jo Dan (34-2, 18 KOs) live from England, before the action picks up some hours later.

While the Martirosyan-Charlo bout isn’t for a world championship nor does it boast any stipulations for an immediate title contest, both Martirosyan and Charlo, ranked fifth and sixth by The Ring Magazine, respectively, see any match at this stage in their careers as a step away from a title bout or a big money fight.

“For my career, this is a big fight for me,” Charlo said. “This is one of those fights where it’s just process of elimination.”

Possible follow-up bouts for the victor could be eighth-ranked IBF champion Cornelius Bundrage, fourth-ranked Andrade, the WBO kingpin, or contests against No. 3 Austin Trout, No. 2 Erislandy Lara (who Martirosyan previously fought to a split draw) or No. 1 Canelo Alvarez, perhaps the biggest draw in the division not named Floyd Mayweather Jr., who holds The Ring, WBC and WBA titles in the junior middleweight and welterweight classes.

Of course, Saturday’s business must first be attended to.

The 28-year-old, who began his career training under Freddie Roach and has had Ronnie Shields and Edmond Tarverdyan as his lead trainers, rebounded from his Andrade loss with a unanimous decision shutout of Mario Alberto Lozano before defeating contender Willie Nelson via unanimous decision in October, 2014. The latter was likely Martirosyan’s finest performance yet.

His last two bouts have been under the tutelage of trainer Joe Goossen.

“They showed me a lot,” Martirosyan said. “I’m very happy; I’m blessed and I’m ready to go.”

However, Goossen has been training Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., another former Roach pupil. Much of Martirosyan’s camp has taken place at Main Event Gym in Glendale with Roma Kalentaryan, likely Martirosyan’s most consistent corner presence in his career.

“Everything’s been good,” Martirosyan said of his camp. “Good to go. I know everybody says that, but we’re ready.”

The 24-year-old Charlo, along with undefeated twin brother Jarmell, previously trained for a time with Martirosyan under the guise of Shields.

“Vanes is a great guy, a great fighter, he’s skillful,” Charlo said. “I need to go in there and show why I’m better.”

A prominent amateur like Martirosyan was, though not at the Olympic level, Charlo believes his boxing will likely be the key, as he’ll look to establish his jab, be patient and put together combinations.

“I see me out boxing him and getting a unanimous decision or I see me stopping him in the fourth to sixth round,” Charlo said.

Charlo is coming off a victory over a common opponent in Lozano, who he likewise shutout on the cards, though Martirosyan landed a knockdown against Lozano.

“I see me out boxing him and getting a unanimous decision or I see me stopping him in the fourth to sixth round,” Charlo said of Saturday.

Martirosyan also sees being “a better boxer than him,” as the key come Saturday. But when asked if out boxing his opponent was the game plan, the Jewel City pugilist swayed a bit.

“We have something special planned for him,” Martirosyan said. “It’s not a test for me; it’s a test for him.”