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‘Big times’ ahead for Martirosyan

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GLENDALE — With August still on its way, undefeated 154-pound boxer Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan is already looking forward to the fall with great expectation.

“Big times,” said Glendale’s Martirosyan of September and October. “I’m hoping for two babies, my title and my baby.”

The birth of Martirosyan’s first child could very well come around the same time he’s predicting the biggest fight of his career, which is very likely to be against either World Boxing Organization champion Sergei Dzinziruk or Alfredo Angulo.

“My next fight’s gonna be a big fight, whether it’s Angulo or Dzinziruk,” said Martirosyan, who sports a 30-0 record with 19 KOs. “My team’s working on it.”

On Tuesday, the World Boxing Council ordered a free negotiations period for a Martirosyan-Angulo bout that would determine a mandatory challenger for the WBC super middleweight title, which is currently held by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. If no agreement comes about during the free negotiations period, a purse offer will be conducted by the WBC executive offices on Aug. 19.

Of course, in the often-times confusing and chaotic world of boxing, mandatory doesn’t always mean mandatory. Hence, Martirosyan’s team is also looking at the possibility of a bout with Dzinziruk (37-1, 23 KOs). The positives of a Dzinziruk bout, seemingly, are that it would be for a world title and against a safer opponent in most pundits’ eyes, while the negatives are likely less fanfare and perhaps a smaller payday. A bout with Angulo (19-1, 16 KOs), however, is seen by many as a bigger risk and it’s only for a future shot at Alvarez’ title, something Martirosyan, the WBC Silver champion and the WBC’s No. 1-ranked contender, finds puzzling.

“I don’t know what they’re doing,” Martirosyan said of the WBC. “I love boxing, that’s why I got into it, cause I want to fight. We’re supposed to fight to see who’s the best, not fight to protect the best.”

Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KOs) is coming off a 12th-round TKO victory against Ryan Rhodes in which he easily dominated the relatively inactive challenger, who is currently ranked 10th in the division by the WBC. Alvarez, a 21-year-old who’s one of Mexico’s most popular fighters, is now scheduled to defend against the 23-4 Alfonso Gomez on Sept. 17 in Los Angeles. Gomez is ranked sixth by the WBC. Thus, Martirosyan sees his mandatory eliminator against Angulo, ranked No. 3, to be questionable and then some.

“I think it’s just the WBC trying to keep other fighters busy while they protect Canelo,” he said. “I don’t think Canelo’s ever gonna fight me. And I don’t blame him. They know if he fights me, I’ll beat him.”

In “The Ring” rankings, which holds no allegiance to any of the title organizations, the 154-pound rankings have Miguel Cotto at No. 1, followed by Angulo, Alvarez and Martirosyan at No. 4. Dzinziruk is ranked eighth.

Martirosyan is coming off perhaps his biggest test to date, as he rallied to knock out a game Saul Roman in the seventh round of the June 4 bout at the Staples Center. Martirosyan had been knocked down in round one.

Angulo’s last fight was a first-round beatdown of Joachim Alcine in July of 2010. Since then, immigration issues have plagued him, though he has an Aug. 20 bout scheduled against Joseph Gomez in Mexico. Should the Martirosyan fight go forward, the Gomez bout would likely be scrapped.

Dzinziruk last fought in March and lost via eighth-round TKO to Sergio Martinez. His next scheduled bout is set to be on Sept. 30 against Lukas Konecny in the Czech Republic.

Martirosyan said he’s “99% sure” he’ll face one of the aforementioned combatants and either way, “it is, for sure, gonna be a big fight.”

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