| Vanes Martirosyan Վանես Մարտիրոսյան |
|
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Vanes Norik Martirosyan |
| Nickname(s) | Nightmare |
| Rated at | Junior Middleweight |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Reach | 73 in (185 cm) |
| Nationality | Armenian American |
| Born | May 1, 1986 Abovyan, Armenia |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 31 |
| Wins | 31 |
| Wins by KO | 19 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Vanes "The Nightmare" Martirosyan (Armenian: Վանես Մարտիրոսյան) (born May 1, 1986 in Abovyan, Armenia) is an Armenian-American professional boxer.
Vanes is the currently the WBC Silver Light Middleweight Champion. He is ranked the #1 contender in the WBC, the #9 Light Middleweight on BoxRec.com and the #3 Light Middleweight by The Ring. A fight between Vanes and undefeated WBC champion Saul Alvarez is rumored to be a work in progress.
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Vanes was born on May 1, 1986, in Abovyan, Armenia. Vanes' father, Norik Martirosyan, was a 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.[1]
His family moved to Glendale, CA when he was four years old. He started boxing when he was seven after his father found out there was a gym nearby.
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.
Vanes is close friends with Victor Ortiz, Alexander and Arthur Abraham, Vic Darchinyan and Julio César Chávez, Jr.
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, Vanes 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.
Vanes got his nickname when, as he was fighting his way through the Olympic Trials, everybody was calling him "Nightmare." Once he fought in the Western Trials, Vanes started beating all fighters that were highly ranked nationwide. The young Nightmare underdog came in and beat all the favorites to eventually make the 2004 US Olympic thirteen-man boxing team. Martirosyan became the first ever Armenian to represent the United States in the Olympics, as well as the first ever US Olympian from his hometown of Glendale, California.[2]
Results were:
He finished his amateur career with 120 wins and 10 losses. All losses except to Nick Casal and Lorenzo Aragon had been avenged in rematches.
Notable boxers Vanes defeated as an amateur include Austin Trout (three times), Andre Berto and Timothy Bradley.[3]
At the age of 20, he turned professional at 154 pounds with Bob Arum's promotional company Top Rank. Vanes is managed by his uncle, Serge Martirosyan.[4] 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, Fernando Vargas and Jeff Lacy, among others.
Vanes is 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: Manny Pacquiao, Julio César Chávez, Jr. and Amir Khan.
Martirosyan has also worked with Ronnie Shields, winning his first fight under Shields's tutelage when he knocked out Dan Wallace in one round. Shields has also trained: Evander Holyfield, Juan Diaz, Rocky Juarez and Pernell Whitaker.
Martirosyan subsequently scored a shutout unanimous decision over Clarence Taylor,[5] and also recorded wins against Billy Lyell (who would later topple previously unbeaten John Duddy), Harrison Cuello, Andrey Tsurkan and Willie Lee.[6]
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 (22-0, 14 KOs). 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. 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.
| 31 Wins (19 knockouts, 12 decisions), 0 Losses (0 by knockout, 0 by decision), 0 Draws [7] | |||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2012-02-04 | Texas | |
| Win | 31-0 | Richard Gutierrez | UD | 10 | 2011-10-29 | WinStar World Casino, Thackerville, Oklahoma | |
| Win | 30-0 | Saúl Román | TKO | 7 (12) | 2011-06-04 | Staples Center, Los Angeles, California | Won vacant WBC Silver Light Middleweight title. WBC semi-final title eliminator. |
| Win | 29-0 | Bladimir Hernandez | KO | 2 (8) | 2011-03-19 | Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
| Win | 28-0 | Joe Greene | UD | 10 | 2010-06-05 | Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York | Retained NABF & WBO NABO and won vacant WBA International Light Middleweight titles. |
| Win | 27-0 | Kassim Ouma | UD | 10 | 2010-01-16 | Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | Retained NABF & WBO NABO Light Middleweight titles. |
| Win | 26-0 | Willie Lee | TKO | 3 (10) | 2009-12-19 | Beeghly Center, Youngstown, Ohio | Won NABF & vacant WBO NABO Light Middleweight titles. |
| Win | 25-0 | Andrey Tsurkan | RTD | 6 (10) | 2009-06-27 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | |
| Win | 24-0 | Harrison Cuello | TKO | 1 (8) | 2009-05-16 | Buffalo Bill's Star Arena, Primm, Nevada | |
| Win | 23-0 | Billy Lyell | UD | 8 | 2009-02-07 | Honda Center, Anaheim, California | |
| Win | 22-0 | Charles Howe | TKO | 1 (10) | 2008-11-01 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 21-0 | Michael Medina | UD | 10 | 2008-09-19 | Buffalo Bill's Star Arena, Primm, Nevada | |
| Win | 20-0 | Angel Hernandez | UD | 10 | 2008-06-26 | Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 19-0 | Michi Munoz | TKO | 3 (10) | 2008-02-07 | Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 18-0 | Clarence Taylor | UD | 6 | 2008-01-04 | Alameda Swap Meet, Los Angeles, California | |
| Win | 17-0 | Dan Wallace | TKO | 1 (6) | 2007-12-20 | Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 16-0 | Patrick Thompson | UD | 6 | 2007-10-04 | Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 15-0 | Alexis Division | RTD | 3 (8) | 2007-08-30 | Grand Plaza Hotel, Houston, Texas | |
| Win | 14-0 | Alberto Mercedes | TKO | 7 (8) | 2007-06-29 | Cliff Castle Casino, Camp Verde, Arizona | |
| Win | 13-0 | Nelson Estupinan | TKO | 2 (8) | 2007-04-27 | Grand Plaza Hotel, Houston, Texas | |
| Win | 12-0 | Taronze Washington | TKO | 2 (8) | 2007-01-27 | Honda Center, Anaheim, California | |
| Win | 11-0 | Edgar Reyes | RTD | 4 (6) | 2006-11-18 | Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 10-0 | Marcus Brooks | UD | 6 | 2006-08-12 | Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 9-0 | Oscar Gonzalez | TKO | 1 (6) | 2006-06-03 | Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 8-0 | Tefo Seetso | KO | 3 (6) | 2006-04-08 | Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 7-0 | Juan Pablo Montes de Oca | TKO | 3 (6) | 2006-02-18 | The Aladdin, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 6-0 | Abdias Castillo | TKO | 5 (6) | 2005-11-12 | Charleston, South Carolina, United States | |
| Win | 5-0 | Tony Morales | TKO | 1 (6) | 2005-10-08 | Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 4-0 | Gerardo Cesar Prieto | UD | 6 | 2005-09-10 | Staples Center, Los Angeles, California | |
| Win | 3-0 | Fernando Vela | UD | 4 | 2005-08-26 | D & I Colonial Ballroom, Houston, Texas | |
| Win | 2-0 | Jovanni Rubio | TKO | 1 (4) | 2005-05-28 | Staples Center, Los Angeles, California | |
| Win | 1-0 | Jesse Orta | UD | 4 | 2005-04-08 | Fort McDowell Casino, Fountain Hills, Arizona | Martirosyan's professional debut. |
Regional/International Titles:
Special Titles: