by Chris Cella
On Saturday, November 10 at the Wynn Las Vegas, undefeated super welterweight knockout sensation Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan (32-0, 20 KO) puts his unblemished record on the line against Erislandy “El Oro del Guantanamo” Lara (17-1-1, 11 KO) in a 12-round WBC Super Welterweight elimination bout.
Top-rated undefeated Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan Photo Credit : Chris Farina – Top Rank
Through his career, Martirosyan has established himself as one of the premier super welterweight contenders, utilizing his heavy hands and unrelenting attack to move up the ranks and take down one opponent after another. As an amateur he went to battle with a handful of future champions, including Timothy Bradley, Andre Berto and Austin Trout, and come November 10 he looks to move one step closer to fighting for the revered WBC title.
In his last four fights, Martirosyan has finished his opponent three times, and will be looking to test the jaw of Lara early on in their bout to set his pace of the fight.
Standing across from him, ready to diminish his championship dreams, is the crafty southpaw Erislandy Lara. A late bloomer to the sport, Lara first laced up the gloves as a professional at the age of 25, and has since worked his way up the rankings in becoming the WBC’s number one ranked super welterweight contender.
The only loss of Lara’s career came at the hands of former two-time welterweight and interim light middleweight champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams, in a hard-nosed fight that ended in a majority decision.
“I know Vanes is a very good fighter, but once that bell rings it’s going to be a very different fight from anything he’s prepared for,” Lara told EastSideBoxing.
“I’m going to punish him. After two or three rounds god by, we’re really going to find out what he’s made of. When I beat Vanes, I want to face Canelo in the ring. I want to defeat Canelo and become the WBC Champion.”
The southpaw will have his hands full as he pursues his championship run against the stronger counter puncher, but he has shown through the first 19 fights of his relatively young career he will not back down to any opponent and will indeed leave it all in the ring.
The behind the scenes of this elimination fight has only enhanced the buzz and excitement for this bout around the world. Lara’s trainer Ronnie Shields previously trained Martirosyan, and commented that the latter man hasn’t improved much as a fighter. Additionally, Lara stated that the world will find out that his trainer is better than Freddie Roach who currently trains Martirosyan.
“I’m going to show them (Lara’s trainer and team) how to beat Lara on November 10,” Martirosyan told BoxingScene.
“We are going to do our talking in the ring. They don’t even know (what is going to happen). I wish them the best in their camp. God Bless, see you November 10. It’s going to be a great fight.”
Both camps have done their talking, and come November 10, the boxing world will see who emerges with a chance to fight for the WBC Super Welterweight championship of the world.