by Chris Cella
The wait for the highly anticipated battle between two of the sport’s top super welterweights is finally over. This Saturday night at the Wynn Las Vegas, undefeated prospect Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan will go to battle with Cuban star Erislandy Lara in a 12-round WBC super welterweight world title elimination bout. The fight will be shown live in HBO Boxing After Dark beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern.
For nearly two years, there have been discussions about this fight taking place, and come Saturday night all of the trash talking and other fight hype and build-up will be meaningless as these two warriors will clash in the center of the ring.
“The fight is almost here and the fans are in for a great night of action,” said Lara. “My goal is to punish Vanes in this fight because he’s been talking so much trash. This fight has been a long time in coming and I’m going to make him pay for his disrespect.”
Lara (17-1-1, 11 KO) has earned the billing as the number one rated WBC super welterweight contender following two impressive performances earlier this year, a first round knockout victory over Ronald Hearns and a domination unanimous decision over Freddy Hernandez this summer.
For the majority of his career, Lara was flying under the radar, quietly defeating one prospect after another. He caught the attention of the boxing world when he lost a controversial majority decision to Paul Williams in 2011, a fight in which all three judges were suspended indefinitely. But rather than becoming complacent or making excuses, he went right back to work and has earned the title eliminator shot.
“I’m extremely focused and mentally prepared to give fans a great performance on November 10th,” Lara continued. “I’ve worked hard my entire life to get into position to fight for a world championship and Martirosyan stands in my way. Like all Cuban fighters, we bring a lot of heart and soul into the ring and this fight will be no different. I’m coming to establish myself as the best super welterweight in the world.”
Martirosyan has done his share of talking leading up to this fight, and is confident that his power and experience will lead him to victory and the chance to fight for the super welterweight title in 2013. The crafty southpaw will be one of his toughest tests to date through his 32 fight career, but the Nightmare knows that a victory Saturday night will take him to the next level.
“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.”
Lara and Martirosyan are two of the top 154-pound fighters in the world, and when they meet this Saturday night boxing fans worldwide will be in for a treat as they can expect fireworks. Everything is on the line for these two warriors, as the chance to fight to be the best in the world in their respected weight class is in their sights.
