Vanes Martirosyan says Lara ‘a pretty dirty fighter’

PanARMENIAN.Net - A wicked headbutt seconds into the ninth round cut short a sanctioned super welterweight eliminator between Vanes Martirosyan and Erislandy Lara at Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. The winner was to be granted a title shot at unbeaten beltholder Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, only there was no declared victor Saturday, Nov 10 evening as the bout ended in a technical split decision draw, Boxingscene.com reports.

Lara weighed in at 153½ lb, while Martirosyan was slightly lighter at 153 lb. during Friday’s weigh-in, which saw both fighters trade barbs and light shoves ahead of their HBO-televised main event.

The fight proved to be a marathon rather than a race. Both fighters fought a steady pace early on, with Martirosyan serving as the aggressor in pursuit of the matador-like Lara. The strategy of each fighter proved to be effective, though also made for a scoring nightmare for the ringside officials.

The ugliness from Friday’s weigh-in spilled over into the ring in round three, when the first of several fouls occurred – accidentally or otherwise. Lara was warned for a low blow that forced Martirosyan to his knees while hunched over in a corner.

Lara enjoyed his best round of the fight in the fourth, though also flirted with disaster as he was issued a final warning after yet another power punch strayed south of the border. Once again, Martirosyan was left to recover from the debilitating blow, while Lara caught lip service from referee Jay Nady during the fight and his opponent’s ire afterward.

“He’s a pretty dirty fighter,” Martirosyan said of Lara. “The low blows, coming in with his head - he’s pretty good at stuff like that.”

The scoring of judges Richardo Ocasio (87-84 Lara) and Jerry Roth (86-85 Martirosyan) suggested they managed to find a winner in the aborted ninth round. The 86-86 verdict turned in by judge Dave Moretti indicates an even round scored, which was probably the fairest call since such little took place in the frame, Boxingscene.com says.

“It was a close fight, but he ran all night,” said Martirosyan, whose record moves to 32-0-1 (20KO). “It’s not the amateurs, it’s the professionals.”

Lara not only believed that he won the fight, but also that his opponent sought the easy way out.

“Vanes is a good fighter. But I hit him with every punch I wanted to and I know I won this fight,” said Lara, whose record is now 17-1-2 (11KO). “But I believe he doesn’t have heart.”

What neither fighter now has is a guaranteed title fight. The winner was supposed to face Alvarez, but will now most likely be ordered to do it all again.

While they disagreed on the outcome, both fighters shared similar thoughts on a rematch.

“I feel great. Our plan was to come on late because he gets tired. As soon as the stitches come out I want a rematch,” Martirosyan insisted.

Lara agreed that a sequel needs to happen, the sooner the better. “I want a rematch, no question. If we could continue, I’d go right now. In the final rounds, I was going up, he was going down.”