Despite the fact that this Saturday’s fight between Super Welterweights Jermell Charlo (25-0-0, 11 KOs) and Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21 KOs) is not a “title eliminator,” it’s very possible that the winner will receive a title-shot by the end of 2015.
Charlo might have 25 professional victories without a loss, but he has yet to prove his true worth, with his best wins coming over mediocre competition such as Demetrius Hopkins and Gabe Rosado.
On the other hand, he’s a young, talented fighter with a high ceiling for potential who will be looking for a win on Saturday to justify his first ever shot at a title.
Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Martirosyan got his first shot at a world title back in November of 2013, when he fought current WBO champion Demetrius Andrade for that belt which was vacant at the time.
Andrade clearly out-boxed Martirosyan on the way to a split decision victory in a fight that most thought was not as close as the judge’s scored it.
On March 28th I’m going to shock a lot of people that day Including my opponent I Can’t Wait!
— Vanes Martirosyan (@VanesBoxing) March 12, 2015
Martirosyan spoke about Charlo in an interview with Dontae’s Boxing Nation saying:
[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered”]“Jermell and Jermall, I think they look up to Lara, I think Lara’s probably their big brother, they just look up to him and they try to be like Lara, and I’ve been in with Lara and I just think it’s going to be like a man versus a boy.”[/otw_shortcode_quote]
The winner will be ranked in the top three by the WBC and IBF, and ranked as the No. 1 contender to Andrade’s WBO title, which would likely be the most realistic fight to be made, considered Andrade has been avidly searching for an opponent in 2015.
Charlo was already involved in negotiations in late 2014 for a fight with Andrade, but Andrade backed out because he was unhappy with his offered purse, which was a career high of $300,000.
In an interview with RBRBoxing earlier this year, Andrade confirmed that he wasn’t on the same page with Banner Promotions at the time, and is now looking to re-negotiate a fight with Charlo.
Charlo gives respect to Martirosyan and talks future fights in this video interview with FightHype.com
What’s Next For The Winner?
All the ducks are in line for the winner of Charlo vs. Martirosyan to fight Andrade. Not only do all parties want the fight, but there are no political barricades with promotional companies or TV networks interfering.
Some other options for the winner if a fight with Andrade continues to not come to fruition would be contender Austin Trout and Julian Williams, who with a win over Joey Hernandez on April 4, could be looking for the first big step-up fight of his young and promising career.
Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Gary Russell Jr. and Jermell Charlo vs. Vanes Martirosyan airs on Showtime this Saturday, March 28 at 10:00 pm, EST.
Please feel free to discuss the fights in our comment section provided below.
Header photo edit by Lorin Elise/Keystone Boxing
