Photo by Will Hart
Last week on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, Vanes Martirosyan (34-1, 21 KOs) earned a ten-round unanimous decision victory over Mario Lozano (28-5, 22 KOs).
The bout signaled the birth of a new relationship with Goossen Tutor Promotions and his new trainers Joe Goossen and Ricky Funez from Ten Goose Boxing in Van Nuys, California.
“We had a few weeks with Joe, my new trainer. We tried new things. Overall, I’m happy with the performance” said Martirosyan, after a press conference announcing a title-fight featuring fellow Goossen Tutor fighter Chris Arreola.
Martirosyan was previously trained by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and was promoted by Top Rank. However, after suffering his first defeat via unanimous decision by Demetrius Andrade, Martirosyan decided to leave both Top Rank and Freddie Roach.
One reason, apparently, was the never-ending Cold War between Golden Boy and Top Rank.
“We can work with anybody now and that’s a good thing,” said Martirosyan, referring to the relative ease with which Dan Goossen, of Goossen Tutor Promotions, can make deals with other boxing promoters. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find the Goossen name alongside co-promotional bouts with either Golden Boy or Top Rank.
Dibella Entertainment, headed by Lou Dibella, also maintains a more neutral stance in the notorious Cold War feud. Fighters of these more neutral promotional companies have more more leeway when deciding who their next opponent will be.
“All my life I’ve worked hard to get the big fights and I don’t need to worry about if my promoter likes another promoter or not. Dan is good with everybody,” continued a hopeful Martirosyan, who believes his new promotional deal will get him bigger fights.
Behind the scenes, however, Martirosyan made it clear that what he needed of his new trainers was dedication. Although only working with them for a few weeks, Martirosyan felt confident about his new training team.
“There’s a hundred percent motivation with Joe and Ricky as soon as I walk in the gym. There with me 100 percent throughout the whole training and that’s something different that I never had before,” said Martirosyan.
“Freddie is a great trainer, don’t get me wrong,” he continued, “but at the same time, I never had the dedication that I’m getting with Joe and Ricky, and you guys are going to see big results because of that.”
Martirosyan is yet another example of a fighter who does not need an extremely popular trainer to be in his corner.
Demetrius Andrade, who was previously trained by Virgil Hunter, left Hunter to be trained by his father. The result seems to have been positive, as Andrade calmly picked himself up after a first-round knockdown to win his fight against Martirosyan.
Whether or not Martirosyan will have similar results remains to be seen, as he has only made the switch within the past several weeks. Nevertheless, Martirosyan is confident.
“We want anybody from 154 to 160. We’re ready for anybody, concluded Martirosyan, “I want the Lara rematch. I want Austin Trout. Cotto, anybody out there. Canelo Alvarez. Whichever one that wants to step it up and fight me, I’m ready for them.”
