WBA Super Welterweight title holder Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (22-2-2, 13 KOs) is set to defend his strap against Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan (36-2-1, 21 KOs) on Saturday, May 21 from The Chelsea, inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
This will be the second time Lara and Martirosyan meet, with the first contest ending in a technical draw back in 2012.
Though Lara has gone on to bigger success following the draw against Martirosyan, he still feels he has something left to prove and wants to settle the score on Saturday night.
“This is a very important fight for me,” said Lara during a recent camp update.
“Our last fight unfortunately ended in a draw because of a clash of heads so we have some unfinished business to take care of. This time I’m not going to leave any doubt on who the better fighter is. I’m coming to dominate and retain my world championship,” said Lara.
After their first fight, Martirosyan dropped decisions to Demetrius Andrade and Jermell Charlo, so he needs a victory on Saturday to stay relevant in the talent-rich 154-pound division.
Martirosyan knows he has a lot riding on this fight and is looking to make a statement against Lara. He recently took shots at the WBA title holder during a media conference call.
“I know he felt me in the first fight, he’s going to feel me 10 times more in this fight,” said Martirosyan (via Fight News).
“Fight a clean fight and don’t play with my balls the whole fight and we’ll see who’s gonna stop who in this one,” continued Martirosyan.
With a victory, Lara hopes to be one step closer to cleaning out the Super Welterweight division.
With two other championship fights on the same night–featuring Jermall Charlo vs. Austin Trout and Jermell Charlo vs. John Jackson–the 154-pound landscape will be a lot more clear after Saturday night.
“I feel I’m leading the pack [at 154] and my goal is to unify all the belts. I’m going to take it one fight at a time with the mindset to clean out the division,” said Lara.
Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
