Gennady Golovkin vs. Vanes Martirosyan possible for May 5

Boxingnews24.com

By Jeff Aranow

Vanes Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 KOs) is being considered as a potential opponent for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) to fight on May 5th on Cinco de Mayo, according to Fight News.

Martirosyan, 31, is a highly rated junior middleweight, whose career has never taken off despite his impressive talent and Olympic credentials. Middleweight contender Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan (27-2, 19 KOs) is seen as the frontrunner to get the fight with Golovkin, but he’s not a fighter that the U.S boxing public is familiar with. Martirosyan is much better-known fighter to the U.S fans, as many of his fights have been televised over the years in that country. Martirosyan is ranked #1 by the WBC at 154, but he also hasn’t fought in 2 years. The World Boxing Council’s decision to rank Martirosyan at No.1 is strange, because they normally only give high rankings to active fighters.

Martirosyan has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights in defeats to Erislandy Lara and Jermell Charlo. The loss to Charlo was controversial, as Martirosyan appeared to win that fight but was given a 10 round decision defeat. Martirosyan’s poor record in his last three fights, 1-2, would make him a less than spectacular opponent to step in as the replacement opponent for GGG to fight.

Martirosyan lives in Southern California in Glendale, so he would be a better choice to fight Golovkin at the StubHub Center in Carson, California than the 33-year-old O’Sullivan, who lives in Ireland. Martirosyan is still now popular enough for Golovkin to bring in many PPV buys if his May 5th fight is televised on HBO PPV. However, Golovkin’s fight on that date is being moved to regular non-PPV HBO.

Golovkin, 36, needs an opponent to replace Golden Boy Promotions money maker Saul Canelo Alvarez, who tested positive for clenbuterol during two VADA conducted tests last February, and subsequently pulled out of the May 5th fight against the Kazakhstan fighter. Golovkin was going to be facing Canelo on HBO PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. On Monday, the LA Times reported that Golovkin’s May 5th fight was being moved from Las Vegas to the StubHub Center in Carson, California. This is a move to take advantage of GGG’s huge popularity in Los Angeles.

Martirosyan is still not an excellent choice for Golovkin to fight. He’s another light middleweight, who lost his last fight to Erislandy Lara by a 12 round unanimous decision on May 21, 2016. Martirosyan hasn’t fought in almost two years. It’s been 23 months since Martirosyan lost to Lara. Martirosyan’s inactivity makes him a poor replacement opponent for Golovkin to fight. Moreover, Martirosyan lost to Demetrius Andrade by a 12 round split decision in November 2013. Andrade, 30, has been calling out Golovkin to be his replacement opponent on May 5th. It’ll look like Golovkin is ducking Andrade if he faces the guy that he beat in the past in Martirosyan on the 5th of May.

About Author