"The Nightmare"  

• Twitter: @VanesBoxing  
• Ranked WBO #1, IBF #6, WBC #11 at 154 pounds...
• Former WBC Silver super welterweight champion…
• Former NABF super welterweight champion...
• Former NABO jr. middleweight champion...
• 2004 U.S. Olympic representative (amateur), 152 pounds...

At the age of 26, Vanes is a seven-year pro. A contender at 154 pounds, he is a former amateur standout and represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics.

He has stayed active in the ring, stepped up in class of opposition, and made good progress.

Vanes is coming off a ninth-round technical draw against Erislandy Lara in his last fight on November 10, 2012 – Vanes was cut badly by a clash of heads in the ninth round, and the fight was stopped on the injury and went to the scorecards.

After the fight, Vanes said, "I feel great. It sucks about the head butt. Our plan was to come on later on because he gets tired. The last round I kind of took off and wanted to finish strong, but unfortunately the head butt happened."...

Vanes stepped up in class of opposition and scored two of his career-best wins in 2010. On June 5, he won a 10-round decision against previously undefeated former amateur standout Joe Greene – the fight was co-featured with the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman main event at Yankee Stadium. On January 16, he won a 10-round decision against former IBF junior middleweight world champion Kassim Ouma in Las Vegas.

Trainer Freddie Roach said, “Vanes has progressed a lot. He’s starting to be a better puncher, setting down on his shots a little bit better. He can really move when he wants to, but I’m getting him to settle down and he’s delivering his punches with much more authority. He’s knocking a lot of people out now. I’d like to get a world title fight for Vanes now.”

Vanes had a sensational amateur career that included wins against Timothy Bradley Jr., who currently holds the WBO welterweight world title, Austin Trout, who currently holds the WBA super welterweight world title, and Andre Berto, who went on to win the WBC and IBF welterweight world titles. Vanes also had an amateur win against Shawn Estrada, who went on to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, and is now a rising prospect as a pro.

His webpage address is vanesboxing.com.

Fight by Fight – 2012 – WBC SW WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR - in his last fight on 11-10-12 in Las Vegas, NV, he had a 12 round draw against lefthanded Erislandy Lara (17-1-1): the bout headlined at Wynn Resort, and it was very close; Vanes pressed forward and landed the harder punches, but Lara boxed and moved effectively at times; Vanes was cut badly over hie left eye by a clash of heads in the 9^th round; the was stopped on the cut and went to the scorecards – 86-85 Martirosyan, 87-84 Lara, 86-86…

WON WBC SILVER SW TITLE - on 2-4-12 in San Antonio, TX, he TKOd Troy Lowrey (28-11): the fight was on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Marco Antonio Rubio main event, and Vanes quickly overpowered him; he scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 1^st round; Vanes bloodied his nose in the 2^nd, then scored a knockdown with a right hand and the referee stopped the fight without a count at 2:53…

2011 – on 10-29-11 in Thackerville, OK, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against Richard Gutierrez (26-7-1): the fight headlined at the WinStar Casino, and Vanes dominated; he consistently outboxed and outworked Gutierrez, and landed the harder punches; scored 100-90, 100-90, 99-91

WBC SW WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR - on 6-4-11 in Los Angeles, CA, he TKOd Saul Roman (34-8): the fight was co-featured with the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Sebastian Zbik main event, and it was fast-paced and exciting; Roman scored a knockdown with a right hand-left hook combination in the 1^st round, then bloodied Vanes’ nose in the 2^nd; Vanes was cut under his right eye in the 4^th round, but rallied in the following rounds and steadily wore down Roman; Vanes scored a knockdown with a series of right hands in the 7^th round – Roman got up, but Vanes rocked him with a series of punches and the referee stopped the fight at 2:58; after the fight, Vanes said, “Going into this fight, I knew I had to win big and I had to win with a knockout, and that’s what I did. It felt really good in there. It felt like a ‘Rocky’ movie while I was up there, so I felt really good. Just the pain you go through and then you get something like this, it’s worth it.”…

On 3-19-11 in Montreal, QUE, he knocked out Bladimir Hernandez (18-4): the fight was on the undercard of the Lucian Bute-Brian Magee main event, and Vanes quickly overpowered him; he rocked Hernandez with a right hand in the 1^st round, then scored a devastating knockdown with another right hand in the 2^nd round and Hernandez was counted out at 0:57…

2010 – 2^ND NABF SW, NABO JM TITLE DEFENSE - on 6-5-10 in New York, NY, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against previously undefeated lefthander and hometown favorite Joe Greene (22-0): the fight was co-featured with the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman main event at Yankee Stadium; Vanes pressed forward and consistently outworked Greene, who fought very defensively; Vanes scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 10^th round, and Greene was cut over his right eye; scored 96-93, 96-93, 98-91; after the fight, Vanes said, “I thought he would press me more than he did. I thought he would come forward and he didn’t. It didn’t seem like he wanted to fight. I'm still improving and getting better all the time.”…

1^ST NABF SW, NABO JM TITLE DEFENSE - on 1-16-10 in Las Vegas he won a 10 round unanimous decision against lefthanded former IBF jr. middleweight world champion Kassim Ouma (26-6-1): the fight headlined at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and it was fast-paced and exciting; Ouma pressed forward, gave a strong effort, and several rounds were close, but Vanes generally outboxed him and landed the sharper punches; Ouma scored a knockdown with a right hook in the 9^th round, but Vanes finished the fight strongly; scored 97-93, 97-93, 97-92...

2009 – WON NABF SW, VACANT NABO JM TITLES - on 12-19-09 in Youngstown, OH, he TKOd lefthanded defending NABF champion Willie Lee (17-5): the fight was on the undercard of the Kelly Pavlik-Miguel Espino main event; Lee gave a good effort, but Vanes was very impressive; he staggered Lee with a right hand in the 1^st round, and scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 3^rd – Lee got up, but Vanes scored another knockdown with a series of punches and the referee stopped the fight at 2:13...

On 6-27-09 in Atlantic City, NJ, he TKOd Andrey Tsurkan (26-4): the fight was on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Olivier Lontchi main event, and Vanes dominated; he consistently outboxed and outworked Tsurkan and landed the harder punches; he staggered Tsurkan two times in the 4^th round – the first time with a left hook, the second time with a right hand; he rocked Tsurkan again in the 5^th, and Tsurkan’s left eye began to swell; the referee stopped the fight on Tsurkan’s injured eye at the end of the 6^th round...

On 5-16-09 in Primm, NV, he TKOd lefthanded Harrison Cuello (18-9-2): Vanes rocked Cuello repeatedly in the 1^st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:13...

On 2-7-09 in Anaheim, CA, he won an 8 round unanimous decision against Billy Lyell (18-6): the fight was on the undercard of the Vic Darchinyan-Jorge Arce main event; Lyell pressed forward and gave a good effort; Vanes injured his right hand in the 1^st round, but dominated the fight; he consistently outboxed and outworked Lyell and landed the harder punches; scored 80-72, 79-73, 78-74...

2008 - on 11-1-08 in Las Vegas he TKOd Charles Howe (17-4-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Matt Vanda main event, and Vanes quickly overwhelmed Howe; Vanes scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 1^st round – Howe got up, but Vanes rocked him with a series of punches, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:20...

On 9-19-08 in Primm he won a 10 round unanimous decision against previously undefeated Michael Medina (18-0-2): the fight was co-featured at Buffalo Bill’s; Medina gave a good effort, but Vanes consistently outboxed and outworked him and dominated most of the fight; scored 100-90, 98-92, 97-93...

On 6-26-08 in Las Vegas he won a 10 round unanimous decision against former jr. middleweight world title challenger Angel Hernandez (28-6): Vanes scored a knockdown with a right uppercut in the 1^st round and dominated the fight; he consistently outworked Hernandez, landed the sharper punches, and won by scores of 100-89 on all three scorecards...

On 2-7-08 in Las Vegas he TKOd Michi Munoz (20-1): Vanes quickly overpowered Munoz; he scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 1^st round, and cut over his left eye in the 2^nd; he scored another knockdown with a series of punches in the 3^rd round – Munoz got up, but Vanes rocked him with another series of punches, bloodied his nose, then scored another knockdown with another series of punches that dropped Munoz to one knee, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:20...

On 1-4-08 in Los Angeles he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Clarence Taylor (12-12-2): Taylor gave a good effort and rocked Vanes with an uppercut in the 2^nd round, but Vanes pressed forward, consistently outworked Taylor, and dominated the fight; scored 60-54 on all three scorecards...

2007 - on 12-20-07 in Las Vegas he TKOd Dan Wallace (9-2): Vanes staggered Wallace with a right early in the 1^st round, then scored a knockdown with another right hand moments later and the referee stopped the fight at 1:34...

On 10-4-07 in Las Vegas he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Patrick Thompson (11-9-1): Thompson gave a good effort, but Vanes dominated the fight; Vanes was cut over his left eye, but consistently outworked Thompson and landed the harder punches; scored 60-54 on all three scorecards...

On 8-30-07 in Houston, TX, he TKOd Alexis Divison (16-6): Vanes dominated the fight, rocked Divison several times, and Divison did not continue after the 2^nd round; the Texas commission records it as a TKO at 0:10 of the 3^rd round...

On 6-29-07 in Camp Verde, AZ, he knocked out Alberto Mercedes (13-14-1): in the 7^th round...

On 4-27-07 in Houston he TKO’d Nelson Estupinan (11-4): Estupinan scored a knockdown in the 2^nd round, but Vanes got up and knocked down Estupinan later in the round and the referee stopped the fight at 2:59...

On 1-27-07 in Anaheim, CA, he TKOd Taronze Washington (9-5): Vanes scored a knockdown with a right uppercut-left hook combination in the 2^nd round, and Washington was counted out at 2:22...

2006 - on 11-18-06 in Las Vegas he TKOd Edgar Reyes (10-5): the fight was on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales III main event, and Vanes dominated; he rocked Reyes repeatedly, and Reyes did not continue after the 4^th round...

On 8-12-06 in Las Vegas he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Marcus Brooks (6-1): Vanes dominated the fight; he scored a knockdown with a series of punches in the 1^st round, but apparently hurt his left hand in the 2^nd round; scored 60-52, 60-53, 60-53...

On 6-3-06 in Las Vegas he TKOd Oscar Gonzalez (9-4-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Vic Darchinyan-Luis Maldonado main event; Vanes scored two knockdowns in the 1^st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:14…

On 4-8-06 in Las Vegas he knocked out Tefo Seetso (2-1-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Zab Judah main event; Vanes dominated the fight; he scored a knockdown in the 3^rd round, Seetso’s corner threw in the towel, and the referee stopped the fight at 0:55…

On 2-18-06 in Las Vegas he TKOd Juan Pablo Montes De Oca (6-8-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Antonio Margarito-Manuel Gomez main event; Vanes dominated the fight, he scored one knockdown in the 1^st round and another in the 2^nd that bloodied De Oca’s nose; the referee stopped the fight on the injury at 1:21 of the 3^rd round…

2005 - on 11-12-05 in Las Vegas he TKOd Abdias Castillo (9-12-1): the fight had been scheduled for the undercard of the Vitali Klitschko-Hasim Rahman main event, but the card was scratched when Klitschko was injured in training and announced his retirement, and Vanes headlined a smaller, invitation-only card at Wynn Resort & Casino; Vanes scored two knockdowns in the 1^st round and another in the 3^rd, but Castillo kept battling back; Vanes rocked him with a series of punches in the 5^th round, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:45…

On 10-8-05 in Las Vegas he TKOd Tony Morales (5-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Jose Luis Castillo-Diego Corrales II main event; Vanes was very impressive and scored two knockdowns in the 1^st round; Morales got up both times, but Vanes rocked him with a series of punches and the referee stopped the fight at 2:37…

On 9-10-05 in Los Angeles he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Gerardo Cesar Prieto (4-2-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Erik Morales-Zahir Raheem, Manny Pacquiao-Hector Velazquez co-main events; Vanes gave an impressive performance and dominated the fight; he consistently outworked Prieto, rocked him several times, and won by scores of 60-54 on all three scorecards…

On 8-26-05 in Houston he won a 4 round unanimous decision against Fernando Vela (2-1-1), scored 40-36, 40-36, 39-37…

On 5-28-05 in Los Angeles he TKOd Giovanni Rubio (6-5): the fight was on the undercard of Julio Cesar Chavez’ “Adios Los Angeles” event at the Staples Center; Vanes rocked Rubio with a series of punches in the 1^st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:38…

He debuted on 4-8-05 in Fountain Hills, AZ, and won a 4 round unanimous decision against Jesse Orta (4-3-1): Vanes dominated the fight; he scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 4^th round, and won by scores of 40-35 on all three scorecards...

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Vanes said, “I was born in Abozyan, Armenia. I have two brothers and a sister. My father worked at a company, he was also in the army. My family moved to Glendale when I was four years old.

“My dad was an amateur boxer, too. I guess he saw it in me. He told me that I was an active kid. I had a lot of energy, I was always running around the house. When he found out there was a boxing gym there, he took me and my older brother. My little brother came to the gym with us, too, but he was too little at the time. My older brother, he wanted to swim, so he quit halfway. My little brother boxed, too. But he likes soccer, so he quit, too.

“I started boxing when I was seven. When I started training, I wanted to play basketball, but the coaches always said, ‘No, never let him quit.’ And my dad always told me, ‘Once you start something, you got to finish it. If you quit now, you’re always going to want to quit other things.’

“I had 130 amateur fights - 120 wins, and 10 losses. Whoever I lost to, I beat the second time around, except for the Cuban. I fought him in the pre-Olympics and the Olympics. I never got a chance to fight him again.

“I speak Armenian, of course, English, and I know a little Spanish. I know probably a couple of words in Russian.”…

Vanes is married and has a young son and daughter…

Regarding his nickname, Vanes said, “When I was coming up to the Olympics, that’s what everybody was calling me ‘Nightmare.’ When I was fighting in the Western Trials, I just started beating all the guys that were ranked. Nobody knew me, so I was like an underdog coming in and beating everybody. So they started calling me Nightmare every time I stepped into the ring.”…

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2004 OLYMPICS - Athens, Greece, 152 pounds: in his first fight on 8-15-04 he won a 45-20 decision against Benamar Meskine of Algeria…

The Associated Press reported from ringside: Vanes Martirosyan battered Algeria’s Benamar Meskine in a 45-20 victory in the preliminaries Sunday. The win gives the American a second-round match with Cuba’s Lorenzo Aragon.

“I finished like a champion,” said Martirosyan, an Armenian-born 18-year-old. “I could have won another four rounds, to tell you the truth. I felt so good out there.”

Martirosyan showed the power and flair of a contender, dictating the fight’s pace with a stiff jab and opportunistic combinations. He also counterpunched effectively while landing more shots to the head than almost any competitor so far at the busy boxing venue, which hosts more than 20 fights every day of the preliminaries.

Martirosyan was one fight from elimination at the U.S. team trials in February, but the two top contenders were disqualified when Andre Berto threw Juan McPherson to the canvas, injuring McPherson’s neck. McPherson was medically disqualified, and Berto was banned for his actions. Though he caught a lucky break, Martirosyan made the most of it by earning an Olympic spot in the ensuing qualifying tournaments.

Martirosyan was cheered at Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall by his father, Norik, a former amateur fighter who moved his family to California when Vanes was 4; his younger brother, Vatche; his uncle and his cousin - and fans from the United States who showed up unannounced, waving Armenian and American flags.

Aragon will be a stiff test for Martirosyan on Thursday. The two-time world champion beat Martirosyan in the Athens Test Event in May - but Martirosyan was slugging point-for-point with Aragon until the fourth round, when Martirosyan says he got overexcited by the prospect of an upset.

“We’re Armenian. We have this thing where we get a little bit out of control in the ring,” Martirosyan said. “I love this sport so much. The coaches have told me to calm down, just think about points instead of trying to get the guy out of there.”…[End AP item]

In the Olympic quarterfinals on 8-22-04 he lost a 20-11 decision against Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba; 30-year old Aragon, a two-time amateur world champion, went on to win the Olympic silver medal; Vanes had just turned 18 years old three months earlier…

2004 AMERICA’S OLYMPIC QUALIFIER - Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, 152 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 3-15-04 he won a 43-34 decision against Pedro Monsivais of Mexico; in the quarterfinals on 3-16-04 he stopped Tureano Johnson of the Bahamas in the 3^rd round; in the semifinals on 3-18-04 he won a 25-18 decision against Adam Trumpish of Canada; in the finals on 3-20-04 he won a 25-21 decision against Andre Berto of Haiti...

2004 OLYMPIC BOX-OFFS - Cleveland, Ohio, 152 pounds: in his first fight on 2-27-04 he won an 18-4 decision against Cory Jones of Brooklyn, N.Y.; in his second fight on 2-29-04 he won a 25-17 decision against Austin Trout of Las Cruces, N.M….

2004 OLYMPIC TRIALS - Tunica, Mississippi, 152 pounds: in his first fight on 2-17-04 he stopped Rudy Cisneros in the 3^rd round; in his second fight on 2-18-04 he lost a 20-19 decision against Andre Berto; in the finals he won an 18-4 decision against Cory Jones…

2004 OLYMPIC WESTERN TRIALS - Bakersfield, California, 152 pounds: in his first fight on 2-3-04 he won a 35-22 decision against Timothy Bradley; in his second fight on 2-4-04 he stopped Carson Jones in the 2^nd round; in his third fight on 2-5-04 he stopped Jonathan Ochoa in the 3^rd round; in the semifinals on 2-6-04 he won a 30-11 decision against Cymone Kearney; in the finals he won a 31-11 decision against Enrique Gutierrez…

2004 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Colorado Springs, Colorado, 152 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 1-13-04 he won a 29-6 decision against Brent Rodrigues; in his second fight on 1-14-04 he won a 20-6 decision against Rondale Mason; in the quarterfinals on 1-15-04 he won a 12-0 decision against Roger Cantrell; in the semifinals on 1-16-04 he lost by disqualification in the 2^nd round against Rudy Cisneros…

2003 NATIONAL UNDER-19 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Alexandria, Louisiana, 152 pounds - SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight he stopped  Zacharey Pouncey in the 3^rd round; in the quarterfinals he won a 16-2 decision against Shawn Estrada; in the semifinals he won a 13-7 decision against Austin Trout; in the finals he lost a 24-19 decision against Nick Casal…

STRENGTHS: Has good skills, speed, and movement...tall with a lanky build, has good punching power...has stayed very active in the ring and made good progress...is always in top condition...is experienced against good opposition…had a strong amateur background...

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 33 fights...157 total rounds...

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 4.7 rounds...

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 62 %...

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 10 rounds – 5 (5-0)...9 rounds – 1 (0-0-1)…8 rounds – 1 (1-0)...