Vanes Martirosyan is a man who's on a mission to finally get his chance to shine. Undefeated in 32 fights, the majority of the opponents he's faced are unknown to casual fans. Making matters worse, a lot of his fights have been untelevised, making it even more difficult to become the household name he believes he deserves to be. Hoping to change that, Martirosyan is optimistic that he'll get an opportunity to fill a vacant undercard slot on the upcoming June 9th showdown between Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao and undefeated jr. welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. Although both fighters are still undefeated, their careers went in different directions since turning pro and Martirosyan is practically begging for the kind of opportunity that Bradley is getting against one of the biggest names in the sport. Ironically, their paths actually crossed once before, in the amateurs, and according to Martirosyan, he had no problems whatsoever with the man who is about to face arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
"I never got the opportunity to face an elite level, A-level fighter and I want that chance because I've sparred with all these guys and I bust 'em up. I busted up Roman Karmazin at Wild Card; Hopkins, I busted his eye. I beat Berto twice in the amateurs. I was the last guy to beat Timothy Bradley and dropped him twice. That was in the amateurs," Martirosyan explained in a recent interview with FightHype's David Kassel. "I want the fans to see me because I know I can give them what they want and I'm good enough to beat all these guys. It's my time to get a chance to show it." Martirosyan is hoping to get that chance on the same night that Bradley will get his, June 9th, and he would love nothing more for it to be an opportunity to win his first world title.
"Bob Arum promised me he would get me K9 on June 9th. If you speak with K9, if he accepts the fight, Bob Arum will put us on the card 100%. Bob Arum promised me we would be on the card. I'm ready and I wanna do it. Let's get camp started and let's get ready," he continued, expressing his desire to face current IBF jr. middleweight champion Cornelius "K9" Bundrage. It's a fight that Bundrage has also expressed interest in and, according to Martiroysan, it's a fight that makes sense and will give him the type of exposure he's looking for. "June 9th is a big boxing day and it will be good for him to accept and everyone else to see us. Even people that aren't boxing fans watch boxing on that day because it's such a big boxing day. Business wise, the fight makes sense."
Will Martirosyan finally get the opportunity to shine against a name that people recognize on one of the biggest cards of the year? Furthermore, can Manny Pacquiao do something that Martirosyan was already able to do in handing Bradley a loss or putting him on the canvas twice? Time will tell.