Fight Pick & Preview – Andrade vs. Martirosyan:
In my opinion, the junior middleweight co-feature for HBO’s September 7th fight night is actually much more interesting and promising than the main event of Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. vs. Brian Vera. In that match, Demetrius Andrade meets Vanes Martirosyan for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title. But what makes it so much juicier than JCC, Jr.’s comeback fight is not just the WBO strap, but that the match pits two undefeated U.S. Olympians against each other.
Demetrius Andrade (19-0, 13 KOs)
6’1″ tall, southpaw, 25 years old
Andrade was the favorite to bring home gold in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, and his defeat in the quarter-finals was the big signal that America’s pugilistic hopes at Beijing were in serious trouble. Despite not winning a medal, Andrade remained the 2008 Olympian to watch, so many observers have been waiting for “Boo Boo’s” first world title fight for more than four years now.
Blessed with substantial athletic gifts, Andrade is a boxer-puncher with an emphasis on the boxer side. He is swift, slick, and possessed of good skills and good power. In particular, I’ve always found his right jab crisp and effective. Against that, it must be said Andrade has been in the game for over four years and is only now stepping up from journeyman opponents.
Vanes Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21KOs)
6’0″ tall, 73″ reach, 27 years old
Former NABF-NABO regional champion
“The Nightmare” was a 2004 Olympian, and lacking Andrade’s hyped potential, his road to this first world title bout has been longer and more conventional. He captured the NABF and NABO belts in 2009, the regional North American titles for the WBC and WBO respectively, and held on to them two defenses before vacating them to work his way up the WBC food chain, a move that ended in a Technical Draw with Erislandy Lara last year.
Martirosyan is a fluid boxer-puncher who likes working from a distance. He has very good footwork and fast hands, a good jab, and a solid right hand. Against this, I think his chin is merely average. The Nightmare has good experience for a fighter at this stage in his career, with two wins over tough gatekeepers like Kassim Ouma and Saul Roman, plus his TD with Lara. Martirosyan gave the touted Lara a very tough fight, and although I think Lara was wearing Martirosyan down and gaining on him, the draw in the 9th was a very reasonable call under the circumstances.
Andrade vs. Martirosyan Fight Analysis
What makes this fight very, very far from a gimme for Andrade is Martirosyan’s tool kit. The standard tactic for de-fanging a southpaw as an orthodox fighter is to always keep your lead foot outside that of your opponent, putting yourself in a good position to land straight rights and the southpaw in a bad position for straight lefts. With a stiff right hand and very good footwork, Martirosyan is in an excellent place to apply that tactic.
This is the very same combination of skills that made Martirosyan such a surprisingly hard opponent for Lara, who many picked to win that fight handily. Martirosyan made himself a nightmare for Lara, in part by taking the Cuban’s southpaw advantages away. Can he do the same to Andrade?
Andrade vs. Martirosyan Prediction
Martirosyan is a bad choice for Andrade’s first step up, because dealing with the Nightmare will test Boo Boo’s heart, poise, and ring generalship all at the same time. Andrade’s edge in speed won’t be enough to simply out-slick Martirosyan, and since neither is much for in-fighting, the bout will become a contest of Andrade’s jab vs. Martirosyan’s feet, and a contest like that makes for a lot of close rounds. Add to that the fact that the Glendale-native, Martirosyan, is fighting before a home-leaning crowd in Los Angeles, and I have a hard time seeing him denied.
The fight should be a close one, and I have serious respect for Andrade’s potential, but I think this fight is too much, too soon for him. If it reaches the scorecards, the night promises to be Andrade’s worst since Beijing.
Prediction: Vanes Martirosyan SD12 Demetrius Andrade
