By Allan Fox: A fight between unbeaten junior middleweights Vanes Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21 KO’s) and Demetrius Andrade (19-0, 13 KO’s) is being worked on by Top Rank for the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios fight on November 23rd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. The two will be fighting for the vacant WBO world junior middleweight title.
According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, Martirosyan’s manager Cameron Dunkin the deal is still being worked on.
Martirosyan, 27, fought to a 9th round technical draw against Erislandy Lara last year in November. The fight was halted after Martirosyan suffered a bad cut over his left eye in the 9th round from a head clash. The stoppage may have saved Martirosyan from suffering a loss because Lara had taken command of the fight by that point and he looked like a cinch to win the last three rounds to get the victory.
Martirosyan, #1 WBO, has taken a lot of criticism for his lack of quality opposition during his 8 year pro career. His toughest opponents have been Joe Green, Kassim Ouma and Lara.
Greene was never really established as being a good fighter, Ouma was near the end of his career and many boxing fans feel that he deserved to win a decision over Martirosyan, and Lara was on his way to a victory over Martirosyan at the time of the fight was stopped due to a head clash.
Andrade, a former 2008 U.S Olympian, has faced weak opposition as well in his 5 year pro career. His best opponents thus far have been Grady Brewer and Freddy Hernandez. The southpaw Andrade has looked decent but far from great in winning his fights. He’s tall at 6’1”, and he doesn’t look great when he’s getting hit in return.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Andrade can hold up to getting hit a lot from Martirosyan if this fight gets made. If Martirosyan land on Andrade for a number of rounds, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Martirosyan get a stoppage.
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