Erislandy Lara edges Vanes Martirosyan in rematch to retain WBA junior middleweight belt
LAS VEGAS - The first fight stunk the joint out and was abbreviated after Vanes Martirosyan suffered a nasty cut. It was ruled a draw.
Almost four years later, Martirosyan and Erislandy Lara bored fans once again, but this time, the Cuban won the fight.
Lara (23-2-2, 13 KOs) eked by Martirosyan on Saturday at The Cosmopolitan via unanimous decision (115-112, 116-111, 116-111) to retain his WBA junior middleweight title in the main event on Showtime.
"I'm a very intelligent fighter and at no point did I fear this fight was going to be lost," Lara, 33, said through a translator. I will fight anybody. I would like to fight Canelo (Alvarez) or anybody."
Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 KOs) applied pressure and did some damage with lefts hooks to the body, but Lara was simply too skilled; his defense too tight. He was on the move the entire fight, and elected to potshot the Armenian with counterpunches.
Lara's excellent jab set everything up, and he was able to keep Martirosyan at distance.
His accurate shots created tremendous swelling across the 30-year-old's face, who had moments but could never get anything going. Martirosyan mustered just 94 punch connects (20%), while Lara landed 162 shots (38%).
Referee Vic Drakulich peculiarly deducted one point from Martirosyan in Round 11 for a low blow, though the punch appeared to be on the belt.
Sensing he might be down on the cards, Martirosyan went for broke in the final round, but it was too little, too late.
"I was chasing him all night. I put on the pressure. I thought I did enough to win," said Martirosyan, who also has losses to Jermell Charlo and Demetrius Andrade. "He ran all night. you could see on the replay it wasn't a low blow. He got every benefit of the doubt because he's champion.
"I'm a fighter, I'll fight him again right now. I still want to be a world champion and I still plan on being world champion."
Lara possesses obvious skills and is Paste BN's No. 1-ranked 154-pounder. But his fights are usually boring, and he refuses to take chances.
It's unclear where he goes from here, but he's the man in the division until someone knocks him off.
(Photo of Lara, left, and Martirosyan by John Locher, AP)