With Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (22-2-2, 13KOs) vs. Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan (36-2-1, 21KOs) finally set to fight this May 21, 2016 on Showtime from the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas after a four year long wait, in talking with both 154-pound fighters, it soon becomes clear that the passage of time has not dulled either fighter’s resolve to prove that the draw that was the result of their first fight was a gift to the other man.
“This is a very important fight to me,” stated Lara last week during the end of his training camp in Houston, Texas under the tutelage of trainer Ronnie Sheilds, who for a brief time was Martirosyan’s coach early on in “The Nightmare’s” fight career. “Our last fight unfortunately ended in a draw because of a clash of heads so we have some unfinished business to take care of. This time I’m not going to leave any doubt on who the better fighter is,” concluded Lara, who is currently the reigning WBA Super Welterweight World Champion.
Not surprisingly, Martirosyan has another perspective on who is the better 154 lb. fighter, as well as Lara’s claim that towards the end of Lara vs. Martirosyan I, Lara was on his way to stopping Martirosyan just before the fight ended prematurely. “I know (Lara) felt me in the first fight. He’s going to feel me ten times more in this fight. He wasn’t stopping s###,” said Martirosyan, adding: “The low blows were on purpose. Fight a clean fight and don’t play with my balls the whole fight and we’ll see who’s going to stop who in this one.”
Should be interesting to see the degree of action versus talk on Saturday night.