SportsLine.com wire reports
Aug. 15, 2004
Martirosyan batters Algerian for U.S. boxing’s second victory
ATHENS, Greece — Seven months ago, Vanes Martirosyan was America’s
14th-ranked amateur welterweight — not a typical starting point for
an Olympic boxer.
Martirosyan has turned out to be a whole lot better than almost
anybody expected. With a few more victories, the same might soon be
said about the entire U.S. boxing team.
Martirosyan erased any doubts about the legitimacy of his spot in
Athens, battering Algeria’s Benamar Meskine in a 45-20 victory in the
preliminaries Sunday to earn a second-round match with Cuba’s Lorenzo
Aragon.
“I finished like a champion,” said Martirosyan, an Armenian-born
18-year-old from Glendale, Calif. “I could have won another four
rounds, to tell you the truth. I felt so good out there.”
Martirosyan showed the power and flair of a contender, dictating the
fight’s pace with a stiff jab and opportunistic combinations. He also
counterpunched effectively while landing more shots to the head than
almost any competitor so far at the busy boxing venue, which hosts
more than 20 fights every day of the preliminaries.
Middleweight Andre Dirrell got the United States off to a good start
Saturday with a win in his preliminary bout. Two Americans received
first-round byes, and five more will fight in the next three days
before the second round begins Wednesday.
Tougher fights still loom for a team that’s thought to be among the
weakest in the United States’ superb Olympic boxing history, but the
boxers believe they can improve on their mediocre four-medal haul
four years ago in Sydney.
“We’re a great team, we’re in great shape and we’re going to bring a
lot of medals home,” Martirosyan said.
Martirosyan was one fight from elimination at the U.S. team trials in
February in Tunica, Miss., but the two top contenders were
disqualified when Andre Berto threw Juan McPherson to the canvas,
injuring McPherson’s neck. McPherson was medically disqualified, and
Berto was banned for his actions.
Though he caught a lucky break, Martirosyan made the most of it by
earning an Olympic spot in the ensuing qualifying tournaments. Berto,
from Winter Haven, Fla., made the Olympics anyway on Haiti’s team —
but Martirosyan beat Berto in a subsequent tourney.
“A lot of boxing fans and people in our organization were very well
aware of Vanes,” U.S. coach Basheer Abdullah said. “There were a lot
of predictions that he was going to make this team. … He was very,
very aggressive today. He dictated what was happening in the fight.”
Martirosyan hoped to meet Berto later in the draw, but Berto was
beaten 36-34 in the evening session by France’s Xavier Noel, a former
world champion. Berto, whose parents are Haitian, fought well and
nearly rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth round, but
Noel apparently hung on. The decision was loudly jeered by fans.