Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, undefeated Jr. Middleweight Vanes Martirosyan kept his perfect record in tact with a unanimous but shaky decision win over former champion Kassim Ouma. Martirosyan moves his record to 27-0 with 17 knockouts but in assessing his performance there is still much that the Armenian born fighter has to work on.
In the early rounds the speed and power of the younger fighter were clear advantages as he built an early lead and had Ouma discouraged and befuddled. Ouma attempted to work behind his jab and eventually got settled in while having success through his sheer will and undaunted aggression. Martirosyan showed a solid offensive attack early while Ouma displayed an iron chin and unshakeable will throughout the night.
A ninth round knockdown by the pressing Ugandan was a huge moment but Vanes survived the round and showed true grit in rallying late in the 10th. Scores of 97-92 and 97-93 twice were read in the Vanes’ favor but in reality the fight seemed to be much closer that the tallies indicated.
In the aftermath of the bout there are some saying Ouma was jobbed and that Martirosyan was exposed while others say that the young fighter did enough to win and that the fight will serve as a valuable learning lesson in his career. Wanting to get a further sense of what everyone feels about the contest, I went online to a few select forums and picked some choice comments. This is what everyone is saying about the Martirosyan-Ouma bout and what the future holds for the undefeated fighter…
(Valdosta @ BoxingFanatics.com)… “Seemed like Ouma won a real close fight yet the judges had it for Martirosyan by a wide margin. I figured the last round would cost Ouma the fight even though I thought he won 95-94. Instead they had ridiculous cards. ”
(Gabe @ TheSweetScience.com)… “Not only did Ouma out-land Martirosyan but he more effectively rolled with oncoming punches. There were stretches of several rounds in which Martirosyan appeared to be wobbled and disoriented. Ouma’s knockdown — which, however minor, did come on a real short right hook — underlines the point. That the judges scored the knockdown round 10-9 bespeaks an unfairness about the whole fight which Woods seems keen on perpetuating. Did Ouma ever really have a chance in the fight? For me the lasting images will be Martirosyan’s surprised look upon being announced the winner and the bloodied face that bore it.”
(Prideofvirginiabeach @ EastSideBoxing.com)… “Clottey got robbed. Malignaggi got robbed (but avenged it). Ouma didn’t really get robbed. He tested the hell out of Vanes and maybe, just maybe, it should have been a draw, but it wasn’t a robbery. Just because Bob Arum is a lackluster promoter content on double dipping profits by sticking his fighters in with other fighters of his and making really stupid comments that make you long for Don King, don’t take it out on Vanes.”
(southpaw 07 @ BoxingScene.com)… “The judges knew who they were voting for before they sat down tonight.”
(Radam G @ TheSweetScience.com)… “That bout was a whole lot closer than the three-blind judges called it. Maybe it is something in the water causing blindness of boxing judges nowadays. That bout was more like a draw. Holla!”
(Michael Matos @ BoxingFanatics.com)… “I watched it. I thought Ouma edged it, I thought Martirosyan lost the plot big time when he decided to go between semi-bicycle and bicycle allowing Ouma to make hay. Knockdown should have capped it. I said at the final bell “well Ouma you might not get it but you’re good for the draw”.”
(Maracho @ EastSideBoxing.com)… “Yes, African fighters are robbed way too often and last night’s judges were not entirely honest but Martirosyan did more damage than Ouma in rounds 7-10, thus he won the fight IMO. Ouma was hurt at least twice in the last rounds but has a way of making the uninitiated think that he is not getting hit hard.”
(Click HERE to see Martirosyan in action against Kassim Ouma)
(Carnivore @ BoxingScene.com)… “The judges definitely had it too wide. But although he missed a lot, Vanes was landing the cleaner, more effective punches in most rounds and so he deserved to win. I scored it 95-94 for Vanes.
Ouma had a big advantage in experience, having fought far better opposition than Vanes, and that showed during the fight. But Ouma seemed hurt and very tired in the last 30 seconds of the 10th; I think if it had been a 12 round fight, Kassim would have been stopped.
This fight gives Vanes valuable experience he’s going to need at the highest level.”
(Rebel @ BoxingFanatics.com)… “This was a pretty good fight that ended with the wrong fighter getting his hand raised. I too had Ouma slightly edging it.”
(Slim Tim @ BoxingScene.com)… “Ouma’s never appeared to get much leverage on his punches but was still turning Vanes’s head in every direction. He definitely landed the cleaner, harder shots thus scoring the knockdown. For 60% of that fight Vanes looked like Andre Dirrell. Ouma was jobbed big time and won on my card 97-92.”
(Da Unknown Comic @ EastSideBoxing.com)… “I like Vanes but he didn’t win this fight. F— the punches, just look at his REACTION after they said he won. Just watch it. It was like Taylor’s reaction when they were reading the scores to both Hopkins fights. Vanes knew he lost. Livingstone Bramble had the perfect game plan. Vanes wasn’t seeing that right hand ALL nite. If u don’t believe me just look at his left eye. Next thing you’ll tell me is that the scores were justified too. Good corner work by Bramble. The only complaint I have is that we never got to hear Roach or Livingstone in the corners.”
(Erik @ BoxingFanatics.com)… “The announcers seemed to build up Ouma’s performance early on.
I thought it was very close but Vanes seemed to land the better shots. Ouma showed a great chin. I scored it 6-4 in rounds 95-94 For Vanes. Vanes had trouble using his jab against the awkward lefty.
There is no shame in struggling with a tough former champ. Even a loss is NOT the end of the world. Vanes is young and has all the tools to be a top guy in the future.”
(mathed @ BoxingScene.com)… “Saw the fight live, scored it one rd victory for Ouma or draw worst case….another great start to the boxing year with some crap judging. Money makes the world go round, not performance in the ring!!!”
(Jack1000 @ BoxingFanatics.com)… “Doubtful that Ouma was gonna get a decision anyway. This fight will be a rude awakening for Clottey against Pacquiao if it goes to the cards. Judges can’t stand to see the “0” go on a marketable guy. If it’s not an “0” guy, the more marketable guy almost always gets the breaks from the officials.”
(terror time @ EastSideBoxing.com)… “I had Ouma winning the bout. It was very close and it is hard to tell for sure unless you are ringside. Fights appear totally different there than they do on TV.”
(JED46 @ BoxingScene.com)… “Scoring a KD does not automatically give a fighter a 10-8 round. He has to win the rest of the round. It was a close round, but other than the KD, I felt like Vanes did better. So I scored that round 10-9 for Ouma, and scored the fight a draw. Good, close fight, regardless of the wide scores.
It’s a great learning experience for Vanes. We have to give him some credit. He was fighting an aggressive, granite-chinned southpaw, and he got busted up with some headbutts. Hopefully Vanes will make some improvements, and hopefully Ouma will get another good fight from this, because he’s earned it. And man does Ouma have a great chin! That last left hook that Vanes landed would’ve dropped just about any other fighter in the division, including Martinez and Williams. Not that Vanes could beat those guys, of course, but he would’ve hurt them with that shot, if he could land it.”
