Amateur Career
Martirosyan was an eight-time National Champion and a Golden Gloves Champion.
In 2004, after winning a match against Haiti's Andre Berto in the 1st AIBA American 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tijuana, Mexico, Vanes secured a spot in the US Olympic Team. He represented the United States at the 2004 Olympics as a Welterweight. He was on the same olympic team as Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell.
Vanes got his nickname when, as he was fighting his way through the Olympic Trials, everybody was calling him "Nightmare." Once he fought in the Western Trials, Vanes started beating all fighters that were highly ranked nationwide. The young Nightmare underdog came in and beat all the favorites to eventually make the 2004 US Olympic thirteen-man boxing team. Martirosyan became the first ever Armenian to represent the United States in the Olympics, as well as the first ever US Olympian from his hometown of Glendale, California.
Results were:
- Defeated Benamar Meskine (Algeria) 45-20
- Lost to Lorenzo Aragon Armenteros (Cuba) 11-20
He finished his amateur career with 120 wins and 10 losses. All losses except to Nick Casal and Lorenzo Aragon had been avenged in rematches.
Notable boxers Vanes defeated as an amateur include Austin Trout (three times), Andre Berto and Timothy Bradley.
Read more about this topic: Vanes Martirosyan
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