Vanes Martirosyan looks to bank on Manny Pacquiao
Come one come all, for the Manny Pacquiao knock out line.
Following Freddie Roach’s wager that any sparring partner to knock Manny Pacquiao down will receive $1000, prospect Vanes Martirosyan has jumped at the challenge.
Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs), a junior middleweight, is sure he’ll be the first to floor “Pacman.” He leaves for the Philippines in the near future to join the already all-star list of sparring partners
for Pacquiao in the wake of his 13 November bout with Antonio Margarito.
So far, nobody’s been able to collect.
Apart from knocking Pacquiao down, Martirosyan will look forward to getting valuable time in with Freddie Roach, his trainer. He is slated to fight Pawel Wolak on 4 December after a bout with WBA junior
middleweight champ Miguel Cotto was put off indefinitely.
"I am up for Freddie's challenge. I will be the first to drop Manny," Martirosyan said. He added: “I respect Manny a lot and I have learned a lot from him. He is a great fighter but I feel I am up to
the challenge. That is why I always say I want to fight the best. I want to prove how good I am. It doesn't get much better than sparring with Manny Pacquiao.”
Another Pacquiao sparring partner, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., also accepted the challenge. Chavez is set to fight Alfonso Gomez on 4 December in Anaheim, California. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes
the undefeated Chavez, said that with a win he would arrange a bout between Miguel Cotto and Chavez.
All of Pacquiao’s sparring partners have been carefully selected for attributes that will prepare him for Margarito. Margarito, for one, is six inches taller than Pacquiao, making it vital that he spar
with taller, bigger fighters. Pacquiao hopes to negate the height and size advantage by controlling the pace of the fight and using angles to frustrate Margarito.
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