‘The Ghost’ Has Too Much Class for Artem Harutyunyan at the Cosmo

The Ghost’ Has Too Much Class for Artem Harutyunyan at the Cosmo

Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas is the best venue in the city for watching a boxing event. A smaller than usual crowd turned out tonight for the latest PBC offering, understandable as the show lost luster when future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire was bumped off the card; his match with Alexandro Santiago was shifted to the undercard of Spence-Crawford happening down the block in two weeks.

Main Event

In a fight that harked in many ways to his previous fight against Michel Rivera, Frank “The Ghost” Martin started slow but finished with a flourish to win a unanimous decision to retain his undefeated record. His opponent on this particular night, Atrem Harutyunyan, a fighter of Armenian descent from Germany who was making his U.S. debut, proved to be tougher than expected, but it was plain from the beginning had Martin was more athletic and had quicker hands and that ultimately proved the difference.

Rounds six, 10 and 12 were the most lopsided and these rounds were won by Martin (18-0, 12 KOs), a stablemate of Errol Spence Jr who was in the building. Harutyunyan fought his way back into the fight after the sixth, but ran out of steam after the ninth, partly the result of a damaged left eye. In the final stanza, he took a knee to protect the eye from further damage and some in attendance thought that referee Tom Taylor should have stopped it, but the rugged German, who declined to 12-1 (7), was still standing at the final bell.

The judges scored it 114-113 and 115-112 twice for the victorious Martin in a bout framed as a WBC eliminator.

In his post-fight interview, Martin said that he felt that his timing was off, but he gave Harutyunyan his props: “He was definitely tough. I take my hat off to him because he took some big shots.”

Semi-windup

In a match fought at the catchweight of 142 pounds, youth prevailed as Elvis Rodriguez, 27, scored a seventh-round stoppage of 39-year-old Viktor Postol who was on his feet when referee Celestino Ruiz waived it of at the 23-second mark. In the waning seconds of the previous round, Rodriguez put Postol on the deck with a short right uppercut.

These two were well-acquainted, having sparred dozens of rounds at Freddie Roach’s LA-area gym. Tonight, Roach was in the corner of Rodriguez, a Dominican who raised his record to 15-1-1 (13 KOs). This may be the end of the trail for Postol, a Ukrainian, who has lost five of his last eight after opening his career 28-0. In his last start, 17 months ago in this very ring, Postol was stopped by Gary Antuanne Russell, marking the first time that he failed to go the distance.

Also

Local fan favorite Freudis Rojas, a tall welterweight, was extended beyond the fourth round for the first time in his brief pro career, but won inside the distance once again, improving to 11-0 (11) with a seventh-round stoppage of Diego Sanchez whose corner pulled him out at the 0:57 mark.

It appeared that this fight would be over in a hurry, but Sanchez (19-3) wasn’t intimidated after tasting Rojas’s power and became the aggressor. In the end, however, he was simply outclassed.

Other Bouts

In a match that never really heated up, welterweight Quinton Randall improved to 13-0-1 (3 KOs) with a unanimous decision over Willie Jones (8-3). The judges had it 78-74 and 79-73 twice.

Randall, 32, turned to boxing after serving three years in a maximum-security Texas prison for burglary after previously being in and out of juvenile detention facilities and then went on to become a two-time national amateur champion. Jones, a fighter from Burlington, North Carolina with an MMA background, scored a big upset in his last start, knocking out undefeated Derrick Jackson, but tonight he didn’t bring his hammer.

Salinas, CA lightweight Justin Cardona improved to 9-1 (5 KOs) at the expense of Chicago’s Angel Barrera (4-2). Referee Kenny Bayless called a halt after seven rounds on the advice of the ringside physician.

A feisty 6-round lightweight affair between young Angelinos opened the show. Anthony Cuba (6-0, 2 KOs) was awarded a majority decision over Angel Rebollar (6-3). The scores were 60-54, 59-55, and a very reasonable 57-57.

Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp / SHOWTIME

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