Vanes Martirosyan-Joe Greene set as Foreman-Cotto co-feature

by Scott Christ on Apr 21, 2010 4:13 PM EDT in Boxing News Analysis

"Mean" Joe Greene returns on June 5 against Vanes Martirosyan. (Photo via The Empire Sports and Entertainment)

BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno reports today that a co-feature fight for the June 5 HBO card featuring Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto at Yankee Stadium has been signed.

Rising 154-pounders Vanes Martirosyan (27-0, 17 KO) and "Mean" Joe Greene (21-0, 14 KO) will put their clean records on the line against one another in an interesting matchup. Martirosyan struggled in January with a seemingly-rejuvenated Kassim Ouma on the Top Rank Live debut. Greene, on the other hand, will be taking a very big step up in class with this one. The 24-year-old New Yorker was scheduled to face Sergio Martinez in January 2009, but had to pull out due to kidney stones. Last year, he fought just twice, against familiar stepping stones Delray Raines and Chris Gray. He decisioned both over eight rounds.

Martirosyan has the better resume overall, including amateur pedigree, but Greene could get his career back on track in a big way with this fight. He's a very good prospect whose hype has died down with his relative inactivity and lack of steps up in competition. He bought his way out of his promotional deal with Warriors Boxing to sign with The Empire Sports and Entertainment, who also represent Shannon Briggs and Hasim Rahman.

There was a lot of talk that all Mike Jones had to do was win and not get hurt last Saturday in Atlantic City, which he accomplished, and that he'd then be in the co-feature for this card. Considering the scope of this event, it's possible HBO is looking at a triple-header, so we could see Foreman-Cotto, Martirosyan-Greene and a Mike Jones fight, which would be a very nice show.

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It's actually shaping up to be a very intriguing card.

I think the Foreman-Cotto fight is certainly one of the more interesting fights out there, with questions surrounding almost all aspects of Miguel as a fighter coupled up with the fact he’s in there with a bigger, solid opponent. Coupled with this Vanes fight and hopefully Jones against Smith, which I would love to see, this has got must-watch written all over it.

"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"

by Oli Goldstein on Apr 21, 2010 4:24 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

I love the Foreman-Cotto fight, because I like Yuri (seems like a good guy) and think he has skills, but pound-for-pound Miguel is so much better than he is, IMO. But then, you know, Cotto’s really small for 154, and it might not matter much. I also think the fight could be dead boring, but I’m genuinely intrigued by the matchup. Not a fight I’d recommend a novice watch without explaining that it could very well be incredibly dull, but I’m interested, and I really like the Vanes-Mean Joe fight, too.

Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."

by Scott Christ on Apr 21, 2010 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, definitely. I’m quite interested to see if Yuri can hurt Miguel at all, because although his record looks almost Malignaggi-esque, he did look as though he had some half-decent pop against Santos. What with Miguel having really taken a ton of abuse over the last few years and not having the greatest of chins anyway, I’m really looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"

by Oli Goldstein on Apr 21, 2010 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Yuri can punch a little

I once read an interview with him where he basically said that in order to square up boxing and the Talmud, he tries not to hurt the other fighter in the ring. I’ve read subsequent interviews where he says no such thing when asked the question, so maybe now he’s decided that it squares up with the Talmud even if you do try to hurt the other guy.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Apr 21, 2010 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I guess that question will get really interesting if he gets the chance to go in for the kill. Can’t say I’m anywhere near learned enough in the Talmud to pass comment!

"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"

by Oli Goldstein on Apr 21, 2010 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

It's possible that Jones got hurt and we didn't see it

Or that they just couldn’t get a fight signed for cheap enough between Jones and the desired opponents (Antwone Smith or Luis Carlos Abregu). I’d still like to see a Jones fight though.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Apr 21, 2010 4:36 PM EDT reply actions

Even before the Jones fight, I heard murmerings that Greene/Martirosyan was more likely (never why though), so I don’t think an injury explains it.

by schraubd on Apr 21, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Well whaddya know

A decent Top Rank card… That’s a first…

"Piss on the lamb, piss on Mary and Piss on You!"

by angelofdeath on Apr 21, 2010 9:23 PM EDT reply actions

Foreman’s smart in there, I enjoy watching a pure boxer go to work. I see it being an entertaining fight based on both fighter’s technical abilities. Yuri moves well and has great punch selection; I can see Cotto walking onto that nice lead right hand – to the head and the body. Should be a good fight and either way I see Yuri performing well.

"Anytime you go thirty rounds with a guy, try to kill each other, and have the utmost respect for each other, no one understands that, but guys who have been to war understand it." - Micky Ward on Arturo Gatti.

by Goatsnake on Apr 21, 2010 11:50 PM EDT reply actions

I think Cotto will just smash Foreman. In order to beat Cotto you need power. If you can’t hurt him you can’t beat him. Foreman doesn’t have power.

I personally don’t like Vanes. But I think Greene is seriously overrated. Vanes wins this

If a man ain't found something worth dying for. He ain't fit to live.

by Violent Demise on Apr 22, 2010 10:34 PM EDT reply actions

I personally don’t like Vanes.

I think he’s a good prospect but … I dunno. There’s something about him that’s just missing, IMO. I have no real feeling on Greene, but I’m not crazy about him. I’m guessing this is sort of an eliminator fight. To be honest, if Greene loses, I don’t see Greene ever doing much of anything.

Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."

by Scott Christ on Apr 23, 2010 4:54 AM EDT up reply actions