Vanes Martirosyan Wants to Replace Injured Berto Against Victor Ortiz

In a statement that pretty much amounts to nothing but I guess is notable in that it even exists, World Boxing News reports that Vanes Martirosyan says he's willing to go down to 147 pounds and replace Andre Berto against Victor Ortiz. Berto ruptured his bicep yesterday, and has pulled out of the February 11 rematch with Ortiz.

Martirosyan (31-0, 19 KO) is currently scheduled to face 41-year-old club fighter Troy Lowry on the Chavez vs Rubio undercard this Saturday in San Antonio.

The reason this amounts to nothing isn't that Martirosyan has a habit of taking lousy fights. It's more that there are two big factors here:

1. Ortiz is Golden Boy, Martirosyan is Top Rank. So that counts it out anyway.
2. Going to 147? Martirosyan couldn't even make a 156-pound catchweight in his last fight. He might be headed to 160 before he ever really does any damage at 154.

So you can pretty much just write this off as idle talk and another way for Martirosyan to keep his name out there. This isn't going to happen.