Martin hands Harutyunyan his first defeat in lightweight showdown

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

This past Saturday in Las Vegas, Frank Martin (18–0, 12 KOs) came on strong and dropped the previously undefeated Artem Harutyunyan (12–1, 7 KOs) in the 12th and final round to earn a hardfought 115–112, 114–113, 115–112 win in the lightweight showdown.

“I just knew I wasn’t active enough as I normally am,” said Martin. “I just think my reaction time just wasn’t on point tonight. He definitely was a tough opponent. I wouldn’t say that it was too difficult, it was just my reaction time wasn’t working like it normally does for me.

“He was definitely tough,” elaborated the 26-year-old southpaw. “I hit him with some big shots. He stood up, he bounced around in the ring like a ping pong, but he stood tall. I take my hat off to him.”

The 32-year-old Harutyunyan, who won a bronze medal in the light-welterweight division at the 2018 Olympics in Brazil representing Germany, spoke about his intentions moving forward.

“My plan is to become a world champion, or at least fight for the world title, maybe against Devin Haney or Gervonta Davis. I can go up one weight class, it’s not a problem for me. But I’m so happy to be here and I want to come back.”

Harutyunyan also would accept a rematch with Martin if presented with the opportunity.

On Saturday in Detroit, Alycia Baumgardner (15–1, 7 KOs) retained her WBC, IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO, and the Ring female super-featherweight titles by avenging the only defeat of her career after defeat- ing Christina Linardatou with a dominant 98–92, 99–91, 98–92 win.

This Saturday, former world lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. returns to the ring after back-to-back losses to Devin Haney to face Maxi Hughes in a lightweight contest. An impressive win over Hughes may lead to a showdown against undefeated boxing superstar Gervonta Davis, who was recently released from prison following a house arrest violation.

On Tuesday in Japan, WBC and WBO junior featherweight champion Stephen Fulton will go up against Japanese star Naoya Inoue.